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Chemistry, class with Mike Martz
Week 5 Awards | Factoid
... Click here to send a question to Peter King's NFL Mailbag. EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The paths of associate head coach Al Saunders and defensive tackle Jeff Zgonina crossed just outside head coach Mike Martz's office about noon Saturday. Saunders is an offensive guy. Zgonina (pronounced ska-NEE-nah), obviously, hangs with the defense. On NFL teams, the offense and defense live in separate worlds maybe 70 percent of the time, on the practice fields and in meeting rooms. It is hard, then, for a coach and a player on opposite sides of the ball to be tight. Zgonina's father died of pancreatic cancer last week near Chicago, and this was the first time Saunders had seen the kid since he got back from the funeral. "I'm so sorry about your dad," Saunders said. "Thanks coach," Zgonina said. And they hugged. Not a quickie, perfunctory hug, but a meaningful, slap-on-the-back, I-feel-for-you-kid embrace from a coach who, if he didn't share Zgonina's pain, was sure doing a good job faking it.
Which brings me to the point of this column: how to build chemistry and an old-fashioned team spirit these days among 53 fairly rich men. I saw that good feeling Saturday in the Rams' locker room, this happy group shouting down a non-showerer after a light practice, practically shaming him into cleanliness. Guffaws everywhere. I watched lots of Rams' offensive game tape Friday and Saturday, and I noticed wide receiver Isaac Bruce dive-blocking his guts out on pass plays not intended for him; and I saw teammates thrilled and back-slapping when the fifth wideout, Tony Horne, caught a touchdown pass against the 49ers in Week 3. I know how much the locker room roots for Trent Green, who had his knee taken out 13 months earlier; Bruce is protective of him, sort of like a little brother. I heard corny stuff like this: I knew Ricky Proehl grew up a huge Giants' fan in a family with Giants season tickets so I asked him if he'd like to run out of the tunnel in the Meadowlands just once wearing the blue and white before he retires. "It'd be great," he said, "but I want to retire a Ram. Mike's already talked to me about it." That's Mike, as in head coach Martz, who has made it a point to be a psyche-builder as well as a game-plan builder. Case in point: He found out Zgonina's father was ill with cancer last summer. Martz invited Zgonina's dad to be on the sidelines during a preseason game, when he was still well enough to do so. He made Zgonina one of the captains for the game. Beaming father and son, just before the game, were photographed on the sidelines together. Zgonina told Martz his dad had taken a turn for the worse Monday, and Martz told him to go home, where he belonged, and not worry about practice this week -- just try to make it back for the game Sunday. You think Zgonina won't go through a wall for this guy? Martz credits Dick Vermeil for worrying about chemistry and character when he drafted (though he ridiculously coddled a player he didn't draft, Lawrence Phillips) and signed free agents. "Dick did a great job setting the table for me," Martz said on a quiet Saturday afternoon behind his desk at Rams Park. "I'm the beneficiary of a great situation. You coach your whole life for a chance like this, to coach a team with this much talent. And what makes it so special is it's a team full of brothers. Kurt Warner, no ego. Isaac Bruce, you see him on the practice field talking to the managers and the groundskeepers. Marshall Faulk, team guy. The stars are leaders and they lead in the right direction." What does this mean Sunday? No one knows. No one can quantify it. But when Martz disparages the Broncos for what he thinks is dirty blocking technique (and sends a tape of what he considers dirty plays to the league office), he's getting the guys in the trenches on his side. When he puts Horne and third tight end Jeff Robinson in the game to make catches at key times in big games, every guy down on the depth chart knows Martz isn't blowing smoke about how this is a 53-man game, and that they'd all better be ready to play. We all know the Rams are winning now because they have the best offense most of us have ever seen. Martz is trying to prolong the success by making sure the atmosphere is so good around the team that if players have a chance to make more money in free agency (Torry Holt, Az Hakim, London Fletcher), they'd consider staying with the Rams for less, just to be a part of this touchy-feely greatness. I'll believe that when I see it. But I'm starting to think if it can be done, Martz has a shot to do it. Postscript: After Sunday's 57-31 ho-hummer against San Diego, Martz choked up when he announces the game balls. One