Vincent Testaverde Jr., son of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers first round selection Vinny Testaverde, is given a chance by the Buccaneers to compete for the open job as the fourth quarterback.
Testaverde is a local kid who played high school Football at Tampa Jesuit. The School is only two blocks away from the Buccaneers’ training facility.
Although he did not play football before his junior year, he became a starter as a senior and ended up playing college football at Texas Tech. However, he only played one game when starter Patrick Mahomes was injured.
One year later, he transferred to Miami, his father’s alma mater. After two unsuccessful years there, he transferred to Albany. For the first time in his collegiate career, he received regular playing time there.
Even though Testarverde has only started nine college games, the 6’1” quarterback is not concerned about the obvious lack of experience,
“The last year was really all I needed… I just needed some playing experience and real live action under my belt before I got here. I didn’t need three whole seasons playing. I feel like it gave me enough tape to watch of myself and kind of evaluate myself and make the changes I need to get better this year.”
The Buccaneers coaching staff seems to like what they see in him. His participation in a local predraft workout day earned him an invite to the tryout with the Bucs.
Testaverde obviously impressed head coach Bruce Arians during camp last weekend,
“He was impressive throwing the football… He had a solid day (Friday). This is a big weekend for him, especially (today), being able to protect the ball a little bit better. … He showed enough to get to this point.”
Talent-wise, he might not be the best quarterback out there for the job. On the other hand, though, his work ethic seems to be superb. Aparently, He studied the playbook hard before camp. He said,
“I just need to show the coaches that I can retain a bunch of information in a short amount of time. They only give us one or two nights to prepare and to bring it out onto the field. I’ve got to learn it play it back through my mind and go show that I know how to do it out on the field.”
Will his outstanding work ethic earn him a job with the Bucs? … Time will soon tell.
Source: Tampabay.com
