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Notes,
Quotes And Reviews
Of Sunday's NFL Pregame Shows
More
Flutie, Collins Talk Dominate The Four Morning Shows.
By
George Stahl and Randy
Williams
Thoughts,
notes and observations while watching the Sunday pregame shows.
Grades will be given out at the end.
Notes:
CNN's show was shortened to just 30 minutes because of the news
conference for the Discovery crew. ESPN's show ended at 12:40
p.m., instead of 1 p.m., because of the network's scheduled decision
to show Nascar's Napa 500. Fox's crew did the show from Texas
Stadium.
NFL inside
stuff:
CBS' Mike
Lombardi:
- Flutie has
as many as 24 play-time incentives that he should easily match
by starting the rest of the year. Those incentives raise his salary
to $3 million. The good thing for Flutie is that his contract
says that whatever he makes this year, incentives and all, gets
rolled over into his base salary next year. That means Flutie
will be making about $3 million next year. He added that the Bills
called Rob Johnson's agent to tell him that Johnson is still going
to be the starting quarterback; however, the team has to ride
the Flutie wave.
- By being
greedy, Kansas City cost themselves a second-round pick and probably
a chance to sign defensive end Dan Williams, who has held out
all year.
- Patriots
coach Pete Carroll's job could be in jeopardy if the Pats don't
challenge the Broncos this season.
- Seahawks
coach Dennis Erickson sealed his fate by losing at home last week
to the Raiders.
Don't expect him back in Seattle next season.
- Ravens coach
Ted Marchibroda could get fired Monday, if he loses Sunday. Even
if he wins, Modell already is probably looking for candidates
for next year.
- Raiders coach
Jon Gruden is coach of the year.
- Niners
quarterback Steve Young may not play against Carolina but would
play with pain-killing injections. ESPN's Chris Mortensen
said Young would not play unless he was 100%, while CBS' Brent
Jones said Young told him that he would test the arm and the
pulled stomach muscle before the game. Jones said he told the
quarterback that he should rest now so that it is not a lingering
problem for the rest of the season. (see first
Top Game Tip below)
- The NBA players
union has called NFLPA executive Gene Upshaw for advice, and Upshaw
spoke to the union in Las Vegas, suggesting that the union de-certify.
According to King, Upshaw said the NBA union will only de-certify
as a last resort.
- The Saints
made Marc Fields the highest-paid linebacker in NFL history Sunday
with a 5-year, $26 million deal. CBS' Lombardi made this
point in his notes last week.
- Seattle coach
Dennis Erickson needs to make the playoffs to keep his job.
- If Randall
Cunningham plays just five more quarters, he becomes a free agent.
(ESPN's Chris Mortensen also noted this but said Cunningham
needs to play eight more quarters. Meanwhile, Fox's Terry Bradshaw
said Cunningham will remain the starting quarterback at Minnesota
and needs only seven more quarters to become a free agent.)
- On the
10:30 a.m. EST SportsCenter, Mort said the NFL, upset with
the shot of a cocky Kerry Collins leaving the police station and
smoking a cigar after being charged with drinking and driving,
may insist on mandatory treatment and counseling for the Saints
quarterback, who denies a drinking problem. Later,
on NFL Sunday Countdown, Mort added that the Saints team doctor
is evaluating Kerry Collins to see if he has an alcohol problem.
Mortensen also noted that the doctor determined Collins didn't
have a problem when the Saints were deciding whether to sign the
quarterback.
- On NFL
Sunday Countdown, Mort said there will be at least six NFL
coaching changes at year end. He said Raiders defensive coordinator
Willie Shaw and Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak are
two bona-fide candidates. Earlier, CNN's James Lofton had said
Shaw should be looked at as a head-coaching candidate.
