Inside the NFL
Posted: Tuesday December 08, 1998 04:59 PM
This week's topics:
Facing the Music | Backers Can't Agree on System
The Bus Has a Flat | 49ers Hurting Without
Tackle
Those Hoarsey Broncos | Going
Deep
The Buzz | Dr. Z's Forecast
Facing the Music
Behind the scenes with embattled officials as they prepare for a game
By Peter King
 The man with
the snow-white hair, windbreaker and loafers settled into a couch in a
Pittsburgh airport hotel lobby last Saturday night, and if you didn't know
better, you might have thought he was a businessman who had just taken
advantage of the October-like weather to sneak in one more round of golf in
1998. Instead, he was here to stand up for his part-time profession--NFL
officiating--and his 111 colleagues who have come under so much fire for
their recent mistakes. "You'd have to be a recluse not to feel the
heat," said 21-year veteran official Dick Hantak, 60, one of the league's
16 referees and the chief of the seven-man crew that worked the
Patriots-Steelers game on Sunday. Ten days earlier referee Phil Luckett had
presided over the botched overtime coin flip in the Steelers-Lions game,
incorrectly handing the ball to Detroit, which promptly drove for the
winning field goal. In the Patriots' final-play win over the Bills three
days later, line judge Dave Anderson and field judge Dick Creed extended
New England's decisive drive by incorrectly giving wideout Shawn Jefferson a
completion on fourth-and-nine when he caught the ball out-of-bounds; on the
next play side judge Terry McAulay made an incomprehensible pass
interference call on a Hail Mary, setting up New England's winning
touchdown. "Don't misunderstand," Hantak said. "We should be criticized
when we blow a call. It goes with the territory. But there were 2,200 calls
last weekend, and how many are we talking about? Two?" Two that may end
up costing Buffalo a playoff spot. Hantak said the league's other officials
"lived and died with that crew in New England. Unfortunately they missed
two calls. But if they get the first call right, then the second play never
happens. Our greatest fear--all of us--is that we'll do something to cost
somebody a game." On Sunday, Luckett's crew did just that. The Seahawks
were leading the Jets 31-26 with 27 seconds to play when New York's Vinny Testaverde attempted a
quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal from the Seattle five. Head linesman
Earnie Frantz immediately signaled touchdown. The crew huddled for almost a
minute before Luckett finally signaled the same. However, TV replays showed
that only the crown of Testaverde's helmet crossed the plane of the goal
line, while the ball, which he bobbled short of the end zone, never made it
across. Can anybody say replay? Members of the media are rarely
granted access to officials, but Hantak was allowed to shed light on
several hot topics. On instant replay: "I really don't care if it comes
back. If we have any officials worried about replay, they shouldn't be on
the staff. We're told to use a Wilson ball, so we use it. If we're told to
use instant replay, we'll use it, and let the chips fall where they may."
On the cry for full-time officials: "We have lawyers, CEOs, businessmen
doing this job. If you look at the cost analysis, I don't see how it would
be worth it or how it would make the officials better." On the blizzard
of criticism: "All of us want to be liked, but it doesn't affect my job."
Hantak, a retired teacher, then hustled up two floors to the weekly
meeting every referee has with his crew on the eve of a game. At a
conference table with six fellow officials and, as always, two observers
from the league office, Hantak attended to some housekeeping, then got down
to business: watching and discussing director of officiating Jerry Seeman's
weekly tape of plays from recent games with voice-over commentary from
Seeman. There were kudos all around the room for head linesman Dale
Williams, who aced a call in the crew's previous game, Tennessee at
Seattle. Oilers running back Eddie George grazed the
right front-corner pylon on a two-point conversion run that would have tied
the score in the fourth quarter. George, however, had the ball in his right
hand, and it didn't break the plane of the goal line before he stepped
out-of-bounds. Williams ruled no score. "Great job, Dale," Hantak said.
