Ricky Proehl reacts after his TD catch saved the Rams' season.

And thanks to one memorable touchdown catch, Proehl can probably get tables at downtown restaurants formerly reserved only for Mark McGwire and Stan The Man.

Oh, and Kurt Warner.

Warner, the former supermarket clerk turned quarterback, hit Proehl, the journeyman wide receiver turned city savior, with a 30-yard touchdown pass with just 4:44 left Sunday. The connection gave the Rams a 11-6 victory over the Bucs and their first Super Bowl trip in 20 years. Just for good measure, it also gave St. Louis its first team football championship since westward expansion.

It was the only touchdown for a Rams team that led the NFL with 73 scores this season. It was also Proehl's first touchdown catch of the year, and it was the Rams' first championship-game touchdown in 20 quarters (dating back to 1976).

And here's the real rub: if the pass had been incomplete -- coming on a third-and-four play from the Tampa Bay 30 -- the Rams would more than likely have been the biggest favorite to lose a championship game since the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Their kicker, Jeff Wilkins, has a bad left leg -- his plant foot on field goals -- and a 47-yard effort would have been dicey at best.

So Warner, who called time out before the play and was counseled to settle for a first down to keep the drive alive, instead decided to gamble when he saw the Buccaneers showing blitz.

And he looked to Proehl. The two had talked briefly in the huddle. Proehl had said that if the safety blitzed, he would adjust and run a fade route to the corner of the end zone. Warner said he'd look for him.

"We practiced it all week long," Proehl said. "The corners were sliding, expecting us to run some slants on a hitch. The safety blitzed, and I ran by him."

Proehl, split wide to the left, got off the line of scrimmage quickly and went down the sideline one-on-one with cornerback Brian Kelly, who had intercepted Warner earlier in the quarter and celebrated -- it turns out prematurely -- with a little dance in front of the Rams' bench. They bumped slightly, but both were looking for the football as Warner threw.

As they got near the goal line, Proehl got position on Kelly, who was falling backward. Proehl reached out with his left arm and cradled the ball between his forearm and bicep, falling into the end zone.

"When I went up for it, I (knew) I had it," Proehl said. "When I came down (Kelly's) hand was in there, and it was trying to get (the ball) out. I was able to hold onto it."

The Trans World Dome, bursting with 66,496 fans -- the biggest crowd in the building's history -- erupted. Kelly shook his head in disbelief. The Rams mobbed Proehl, who finished the day with six catches for 100 yards. The 10th-year veteran, who led the Rams in receptions last season, made the most of the fact that the Bucs defense was focused on taking Isaac Bruce and Az-Zahir Hakim out of the St. Louis attack (they combined for five catches).

"We've got so much talent on this football team that he becomes a situation guy," Warner said of Proehl. "But somebody mentioned to me ... that he had 34 catches or something this year, and all but two of them went for first downs. That's how special this guy is."

"I just thought we had better complete it, we better complete it, because our field goal situation isn't as healthy as you would like it to be," Rams coach Dick Vermeil said. "You don't want to dump a game in a kicker's lap if you don't have to."