- On the
10:30 a.m. EST SportsCenter, Mort
said the
Chargers and the league are upset at San Diego quarterback Ryan
Leaf's night of bar-hopping and debauchery [Mort's word, not
mine] while at Washington State last week to donate some money
to the school. Coach June Jones lectured Leaf on his behavior.
- Also on SportsCenter,
Mortensen said scouts are saying that despite Indianapolis' record,
Colts rookie quarterback Peyton Manning is way ahead where other
rookie quarterbacks usually are at this point.
- The Browns
and the 49ers are in talks about 49er executive Dwight Clark leaving
San Francisco to go to Cleveland as soon as possible. Mortensen
made this comment on SportsCenter.
Fox's James
Brown did not report any NFL gossip Sunday.
CNN on Kerry
Collins: CNN did a nice job of talking about the arrest of the
Saints QB but didn't leave time for Lofton and Meyer to comment.
This was due largely to the brevity of the show.
Top
game tips: 1. ESPN's Shelley Smith said Ty Detmer will start
at quarterback for San Francisco. Fox's Brown said "chances
are" Young wouldn't play quarterback. (see
first Peter King note above)
2. ESPN's
Ed Werder revealed that injured Giants defensive end Michael Strahan
will start against Dallas.
3. Fox's Brown said Raiders were going to start Jeff George
at quarterback against the Ravens.
4. ESPN's Andrea Kremer said Miami linebacker Zach Thomas
said the Dolphins may double team Colts running back Marshall Faulk
out of the backfield. She also noted that Colts cornerback Tyrone
Poole was declared inactive.
5. ESPN's Tom Jackson said Dan Reeves told him that the key
to running against New England is blocking middle linebacker Ted
Johnson.
6. CNN's James Lofton noted that a Bills coach told him that
the key to stopping Jets running back Curtis Martin is closing the
gaps.
7. Fox' Bradshaw said the use of long counts, which the Colts
did last week, is very effective against an eager Patriots defense.
8. ESPN's Sean Salisbury, in Minneapolis, said defensive
end Duane Clemons will start in place of injured Stalin Colinet.
9. Fox said Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer
was going to use in tonight's game the face mask Terry Bradshaw
wore in a Super Bowl.
Cute, that's
it: CBS opened its show with a scene, supposedly from the first
show, that had the analysts - Marcus Allen, Brent Jones and George
Seifert - giving their predictions for the year. The obviously recreated
scene had Jones predicting that this would be the year of the backup
quarterback and Seifert saying that quarterback Doug Flutie would
have a big year with Buffalo. Meanwhile, Allen said the NFC East
would be best division in football and that either Washington or
Philadelphia would be in the Super Bowl. Nantz had the best line
after the piece, showing that he read the early reviews of the show,
by telling Jones that his suit from Week 1 didn't look that bad.
Jones was criticized after the first show for wearing a three-piece
wool suit over Labor Day weekend.
Most outrageous
statement : 1. Jones said that after evaluating the four teams
tied for the AFC East lead, he decided that the winner of the Bills-Jets
game today would win the division. The former 49er based his premature
statement on the Patriots having the toughest schedule and the most
injuries, and the Dolphins having a too weak offense. That leaves
the Bills and the Jets, which is why Sunday's game was so important.
Jones, however, neglected to mention that the Bills and Jets meet
again Dec. 19, possibly negating the outcome of Sunday's game. Jones
later predicted that the Jets would win the game, although he didn't
say if they would win the division.
However, when
compared to Allen and Seifert's statements on the AFC East, at least
give Jones credit for having an opinion.Seifert just said he wouldn't
be surprised if all four teams finished 10-6, while Allen said the
Colts will play the role of the spoiler in the division. Not very
insightful.
Strongest
comments: 1. Fox's Collinsworth on Saints quarterback Kerry
Collins, "Let's just tell it like it is. Kerry Collins' problems
all are related to drinking. And the next drink he'd take on my
football team would be his last." He later added that Collins
has to decide for himself if he is going to be a starting quarterback
in the NFL.
