Former Bucs player continuing football legacy through son, UFL endeavors

TAMPA, Fla. - These days, former Buccaneers tight end Anthony Becht is a full-on football dad. 

He and his wife spent the Fall traveling the country to cheer on their son, Rocco, in his redshirt freshman season with the Iowa State football team. 

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"It's a little different watching your kid play versus me as a player or as a coach. I really never got nervous," Becht, the senior, said. 

Anthony Becht with a frame of his son, Rocco's, Iowa State jersey.

Those nerves, however, had a funny way of creeping up while the father watched the son take over as the Cyclones starting quarterback this year. Even still, Rocco gave his family and Iowa State fans plenty of reasons to cheer.

"I'll put my mind to anything, and I'm going to go out there every single day and put my hardest into whatever I have to do on the field and off the field really," Rocco said. 

Being handed the keys to a young Iowa State offense, Becht the younger didn't just impress his first season under center but excelled.

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"I have a mindset where I go into every single day acting like you're the starter, which I was. But you never know when that day comes when you have to compete," says Rocco. 

Rocco Becht

Completing 231 passes for 3,120 yards and 23 touchdowns, Becht set program records in each category while earning Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year honors. 

"For me, it was just really impressive as he grew throughout the season," said Rocco's dad.  "And he set himself up for the success." 

That family pride, however, goes both ways in the Becht household. 

While the father got to cheer on the son in the Fall, Rocco now gets to cheer on his dad in the spring. 

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"To me, and I'm not biased or anything, he is one of the best coaches that I've seen just because I've grown up with him," said Rocco. 

After being named head coach of the St. Louis Battle Hawks of the XFL, Anthony Becht is ready to return for a second season and the first following the merger between the XFL and USFL. 

Anthony Becht

"I've got to give it to my dad. He's done something very special with that new league, the XFL," said Rocco. 

And special is just the type of season Anthony Becht is hoping to have in St. Louis this Spring. 

"I proved last year that I was a worthy candidate, and this year I want to win a championship," Becht said. 

Whether in the fall or the spring, success is clearly on the mind of both Bechts senior and junior.