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TAMPA, Fla. -- For four seasons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Keith Tandy has been ready for whatever the team needed him to do. He made his mark mainly on special teams but has played nickel this year and started last Sunday at safety, where he had a career-high 10 tackles. The Hopkinsville, Kentucky, native answered questions about his life during our weekly Q&A with the Buccaneers: What would surprise people to know about you? Tandy: My major [at West Virginia] was forensic biology. I was always good with numbers so I started in engineering. I was in chemical engineering but the science part of it wasn't interesting to me. I got into forensics and the crime scenes. I always loved solving puzzles when I was little. I was like 5 years old trying to do them. Do you like the "CSI" TV shows? Tandy: I used to but once I got into the forensic stuff in college, you see how unrealistic they are. When did you know you could make football a profession? Tandy: It was that South Florida game [as a sophomore]. The next game, I got an interception on a play that I studied. I baited the quarterback into making the throw and he did. It happened so slow when it came. I then thought, "Maybe I can do this." Your nephew died while you were in training camp. How were you able to deal with that tragedy? Tandy: Because of the strong people around me. My family first and then my family here, my Tampa Bay Bucs family. I'm still working on getting through it, but I found out the best part is talking about it. When you hold it inside you feel like its eating away at you, but when you talk about it you're like, all right, I can deal with it. What's your advice for younger players? Tandy: First thing is to realize that it's not going to be easy. If you think it's easy and you get that first adversity, you may not be ready for it. But if you know it's not easy, that will prepare you for a lot of stuff. Then it's like there is no substitute for hard work -- hard, smart work. If you work hard and work the right way, you never know what can happen.
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