2. Fox's Madden on the Giants offense, "They have no
speed. They don't scare anyone. There is not a guy on that offensive
team that scares anyone." He also said he thinks the Giants
are underachieving, after overachieving last year.
3. CNN's James Lofton, speaking of Green Bay receiver Antonio
Freeman, said "For my money, he is far and away the best receiver
in the NFL."
4.
CBS' Jones predicts the Chiefs won't make the playoffs, while Allen
says his former teammates will be there.
5. ESPN's Sterling Sharpe, on Giants quarterback Danny Kanell,
said, "He's not willing to hold onto the football and take a beating."
6. Allen getting on Steeler quarterback Kordell Stewert for
not admitting that he had a bad game last week.
Best Features:
1. ESPN's Ed Werder, in Dallas, on the Dallas trio of Troy Aikman,
Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.
2. ESPN's Solomon Wilcots on Denver wide receiver Ed McCaffrey.
3. (tie)
ESPN's Greg Garber on the relationship between Falcons RB Jamal
Anderson and his father, chief of security for Mike Tyson and past
security head for Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. Fox's Pam
Oliver also had a very good piece on Anderson.
4. CBS' Armen Keteyian's look at the problems affecting the
disappointing Kansas City Chiefs (4-4).
5. ESPN's Andrea Kremer, in Miami, delivered a piece on Miami's
plan to defend Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
6. ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, at the Meadowlands, on the rebound
of Bills quarterback Doug Flutie and Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde.
7. Fox did yet another feature on Cowboy Deion Sanders. This
time, though, the piece was composed mainly of quotes from opponents
and coaches.
8. CNN's Mark Morgan, at the Meadowlands, on Flutie and Testaverde.
It seems as if this piece was shortened, obviously because of the
Discovery press conference.
Nice addition:
ESPN's Chris Berman delivered a quick-hitting piece about various
incentive clauses of NFL players.
Nice touches:
1. Fox's Cris Collinsworth, with former Cowboy and Giant Everson
Walls, demonstrated on the field a little bit of why Cowboy cornerback
Deion Sanders is so good as a cornerback.
2. Fox congratulated Dennis Green on his new son, Zachery Dennis
Green, born this weekend. However, the network did it twice, giving
a different date both times. Sam Rosen, in the spin around the 1
p.m. game sites, said it was Friday night and showed a picture of
the baby with its weight. Brown, after the whip around the stadiums
was over, congratulated the Viking coach and said the baby was born
yesterday.
3. Fox showed the singing of the National Anthem at Texas
Stadium in honor of Veterans Day this week.
Haven't we
seen this before?: CBS did yet another look at Flutie mania
in Buffalo.
Most disappointing
feature: CBS' Bonnie Bernstein interviewed rookie quarterbacks
Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf for their reflections on the first
half of the year. This was easily Bernstein's worst feature of
the year. Bernstein, whose work has been excellent this year,
hit Leaf with a softball question about trying to contain his frustrations,
which led to a locker room incident earlier in the season with a
writer. She also didn't mention - until after the taped interview
- this week's report on Leaf's bar-hopping problems last week while
visiting Washington State. I expected a Mike Wallace interview
from Bernstein, instead I got Ahmad Rashad. Very disappointing.
Best interviews:
1. ESPN's Andrea Kremer had a great sitdown with Oakland defensive
backs Albert Lewis, Eric Allen, Eric Turner, Anthony Newman and
Charles Woodson.
2. ESPN's Joe Theismann, with Tampa Bay defensive tackle
Warren Sapp, who spewed venom towards Saints quarterback Kerry Collins.
