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Orlando Brown shames sport, society
Posted: Monday December 20, 1999 09:31 AM
Week 15 Awards | The Top 10 Teams | Click here to send a question to Peter King's NFL Mailbag. CLEVELAND -- The voice on the other end of the phone this Monday morning was as sad as the one I'd heard 13 hours earlier. Browns coach Chris Palmer was devastated over what Orlando Brown, his right tackle, did in Sunday's game -- and over the aftermath of this horrible incident. Devastated. That is not too strong a word. "He spent the night in the hospital,'' Palmer said softly. "The doctors said it'd be three or four days before they know.'' Know about the long-term health of the eye, Palmer meant. When I'd left him about 5:20 p.m. Sunday evening, Palmer was in a mood befitting his suit. Dressed in a brown suit, brown socks, brown shoes, brown topcoat and brown tie, Palmer sat in his office, absolutely stunned at what Brown did on the field. Brown purposefully shoved referee Jeff Triplette to the ground. And if he hadn't been stopped by teammates, Brown might have done worse. I can only say that when it happened, I reacted as if I'd just seen a plane crash. This just never happens. Literally. The wind got sucked out of me, and out of most of the crowd, I assume. It affected Palmer the same way. Palmer looked ashen at his post-fight -- er, post-game -- press conference. "I would like to apologize to Jeff Triplette for what happened today,'' he said softly, his voice full of shame. "It was an embarrassing situation for me. Maybe if I had more control over the situation he [Triplette] would have been in better shape. I have tried to work with the player and his emotions during the course of the year, and obviously I failed in this situation.'' The story grew as the day went on. Let's begin at the beginning. If you haven't seen the play, here's what happened. Referee Triplette, positioned behind and to the right of right tackle Brown, threw a flag on the Browns for a false start. The flag, with tiny weighted BBs on the end (I still haven't figured that one out, nor why officials sometimes throw these things like a Pedro Martinez fastball), zinged through the facemask of Brown and hit him in the right eyeball. Brown grabbed his facemask, in obvious pain; Triplette went to him immediately, leaned over him and apologized. Brown stumbled to the sideline. The Browns sent in Chris Ruhman to sub for Brown. A few seconds later, Brown walked back onto the field toward Triplette, pointing to his eye with some fervor, and Triplette (who looks to be about 200 pounds) held his hands out, as if to say something. Brown, all 350 pounds of him, kept walking and suddenly thrust both hands toward Triplette, striking him on the chest with both hands and sending him sprawling to the ground. Amazing! Brown was ejected and then goes through a sideline meltdown -- he and Palmer got into an expletive-filled shouting match -- finally getting half-dragged to the locker room, kicking the 10-yard-line marker and goal-line marker on his way. After the game, sitting in his office, Palmer said he was worried about Brown's eye. He said the orbital bone or socket might be broken. He said Brown was undergoing a CAT scan as we spoke to determine the extent of the damage, but there was a lot of blood building up pressure around the eye which had the team doctors worried. "I am very worried about the young man,'' he said. "It's a terribly unfortunate incident. The ref came over to me and apologized for hitting Zeus [Brown's nickname]. He apologized to Zeus, too.'' Good and right. But you know what worries me? The eye, of course. But I wasn't crazy about how his teammates reacted. I overheard one telling a team official: "A ref throws something in my eye, I'm fighting him too.'' Others said they didn't condone what Brown did, but several talked about the weighted penalty flags being an accident waiting to happen, and how they could understand a teammate losing it. Fellas, this was an accident. He is authority. He is law. You are citizen. You do not lay a hand on him under any circumstances. Striking an official, then trying to justify it, is at best Sprewellistic. I repeat: There is nothing, not even an injury to an eye, that makes what Brown did okay. I see a breakdown of authority, and I wonder what this portends for society, 12 days before the new century. I am not being an old lady. I am not being William Bennett. But what happened here, I think, is a horrible sign for our society and our sports. What must happen here should be something swift and forceful. Paul Tagliabue has to make a statement. He has to suspend Orlando Brown for between six games and a full season, even if it means he fights Gene Upshaw and the players association to do it. This must not stand. Human decency cries out for a severe penalty. And one more thing, from Chris Palmer this morning. "Did you know,'' he told me, "that Orlando's father is blind? The doctors told me that flashed through his mind when this all happened.'' I am sympathetic. This is horrible story with terrible ramifications for people and the league. But at the core is the worst thing I've seen a player do. He must be punished. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: San Francisco WR Jerry Rice. Late in the first quarter at Carolina Saturday, at the Panthers' 48, Rice lined up one-on-one against former 49ers cornerback Eric Davis. Rice ran with Davis for about 15 yards downfield, then used his best burst, getting a clean step on Davis, and quarterback Jeff Garcia threw a rainbow far down the right side. Rice ran under it and converted the bomb into a 48-yard touchdown connection. Rice leapt into Terrell Owens' arms and thrust one finger into the air. He chest-bumped and talked stuff along the 49ers sideline. He looked like the Rice of old, for one play. "That's the 180th touchdown reception of Jerry Rice's career,'' the press-box announcer in Charlotte said. I thought: That might be the last one of those we ever see. Let's appreciate it. