Carolina's Rucker works to cure disease one sack at a time

By Darin Gantt The Herald
(Published September 23, 2005)

CHARLOTTE -- Carolina Panthers defensive end Mike Rucker was glad to
get his first sack of the year last week for several obvious reasons.
But every time Rucker drops a quarterback, he's raising money for a
cause close to his heart, a cause which always brings him back to
football.
That made last week's sack of Tom Brady (and game-changing forced
fumble) more valuable on a personal level than getting off to a
quicker start than last year, or claiming the Panthers all-time sack
record, which he'll get with his next one. He's sitting on 41.0, half
a sack behind Kevin Greene's franchise mark of 41.5.

Rucker's involved with "Sack ALS," a fundraising drive to benefit
research into Lou Gehrig's disease. Fans can pledge money for every
sack he records, and so far, at least $5,000 goes toward ALS research
for each one. In the last three years, over $115,000 has been raised.

Rucker became involved with the charity in memory of his grandfather,
Mike Green, who died from complications of ALS when Rucker was in
eighth grade. After becoming an established star, he saw the charity
as an opportunity to make a connection between his football history
and helping others.

"He was the one, him and my grandmother were the ones who bought my
first football pads," Rucker said. "So ALS and football for me have
always gone hand in hand.

"I felt like I was in a position to help bring awareness to it."

If he keeps his current pace, the coffers will continue to fill.

Rucker was limited to 3.5 sacks last year, the lowest total since he
became a full-time starter in 2001. Panthers coach John Fox has
consistently said that that number indicates how misleading
statistics can be, since he felt Rucker played well last season.

"We know what Mike's capable of," Fox said. "So many times, people on
the outside look at sacks as the definition of whether a guy has
played good or not, and I don't necessarily view it that way. I
thought Mike has played well every year he has been here, including
last week."

But Rucker admits struggling at times last year, the result of
several factors. He was coming off an offseason knee surgery for the
first time, which forced a change in some of his workouts. Between
the knee and the natural effects of getting older, he wasn't in the
best shape of his career.

He's tried to put that behind him, with an increased emphasis on
eating right, and conditioning, which seems to have paid off. He's
still around 275 pounds, but it's a more defined 275, which leads to
regular questions about how much weight he's lost.

He leads the team with five quarterback pressures in addition to last
week's sack, and once again looks like a force against the run, the
kind of all-around play he's prided himself on.

That's why the sack record is met with a near-indifference. Rucker
didn't know he was so close until this week and wasn't sure what it
would mean to own it.

"It'll happen through the framework of just playing ball," Rucker
said. "So there's no need to be conscious about it and think about
it. It'll just happen if it's supposed to happen through the
framework of playing defense."

That workmanlike attitude has been one of Rucker's hallmarks
throughout his seven-year career. He came here as a highly touted
pass-rusher from Nebraska, a second-round pick in the 1999 draft, but
didn't play much his first two years. He was stuck behind a veteran
cast, which included NFL all-time sack leader Reggie White.

"It was not frustration, no," Rucker said of his limited work his
first two years, when he put up 5.5 sacks in spot duty. "I was the
type of person, I knew my time would come. I wasn't one of those guys
who'd pout and things like that. I knew if I was patient and did what
I was supposed to do, my time would come.

"Just getting the experience. I applaud guys who can come in their
rookie year and just take off and do their thing, that's very hard.
It was my third year when the light came on, I felt comfortable with
the defense, knew what I could get away with, knew what I was doing,
knew the speed of the game."

Rucker spent as much time as possible around White and Chuck Smith,
Sean Gilbert and Eric Swann, building a storehouse of moves.

He even picked up tips from Greene, a pass-rush specialist who played
linebacker in the 3-4 defense.

"He was a linebacker, but he was able to bull rush; that told me that
size doesn't matter," Rucker said. "It's all about angles and getting
them to shift their weight one way or another.

"My cup was half full. I seized the moment by getting to know those
guys and taking something from them. Those were some of the greatest
guys in the game. To be able to say I played with them and picked
their brain, that was huge for me."

Rucker knows that once he breaks Greene's record, he may not own it
for long.

Julius Peppers is sitting at 30.0 and figures to catch Rucker and fly
past, since he's averaging 10.0 per year.

But the record won't mean that much to Rucker, it's the way he's
accomplished it, and what he's done by association.

"As you get older, you start putting different things on your agenda,
and different goals," Rucker said. "That's when it comes about."

daringantt@carolina.rr.com