3. Fox's Bradshaw with Giant coach Jim Fassel, live at the top of
the show. Bradshaw asked all the appropriate questions and didn't
pull any punches. He asked about possible solutions to the Giants
offensive problems, quarterback Danny Kanell's job security and
the injury status of Michael Strahan. It was much better than
Suzy Kolber with Cowboy coach Chan Gailey. Kolber, after talking
about some Dallas players raising the possibility of going perfect
against the NFC East this season, said "I'm not going to put
you on the spot with that question." Why not? Is he immune
to that question? What does he think about his players talking like
that? A bad job by Kolber.
3. CNN's brief piece with Collins, in which the Saints quarterback
vowed to prove people wrong.
Best lines:
1.
"Speaking of old quarterbacks…Joe Theismann." by ESPN's Mike Tirico
while introducing a piece with the ESPN analyst.
2. CBS' Jones said, "George is afraid to ask but he wanted
to know if he was going to look younger on HDTV?" Jones made
the comment after CBS explained that it was showing Sunday's Bill-Jets
game in high-definition television in some markets.
3. Fox's Howie Long after co-host Terry Bradshaw called him a wimp
for wearing an overcoat, "Who are you taking in five minutes
in a closet? Me or him [Bradshaw]? Who's coming out?"
4. Fox's Bradshaw after Long compared the leadership skills of Bill
quarterback Doug Flutie to El Cid, "El Cid? Who's El Cid?"
5. After talking about ex-wrestler Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial
victory in Minnesota, Fox's Brown introduced announcer Sam Rosen
as "Sam 'Superfly' Rosen"
Hmm: 1.
"With three consecutive first-round draft picks, the Cowboys took
a wide receiver (Michael Irvin) better than Drew Pearson, a quarterback
(Troy Aikman) better than Roger Staubach and a running back (Emmitt
Smith) better than Tony Dorsett."
Top stats:
1. CNN's Ron Meyer noted that Chiefs QB Elvis Grbac is 0-3 as
a starter.
2. ESPN's Ed Werder said Dallas has outscored NFC East opponents
by 107 points this year.
3. ESPN's Chris Berman said Arizona coach Vince Tobin is
0-7 in attempts to surpass the .500 mark in a season.
4. Fox's Cris Collinsworth said about Bill quarterback Doug
Flutie, "Veteran quarterbacks don't make their offensive line
look bad," noting that former starting quarterback Rob Johnson
was sacked once out of every five pass attempts, while Dog Flutie
is being sacked once out of every 35 attempts.
5. Fox said the Dolphins have allowed an average of four
points a game in four home wins.
6. Fox's Bradshaw said the six starting quarterbacks who
are ages 35 or more are 35-9 this year.
7. CNN showed that the Chargers lead the NFL in rushing defense,
allowing just 68 rushing yards a game.
Gaffes: 1.
CNN's show was shortened to just a half-hour as the network showed
the news conference of the Discovery crew in its entirety. I understand
that CNN is a news organization but having a half-hour NFL pregame
show is hardly better than having any at all.
2. After a commercial, ESPN's feed was without sound and
audio for about 15 seconds.
Predictions:
CNN's Ron Meyer said he expects the Pats to shut down Falcons running
back Jamal Anderson.
CNN game
predictions: New York-Buffalo: King - Bills; Lofton &
Meyer - Jets
Kansas City-Seattle: King - Chiefs; Lofton & Meyer -
Seahawks
Pittsburgh-Green Bay: King - Steelers; Lofton & Meyer
- Packers
Unanswered
questions: 1. Why can't ESPN devote more time to Ron
Jaworski's playbook segment? The ex-Eagles quarterback does an outstanding
job but simply isn't given enough time.
2. Why didn't Fox, during its whip around the 1 p.m. game
sites, stop at Veterans Stadium for a preview of the Lions-Eagles
game, which was at 1 p.m.? I have a feeling, though, that we all
know the answer to that question...
GRADES:
CNN: C (hard
to judge a show that short)
ESPN: B+ (very
solid effort)
CBS: C. (The
midseason report card was predictable and uninsightful. Plus,
the normally outstanding Bernstein was disappointing.)
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