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Insider | Notes
The NFL office had a .500 record this week.
The league did the wrong thing in not fining Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp for his hit on Green Bay's Chad Clifton, but did the right thing in warning coaches from both teams about discussing any retaliatory talk.
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| Chad Clifton is still recovering from Warren Sapp's hit.(AP) |
Comments made by Green Bay offensive line coach Larry Beightol were the impetus for that memo. He told a Milwaukee newspaper that Sapp would be cut-blocked a lot by the Packers linemen as retaliation for the hit on Clifton if the two teams met again.
Beightol was wrong to make those comments, which is why the league intervened. He also was not smart in doing so. If the Packers linemen did plan on cutting Sapp, they should have kept it to themselves. Now, if the two teams do meet again, the officials will be watching closely.
As for not fining Sapp, the league determined the hit on Clifton to be legal, which essentially it was even if Sapp did leave his feet to launch himself at Clifton some 20-25 yards away from the play.
In talking to a handful of coaches and personnel people from around the league this week, they all felt it was legal but definitely cheap, dirty and unnecessary. None would say it for the record, but privately all felt Sapp went past the line with his hit on Clifton.
"If that was a quarterback he hit, he'd be in all kinds of hell," said one coach. "There was no reason for him to do what he did. It was cheap, no doubt about it."
It's true that as a defensive lineman, Sapp faces his fair share of cut blocks and he's never complained. But he didn't face any Sunday against Green Bay, according to those who saw the tape, which means his hit on Clifton was not for any retaliation purposes.
Some in the Tampa Bay organization insist the Packers tried to get even later in the game when they posted Simeon Rice, with another player chopping him. That's the old post-and-chop play that is now illegal. That's another play that those who have watched the tape say simply did not happen.
Sapp's hit on Clifton would have been OK if he didn't launch himself at a player who was going limp, while he was seeing the play unfold in front of him, at exactly the same time Sapp was blasting him. If Sapp had blocked Clifton high, but not launched the way he did, everything would have been OK. But the way he did it made it look as if he was intending to hurt Clifton, which he did.
Clifton suffered ligament damage in his hip and his still hospitalized with some numbness in his hands and feet. There was some talk of spinal damage as well, although that talk has subsided.
At the very least, Clifton will not play again this season. If his hip troubles persist, perhaps he might not play again. Hips can be tricky injuries that end careers. Just ask Bo Jackson.
Sapp expressed remorse of sorts on his local radio show in Tampa on Tuesday -- something he did not do Sunday when he compared himself to a heat-seeking missile, complete with sound effects. Sapp said he didn't mean to hurt Clifton.
Sounds like a kid who got in a bad fight with another kid, beats the hell of out him and then says he didn't mean to hurt him.
Sapp can say all the remorseful things he wants. The fact that he exploded like that on a player 20 yards away from the play is legal in the interpretation of the rule, but certainly unnecessary.
It was not unlike his play late in Tampa Bay's victory over the Rams earlier this year. When Kurt Warner threw a late interception to Derrick Brooks that was returned for a touchdown, all but ending the game, Warner made a feeble attempt to get over and make a tackle. Even though he arrived at about the time Brooks was crossing the goal line, Sapp unloaded on Warner. Legal play? Yes. Necessary? No.
And that's essentially the way the Clifton play was ruled, too.
"They fine guys $5,000 for having their pants out of their shirts, but he gets away with that?" said one coach. "How can you ever figure out what that league office is going to do when you see things like that?"
Agreed. The NFL made a major mistake in not fining Sapp, even if they did get one win in warning of any retribution talk.