Late on the tape came the two plays from the Buffalo-New England game. A
slow-motion replay showed that Jefferson did not get his feet down in
bounds, prompting Seeman to say on the tape, "Look at the feet. Never got
down. This is an incomplete pass." Seeman's voice had been professorial as
he reviewed calls and tipped officials on fine points, but on the Hail Mary
pass interference penalty his tone turned grim. "We have talked, men,"
Seeman said. "Your calls had better be Super Bowl calls.... We don't want
to determine the outcome of games unless it's the most blatant thing you've
seen." As the play was shown from several angles, the room grew silent. New
England wideout Terry
Glenn was slightly jostled, as everyone is on a Hail Mary, but there
was no interference as he tried to catch the ball. "There is no foul,"
Seeman said with passion. "There is no foul. It's incomprehensible as much
as we prepare.... When we make such a blatant error in judgment, we deserve
the criticism we get." The room remained quiet as Seeman finished. "The
greatest attribute of the NFL official is common sense. Under no conditions
should an official or officials ever be involved in a situation like this
again." The crew spent another 90 minutes reviewing a video from
Oilers-Seahawks, then took its weekly rules interpretation test and went
over the answers. Hantak was in his room by 9:30 p.m., hoping to remain out
of the spotlight during the next day's game at Three Rivers Stadium. "You
know the greatest compliment we can get?" Hantak said. "It's at the end of
the game, if people say, I wonder which officials worked that game?"
Back to the
top Backers Can't
Agree on System Year in and year out,
Ralph Wilson has voiced opposition to the idea of using instant replay to
aid officials, so when the Bills' owner said last week that he would
support a limited use of videotape review, it was big news. With the
expansion Browns expected to bring an additional vote of support, replay
proponents should have the 24 votes they need at the NFL meetings in March
to reinstate replays. On Monday the league was already exploring the
possibility of a quick fix--a limited use of replays for this postseason. A
vote is scheduled for next week. But when the owners convene in the
spring, can 24 agree on a permanent system? There is sentiment for three
types of replay: 1) the original system, with an official reviewing certain
types of calls in a booth high in the stadium; 2) a challenge format, in
which coaches would be able to dispute two or three calls; and 3) a more
radical system that would also include reviews of judgment calls such as
pass interference. The teams are so divided that it's hard to imagine
any of the three plans getting 24 votes. Even some teams are split on the
question. Members of the Steelers, for instance, disagree on how to
implement it. Club president Dan Rooney wants the format that includes
reviewing judgment calls. Coach Bill Cowher wants to pick up the system the
league used for six years beginning in 1986; he hates the challenge concept
because a coach will be powerless to contest a blatantly poor call if he
has already used his allotted number of protests. But Cowher admits he
might support the challenge system if he thought it was the only way to get
replay back. "I guess a poor form's better than no form," he says.
Back to the
top The Bus Has a
Flat
| |
The wheels have come off the Bus, who has one 100-yard rushing game in the last six weeks Al Teilemans | Steelers franchise back Jerome Bettis is a jovial
sort, rarely without a smile. But last Saturday he looked tired, tired of
struggling in a suddenly weak running game and worn out from the
controversy that followed the botched overtime coin flip against the Lions.
"The coin flip will be with me for the rest of my life," said Bettis, who
called tails only to have referee Phil Luckett insist he said heads. "It'll
never leave." Lately it has seemed as though the first slump Bettis has
endured since a disastrous year with the Rams in 1995 will be everlasting
too. Dealt to the Steelers in '96, Bettis averaged 97 yards rushing per
game over the next two regular seasons. This year he's struggling to reach
the 1,000-yard mark. After a 12-carry, 48-yard performance in a 23-9 loss
to the Patriots on Sunday, he has 879 yards with three games to play.
Bettis, 26, has been running behind an injury-wracked line, but what about
the play-calling? On Pittsburgh's first 22 snaps against New England, he
carried eight times for 44 yards, and the Steelers trailed only 6-0. But on
the 39 plays during the rest of the game he touched the ball just four
times. The Steelers ought to know better. If you bang the 252-pound Bettis
long enough, he can break a defense. "It makes me laugh when people say I'm
washed up or I've lost a step," he says. "We have just had no rhythm from
one game to the next." So the 7-6 Steelers, barring a three-game
winning streak to end the regular season or a lot of help from teams ahead
of them in the AFC wild-card chase, will miss the playoffs for the first
time in coach Bill Cowher's seven years. The players can almost smell the
off-season. "I'm confident things will work out for us," says linebacker Levon Kirkland, "if not
this year then next year." Back
to the top
Dispatches: 49ers Hurting Without Tackle
Niners players and coaches are crushed by the loss of defensive tackle
Bryant Young, who broke
his right leg on Nov. 30 against the Giants. Already suspect at cornerback,
San Francisco can't expect to go far in the playoffs with a tackle rotation
of career backup Junior
Bryant, converted end Gabe Wilkins and Lions
reject Shane Bonham.
