John Lynch's advice to Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Sabby Piscitelli: Shake off bad game

From the moment the safety showed up for work, he could feel every eye turn toward him.

In professional sports, the locker room is the ultimate jury of one's peers, and as the safety moved across it, he felt the same disappointment and guilt he had wrestled with on the sleepless night before. He felt hollow. He felt miserable.

After all, these were the people he had let down. And these were the people who were counting on him not to do it again.

Perhaps you have heard of the safety. His name is John Lynch.

And, yes, he can feel Sabby Piscitelli's pain.

"When you have a bad day, you absolutely feel like it's your fault your team lost," Lynch said. "You feel the other guys looking at you, and it's a terrible feeling. I remember when I had Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks looking at me. You don't want to let guys like that down.

"Your teammates say the right things, like, 'There are three other guys in the secondary, too.' But you convince yourself it was your fault. And you absolutely have to get over it. Guys who can't get over it don't end up playing a long time."

For Piscitelli, the clock is running.

Soon, opposing receivers will be, too.

All in all, there have been better times to be Piscitelli. After Sunday's embarrassment against Dallas, in which Piscitelli kept losing sprints-to-the-goal-line to Cowboy receivers, it is fair to say he leads the NFL in doubts. The highlights keep showing his mistakes, and the fans have turned his name into a swear word, and somewhere in upstate New York, you get the feeling that Terrell Owens is so excited he might need a lobster bib to keep the drool off his jersey.

In other words, it is a crucial time in the career of Piscitelli. As Lynch will tell you, a lot of great players have had a lot of tough afternoons. They've just made enough plays afterward to make you forget.

It is an underappreciated part of greatness, that ability to endure a public flogging in the center of a stadium, and to achieve anyway. Does anyone remember Ronde Barber's first game against former Cardinal Rob Moore? Does anyone remember the doubts the coaching staff had about Derrick Brooks in his first year? Does anyone remember when running back Barry Sanders left Lynch grasping at air. No. Because they followed with enough great plays to make you forget.

Well, to be honest, Lynch remembers the last one.

"He was my nemesis early in my career," Lynch said, laughing. "It wasn't the next game; it was the next play. I would be the eighth guy, and Barry would scan his eyes and zero in on me. And back then, I didn't have the right mentality. I was shaking in my boots, thinking, 'Don't let him come at me.' Later on, I had the attitude of 'Come my way, you son of a gun.'

"I missed a tackle once, and he scored. I remember Sapp coming up to me and saying, 'You aren't the first guy to miss him, and you won't be the last. Just shoot your guns, and be aggressive, and let's play.' And every time I played against Barry after that, I had that in my head."

For the record, Lynch sees a lot of things he likes in Piscitelli. During the preseason, when Lynch served as color commentator during the team's broadcasts, he came away impressed.

"I think he has a chance — a chance — to be special," Lynch said. "He has all the skills you would want in a safety. I remember a couple of spectacular open-field tackles, and that interception against Tennessee. But even in the preseason, there were times he didn't take good angles. Whether it's the product of a new defense or being a little too aggressive, you can't let people behind you, and that happened a couple of times."

For Lynch, that was the beauty of playing the position. It was such risk in playing it. Miss a tackle, and everyone sees it. Blow a coverage, and they change the scoreboard.

"On every play, you are truly exposed," Lynch said.

Now we find out about Piscitelli, don't we? Now we find out if he is talented enough to play better, and now we find out if he is tough enough to overcome the disappointment. Now we find out if he is smart enough to learn from his mistakes, and if he is special enough to survive the onslaught of other teams as they come after him.

Put it this way: If you coached the Bills, wouldn't you try to get Owens matched up on him? How about the Patriots with Randy Moss or the Falcons with Roddy White or the Panthers with Steve Smith?

"The brutal nature of the game is that when you show something on film, you better know it's coming back at you the next Sunday," Lynch said. "The great players say, 'Okay, I got beat. That means I'll have my opportunity to make things happen.' That's part of the deal. Instead of playing scared, you have to look forward to having a chance the following week."

So, John. Any advice for Sabby?

"I would tell him to relish the opportunity," Lynch said. "You're going to have people coming after you. Make them pay."

In the NFL, there is never another choice.

Either you're good, or you're gone.