Around the league
- There have been reports that the Rams will use the rest of the season to gauge whether or not to trade Kurt Warner after the season and keep Marc Bulger. Are you kidding me? The Rams have discussed trading Warner, but you can bet they've also discussed trading Bulger, too. In talking to a handful of league personnel this week, they were amazed that the Rams would even consider something as outlandish as trading a two-time MVP to keep Bulger, who is really nothing more than a backup -- no matter what he did when Warner was hurt. "He's more like a No. 3," said one coach of Bulger. There are financial considerations since Bulger is an exclusive rights free agent who would cost the team $375,000 next year while Warner is due a base salary of $5.3 million next year if the team exercises an option payment of $6 million on the final day of February. That will trigger the remaining four years of his contract. The cap issues aren't the problem with the Rams. It's more of a cash issue. Do you pay Warner the $6 million when you think Bulger might be your guy in a year or two? Warner has four or five good years left, which is why the Rams would be stupid to trade him. They can handle the cap ramifications of a trade, but they would not be able to handle the football ramifications. Trading away a pocket passer with his accuracy and touch might just be the dumbest deal in sports since the Red Sox traded away Babe Ruth. If the Rams use their heads, they'll offer Bulger around and then keep Warner. You don't trade great quarterbacks.
- There have been a lot of writers raving about Chargers offensive line coach Hudson Houck. And Houck has indeed done a good job piecing together the San Diego line, even through a series of injuries. That success has made it easy to overlook the fact that Houck had the makings of a special line in Dallas last year and that group got lazy and fat. Some say Houck's babying of the line is a big reason why players such as Soloman Page and Flozell Adams didn't reach their potential and why Larry Allen regressed. Page, in fact, is a player who almost certainly not be brought back by the Cowboys next season. He has not improved and all and he is said to have an attitude that has turned off the Cowboys brass. Houck was instrumental in getting both Adams and Page to Dallas.
- The Colts defense is making big strides under coordinator Ron Meeks , and the play of the linebackers is one of the reasons. Mike Peterson , who is coming off an injury-marred 2001 season, is having an outstanding year. He leads the team in tackles and again has proved to be a good weak-side linebacker. The guy makes plays. Rob Morris also has improved the past month and has given the Colts hope that he can become a force in the middle. And strong-side linebacker Marcus Washington continues to show well. This group, once thought to be a team weakness, is now a team strength. As they get better, look for the defense to continue to improve. The Colts also have high hopes for rookie linebacker David Thornton.
- The more you watch defensive end Simeon Rice play for the Bucs this year, the more you realize that he should be on his way to the Pro Bowl. He has developed into a multi-dimensional player.
- The Packers made two nice moves this week in locking up tackle Mark Tauscher and receiver Donald Driver to contract extensions. Both players could have become unrestricted free agents after the season, but the Packers did something to keep them from hitting the market. The smart thing is that these are rising players that probably have their best football in front of them. These are the kinds of players that should be paid, rather than some name player on his way down. Both players received nice deals, but the Packers did a good job of not overspending to do so.
- The Saints are worried about the play of quarterback Aaron Brooks the past two weeks. He is back making bad decisions, such as the interception he threw at the end of the half last week against Cleveland. Brooks has had these lapses before, and hasn't been mature about the way he's handled them. This week, though, he put the blame squarely on his own shoulders, which is a good sign in his maturation. It will be interesting to see how he responds to two bad games Sunday night against Tampa Bay.
- Colts receiver Marvin Harrison is clearly the best receiver in the NFL this season. He has 100 catches, the first player to get to that number in four consecutive years, and should shatter the single-season record for receptions of 123 held by Herman Moore . But here's something you probably don't know about Harrison: He leads the league in drops this year with 11 and has also been thrown to more (140 times) than any other receiver. He's one of the more under-appreciated players in the league.
Odds & ends
- Steelers coach Bill Cowher can play coy about who will start Sunday at quarterback against the Jaguars, but it will be Kordell Stewart. He took most of the snaps this week in practice. Tommy Maddox will sit another week to help heal from his neck and head injuries suffered two weeks ago against Tennessee.
- The demotion of Saints defensive tackle Norman Hand from the starting lineup worked. Hand responded with one of his better games last week against the Browns and is back in the starting lineup. The Saints did like what Kenny Smith did in his place, but Hand has to be effective in the middle for the Saints to be a good defense.
- After the Patriots won the Super Bowl, some league scouts said they did so with a bad duo of offensive tackles. That has proved out this year. The current starting duo of Matt Light and Greg Robinson-Randall has been bad. Robinson-Randall opened the season on the bench, but was back in the lineup when Kenyatta Jones struggled. The Patriots have to upgrade this position in the offseason.