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pittsburgh ILB Levon Kirkland. He's the definition of a guy who hasn't given up in a lost season. Against Kansas City on a first-quarter third down, the Steelers blitzed and Kirkland hung back for the threat of a screen. Elvis Grbac threw the screen to fullback Tony Richardson, with center Tim Grunhard in front of him. Kirkland threw Grunhard away, then smothered Richardson. Perfect play by a great player. For the game, Kirkland had nine tackles and a forced fumble. And if I'm the Panthers this week, plotting a trip to Three Rivers this weekend, I'm trying to figure out a way to neutralize him this morning. SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Buffalo safety Henry Jones, whose 37-yard return of an onside kick for a touchdown clinched the Bills' 31-21 win over Arizona. COACH OF THE WEEK: Carolina offensive coordinator Gil Haskell. In the first four years of the Panthers' existence, they scored 30 points six times. In the first 14 weeks of this season -- with a quarterback other teams have repeatedly thrown away, with a patchwork offensive line, with pedestrian receivers, with the team adjusting to the fact that a guy supposed to be a cornerstone at season's beginning was charged with murder -- they scored 30 or more seven times, including a rout of the 49ers Saturday. Haskell's firmness and patience and excellent teaching skills make him a superb coach this era in the NFL. And remember: This is the guy who almost died five years ago after he was plowed over on the sideline as a Green Bay assistant coach. "I remember,'' Haskell told me the other day, "when I finally started coming around, doctors told me it'd be a year before I could run. It was a year and a half. It's amazing, really, when you think of what happened.'' THE REAL DEALS 1. Indianapolis (12-2). Home field, if head-to-head and conference record can't decide it, then it should be determined by opponents' strength of schedule. That tells you who's had it toughest through the year if two teams tie. 2. Jacksonville (13-1). Unimpressive Jags win 10th in a row, all against teams with losing records, at sanitized Dawg Pound. 3. St. Louis (12-2). Quality rout against resurgent Giants. THE ACHILLES'-HEEL DEALS 4. Tampa Bay (9-5). One incredible mulligan in Oakland doesn't ruin the Bucs. 5. Tennessee (10-3). I'll tell you why the Titans are paper tigers right now: If necessary, Steve McNair can't carry them. 6. Kansas City (9-5). Opponents' record heading into the weekend: 72-58, third-toughest in the NFL. 7. Minnesota (7-6). Flying in the face of all logic, I put my trust in Jeff George to run the table (Packers at home Monday, at Giants Dec. 26, Detroit at home Jan. 2), make the Vikings the NFC's fourth seed, and open the playoffs at home against Dallas. 8. Detroit (8-6). Opponents' record heading into the weekend: 76-54, toughest in the NFL. 9. Buffalo (9-5). Bruce Smith had better not be hurt. Doug Flutie had better get hot. 10. (tie) Baltimore (7-7). Sell, Art, sell! Oakland (7-7). Coach, Jon, coach! The 10 Things I Think I Think This Week 1. I think it must have been a swell week in Dolphland. Or, as one of their staffers said to me: "It's the week of the three-ring circus.'' First there's the walking-on-eggshells stuff with Dan Marino. (During the week, Jimmy Johnson decided he'd have to pull Marino if he played poorly against San Diego.) Second, Cecil Collins sneaks through a ground-floor window of a neighboring apartment building, for God knows what reason. Third, Dimitrius Underwood tells Johnson he wants to rehab in Philadelphia, not Miami, and Johnson releases him. How about that trifecta? (By the way, kill Johnson if you want about his lack of conscience in putting so many problem children on his team. Do not kill him for crippling the team's cap with these two misfit toys. Collins' cap number is $211,666, Underwood's $120,806. Together, they represent one-half of 1 percent of the Dolphins' $57.3-million cap.) 2. I think if you told me before the season that the quarterbacks representing the NFL in the Pro Bowl this year would be (and they should be) Kurt Warner, Steve Beuerlein and Jeff George, I might have suggested you go in into Football Knowledge rehab. 3. I think Pete Carroll should start packing. 4. I think anyone who thinks the NFL should go to an 18-game schedule should have been at the Browns-Jags game Sunday. Talk about dropping like flies. The Jags lost Kevin Hardy, Tony Brackens and Carnell Lake for significant periods. These players are at the body-breaking point trying to get through 16 weeks. 5. I think the Jacksonville pass-rush is going to give people major problems in January. 6. I think the Jets, the way they're playing now, will be better than two or three teams that make the playoffs. And a memo to whoever coaches that team next year: If you look for a quarterback to back up Vinny Testaverde whose name is not Ray Lucas, you're nuts. 7. I think the TV quote of the weekend comes from Jerry Glanville, on the CBS pre-game show Saturday. The world assumes the Steelers stink because Bill Cowher has lost his focus and isn't in the game anymore and blah blah blah. That's 12 percent of it. Maybe. The rest? Talent loss. Especially at the quarterback position, where Kordell Stewart has done every thing humanly possible to show how not to play the position. "I was a good coach when the quarterback played good,'' Glanville said. "When the quarterback was bad, I couldn't coach.'' 8. I think, and I've said this two or three times in recent weeks, that the effort with which the Denver Broncos are playing right now is exemplary. 9a. I think Jon Kitna arrived as a quarterback yesterday, on a play you might not think of as a coming-of-age play. On third-and-12 late in the fourth quarter, with the ground shaking at Mile High (I know; I've been there when the crowd is going crazy and the ground absolutely shakes), he laid a touchdown pass right in the hands of Sean Dawkins -- and Dawkins dropped it. That doesn't negate the huge play under great pressure that Kitna made. 9b. I think the Seattle-Denver game was one of the 20 best games I've ever witnessed. 10. I think I wonder this: Why are BBs used to weigh down penalty flags? And why do officials see a need to throw flags at piles of football players? Hasn't anyone in the league office ever said: This is a bad idea, throwing little rocks covered by fabric at our natural resources, the players? Click here to send a question to Peter King's NFL Mailbag.
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