When Cardinals tight end Anthony Becht came to town several weeks back for the West Virginia edition of his annual youth football camps, we were talking about possible destinations for his former WVU teammate, Marc Bulger. Becht strongly hinted that Bulger was willing to accept a backup job in 2010, especially in light of the magnitude of some of the offers he had received.
Only a few days later, Bulger agreed to terms on a deal with the Ravens that will pay him $3.8 million in base salary for 2010 to hold a clipboard for starter Joe Flacco.
On Thursday, Bulger finally met with the media after passing a physical and signing his contract. And he has no misunderstanding about the fact that he’s the understudy to the team’s version of Bette Midler in Rochelle, Rochelle: The Musical.
“It should be a different role, but it was made clear to me up front that would be my role there,” Bulger said, per Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun. “I understand whatever capacity I can help Joe, I’ll do it. It’s just about helping us win football games.”
Bulger also said that he won’t offer up any advice to Flacco that isn’t welcome. “I don’t want to be the guy who comes in and thinks I know it all,” Bulger said. “I’m going to let Joe let me know how much input he wants me to give. I just don’t want to be the know-it-all backup. It’s real easy to stand in the background and stand on the sideline. I’ll leave it up to Joe how much help he wants. But I’ll be there for anything he needs.”
It sounds like Bulger has experienced a few know-it-all backups during his career. We wonder who he may be talking about.