Bucs’ Bobby Rainey returns his way to Special Teams Player Award

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With the return of Tampa Bay Bucs running back Doug Martin and the emergence of backup running back Charles Sims, perhaps you thought of Bobby Rainey as the odd man out.

As it turns out, only Rainey’s role has changed.

Rainey, the Bucs’ return man, has been named as this week’s NFL Special Teams Player of the Week. He had three punt returns for 85 yards including a long of 58, which was the longest by a Buc player since 2009. His 28.3 average was the fourth longest in team history.

Rainey set up two touchdowns with his returns. For the year, Rainey has 199 yards in punt returns. He also leads the NFL in combined punt and kick return yardage.

Rainey is the first Tampa Bay player to win Special Teams Player of the Week since Michael Spurlock in 2009. Rainey was also the Offensive Player of the Week in 2013, which makes him one of three players (Shelton Quarters and Ronde  Barber) to win Player of the Week awards in two categories.

Gary Shelton is one of the most recognized and honored sportswriters in the history of the state. He has won the APSE's national columnist of the year twice and finished in the top 10 eight times. He was named the Florida Sportswriter of the Year six times. Gary joined SaintPetersBlog in the spring, helping to bring a sports presence to the website. Over his time in sports writing, Gary has covered 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics, Final Fours, Masters, Wimbledons and college national championships. He was there when the Bucs won a Super Bowl, when the Lightning won a Stanley Cup and when the Rays went to a World Series. He has seen Florida, FSU and Miami all win national championships, and he covered Bear Bryant, Bobby Bowden and Don Shula along the way. He and his wife Janet have four children: Eric, Kevin, K.C. and Tori. To contact, visit [email protected].