Against the Panthers the 49ers blew a 21-point lead before winning in
overtime 31-28. "He's not completely healthy, but it's time for Gabe to
show us what he's got," coach Steve Mariucci says of Wilkins, an off-season
free-agent acquisition.... Look for the Colts and the Packers to use their
franchise tags on running back Marshall Faulk and wideout
Antonio Freeman,
respectively, effectively keeping them off the free-agent market in the
off-season. Back to the
top The End Zone:
Those Hoarsey Broncos In advance of
his team's game with bitter rival Kansas City, ever-loquacious Denver tight
end Shannon Sharpe
refused to talk to the media. That, plus coach Mike Shanahan's dislike of
the league's injury-reporting system, led the Broncos to add the following
to last week's injury report: "TE Shannon Sharpe (laryngitis) probable."
Back to the
top Going Deep
The 1999 draft will have depth at the
skill positions, particularly at quarterback. Based on interviews with
personnel men from eight NFL teams, here are the probable top dozen picks
-- including juniors (noted with asterisks) who are expected to come out
early. Conspicuous by their absence are two highly touted juniors, Ohio
State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer and North Carolina cornerback Dre' Bly,
both of whom had subpar seasons.
| Player
| POSITION
| COLLEGE
| HEIGHT
| WEIGHT
|
| Tim Couch* |
QB | Kentucky | 6'5" | 225 |
| Rifle-armed passer could be the man who the expansion
Browns build around |
| Ricky Williams
| RB |
Texas | 6'0" | 225 |
| One of the
draft's top prizes comes with one warning: He wants to play baseball,
too |
| Daunte Culpepper |
QB | Central Florida | 6'4" | 240 |
| A polished
Steve McNair as a
passer, but he's a little slow afoot |
|
Champ Bailey* | WR-CB | Georgia | 6'1" | 186 |
| A Deion of
sorts with great cover skills and the ability to double as a
receiver |
| Torry Holt |
WR | N.C. State | 6'2" | 186 |
| Caught 88
passes, 10 for TDs, and returned two punts for scores in
'98 |
| Ebenezer Ekuban | DE | North Carolina | 6'4" | 265 |
| His 4.67
speed makes this converted tight end a top pass-rushing
prospect |
| Jevon Kearse* |
OLB | Florida | 6'5" | 254 |
| Speed
rusher who could be tried at defensive end as a pro |
| David Boston* | WR | Ohio State | 6'3" | 215 |
| Cocky, but
has the speed and size of a prototypical big receiver |
| Akili Smith | QB | Oregon | 6'3" | 215 |
| Burst onto
the scene this season, completing 59% of his passes |
| Chris Claiborne* | LB | USC | 6'3" | 250 |
| Tremendous
playmaker whose stock has risen after big year with
Trojans |
| Donovan McNabb |
QB | Syracuse | 6'3" | 220 |
| Mobile
with strong arm; after great senior season could easily slip into top
10 |
| John Tait* | T | BYU | 6'6" | 310 |
| Quick feet
make this mountain a bona fide blind-side protector |
| Back
to the top The Buzz
1. Green's Machine Can
anybody in the NFC slow down the Vikings? Can the Broncos? With three games
left, Minnesota has already scored more points (442) than 11 of the 12
playoff teams scored all last season. The Vikings' offense looks as
dominating as the Super Bowl champion Bears' defense of 1985. 2.
It's Easier Than It Looks Six days after Raiders quarterback Jeff George pronounced
himself out for the year with a groin injury, sub Donald Hollas played one
of the worst games in NFL history, throwing six interceptions and getting
sacked eight times in a 27-17 loss to the Dolphins. "Funny," Hollas said
after Oakland's fourth straight loss. "I was watching an HBO special, and
some guy threw seven interceptions. I thought, How in the world can you
throw seven interceptions?" 3. Here Come the Saints Four days
after an inspirational talk by owner Tom Benson, the Saints spanked the
Cowboys 22-3, holding Dallas to a franchise-record-low eight yards rushing.
Afterward, Benson predicted that 6-7 New Orleans would make its first
playoff appearance since '92. With games remaining against the Falcons,
Cardinals and Bills, the Saints will have earned a spot in the postseason
if they make it. Issue date: December 14, 1998
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