Ten Things I Think I Think

Free-agent signee Michael Turner could surpass his career rushing total (1,257 in four seasons) with the Falcons in 2008. AP

1. I think I wish the NFL would, once and for all, get serious about enforcing tampering. I bring to your attention a Jan. 31 memo from the league that I obtained, reminding teams to lay off players from other teams until the opening of the free-agency period, which began Friday at 12:01 a.m. ET.

The memo read, in part: "You are specifically reminded that any contact -- direct or indirect -- by one club with players under contract to another club, about potential future employment, is not permitted. Such contacts could potentially interfere with the employer-employee relationship of the second club. Further, any public or private statement of interest, qualified or unqualified, in another club's player to the player's agent or representative, or to the news media, is a violation of the Anti-Tampering Policy.

"These rules are in effect at all times that a player remains under contract; the anticipated expiration of a player contract at the beginning of the upcoming League year (that is, a player's expectation that he will soon become a free agent) does not excuse impermissible contact prior to such contract expiration.''

And so I see all kinds of agents talking to teams at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. I see teams agreeing to terms with players as they do every year in the first hour of free agency (as Miami did with a guard, Justin Smiley of the 49ers). And, by the way, how did I know the Eagles would be the leaders in the clubhouse for Asante, including details about the money in the deal, nine days ago?

We've got to stop pretending this doesn't exist, and the league has to stop selectively enforcing some rules and not others. If there's an anti-tampering rule, the NFL must enforce it the way it enforces other rules.

2. I think I'm shocked Lance Briggs is back with the Bears. It just shows that the market at linebacker was not nearly what the market was at either offensive or defensive line.

3. I think -- and I'm not really concerned about the money -- the Falcons needed a long-term running back and I think they got one with Michael Turner. The one thing Mike Smith's team is going to need to do is run the ball reliably for four quarters for 16 games.

4. I think my first reaction to Kris Jenkins with the Jets was that this is a guy who has had back problems, whom the Panthers have been unhappy with because he's been overweight and out of shape. I didn't like the move. But I talked to one general manager, one cap guy and one head coach in the NFC South, who over the past two years have had to deal with playing Jenkins, and all three said that they didn't think, in this market, that it was an outrageous signing. I still have some skepticism about Jenkins staying healthy and making the change from the 4-3 to the 3-4 as the nose man, but I'll reserve judgment on this one.

5. I think what made the late Pittsburgh legend Myron Cope so special was his skill as a writer, as a broadcaster and as a charismatic teller of tales. I'm so sad he's dead. I can't tell you how many times our night at my in-laws in Dormont, a Pittsburgh suburb, would center around Myron's talk show, when he'd greet callers with, "What's on your cranium?''

He'd say two or three things nightly that taught you something you didn't know, that made you laugh out loud and that caused me to think how lucky my in-laws were to hear this genuine person every night FOR FREE! He'd bring out his shirtpocket notes (his words for newsgathering), and talk about the Clevebronnies (the Cleveland Browns), the Cincy Bungles (you can figure that one out) or Emperor Chaz (Chuck Noll), and if he didn't agree with a caller to his show, he'd label the opinion "gorgonzola'' and move on.

When I started covering football games in Pittsburgh, I made sure I packed a small radio each time I had a Steeler assignment. I wasn't a very hospitable neighbor in the Three Rivers press box, because I put my headphones on and listened to every word of the radio team -- lasting even to the time when I'd walk to my car and want to know what Myron was saying postgame. This happened occasionally in press boxes, but it was an every-time occurrence when I had the Steelers at home.

Dan Rooney used to get a great kick out of it when I'd tell him my father-in-law had two traditions on Sunday afternoons: 1) the Terrible Towel would find its way to the rabbit ears on his TV (Cable? We don't need no stinkin' cable) for every game, for luck, and 2) Myron on the radio would be turned up and the TV voices would be turned down ... EVERY week.

I firmly believe there was no voice as identifiable with his team as Cope was with the Steelers, ever -- not Vin Scully, not Ernie Harwell, not Mel Allen, not Johnny Most.

Finally, the man could write, and he was most proud of that. The managing editor who hired me at Sports Illustrated, Mark Mulvoy, also loved Myron's writing and he told me Saturday night: "What I liked about Myron the most was he wrote like he talked." How many people can you say that about? That's a hell of a gift. It was not the most elegant prose, but it was pointed and meaningful. He was the voice of Pittsburgh, and so few cities had a voice as distinctive as him.

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