to Zgonina. One to Green, who got K.O.'d by the Chargers in the 1999 preseason and Sunday came back to throw a touchdown pass on his first drive in a real game since. Walking out of the press conference with him, I said: "You got a little emotional in there." "Had to," Martz said, biting his lower lip. "Jeff's like a son to me. I love Trent. This team loves Trent...." And then for a minute he couldn't say anything else. Week 5 AwardsOFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Washington RB Stephen Davis. More than the 141 yards rushing on 28 carries against one of the best run defenses of our day, it was the way Davis got the yards. He broke a long one. He fought for first downs. He smashed Warren Sapp and Booger McFarland in the chops and fell forward. Truly a big-league performance by a big-time back. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Team award. Baltimore Ravens. Three shutouts in five games. Slam dunk. Staccato sentences. Burnett's good. Siragusa's big. Lewis is brutal. Home playoff game looms. SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Philadelphia return specialist Brian Mitchell. He not only took back a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown, and returned five kicks total for 195 yards, but he ran twice from scrimmage for 105 yards, including an 85-yard TD sprint to end the scoring in the Eagles' 38-10 rout of the Falcons. GOAT OF THE WEEK: Pittsburgh WR Plaxico Burress whose idiotic spike in the fourth quarter -- before he was tackled -- handed the ball to Jacksonville. No, it didn't cost the Steelers the game. But it could have. "I'll never spike it again, unless I'm in the end zone," Burress promised. Gee, how thoughtful of you. Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only MeCaught significant Boston-area guff for my Drew Bledsoe column in the magazine this week with the sentiment running thusly: Bledsoe's a gutty quarterback, he can get us to the promised land if we build a good team about him. Agreed. He is, and he can. He showed that with his four-touchdown outing to bust the Broncos on Sunday. But how an NFL team goes about building a supporting cast has much bearing on how much the quarterback can be paid -- if said team wants to compete for a Super Bowl. And the Pats have $40.1 million tied up in future prorated signing bonus money to 10 players. Won't bore you with all of their names, but suffice it to say that the cap-eating future prorated bonus payments to cornerback Ty Law ($10.14 million), linebacker Ted Johnson ($7.11 million) and defensive end Willie McGinest ($6.23 million) will impact what the Patriots in the end will -- and should -- pay Bledsoe, the 20th-rated quarterback in the NFL since opening day 1998. The 10 Things I Think I Think1. I think you won't read much about it in the newspapers, but Jim Harbaugh (27-for-40, 348 yards, two touchdowns, one pick) was heroic in defeat in St. Louis. "I felt going into this game I had to be flawless," Harbaugh said. He was darn close, but even a 40-for-40 day wouldn't have beaten the Rams, I'm afraid. 2. I think one of the most revealing nuggets I've heard on the NFL this year came from Merril Hoge, on ESPN's matchup show during the weekend. He said he'd watched every Vikings offensive play this year, and on 34 of them, Randy Moss either stood stock still, loafed or walked through a route. Terrific note. It just shows that maybe we ought to take it seriously when Moss talks of being bored by football sometimes. Equally good was Hoge's blistering criticism of how Moss will eventually hurt his team big-time by dogging it. Great job by Hoge. And great job in buttressing the story with the video showing Moss dogging it. 3. I think this is where I can't buy Keyshawn Johnson, whose right to talk until his tongue falls out I support wholeheartedly: He's got to be kidding about blaming CNN/SI for airing tape of him giving a cameraman the finger last week. Why shoot the messenger? Johnson said on AthletesDirect.com that CNN/SI people went "out of their way to embarrass me, my family and the organization" by showing the bird-flipping on TV. Well, we could discuss for a long time the journalistic relevance of showing Johnson's middle finger on TV. But blaming CNN/SI for showing it is like me driving drunk, getting arrested for it, and ripping the bartender for serving me that seventh Heineken. 4. I think if Michael Vick is a stock, I'm buying 100 shares right now, at any price. To run for 215 yards against a good college team (Boston College) illustrates what a man-against-boys world he's playing in right now. 5. I think I would bet $100 that this quote on Dolphins fullback Rob Konrad from Bryan Cox on CNN's NFL Preview on Sunday will be on Miami's bulletin board any minute: "Rob Konrad can't block his way out of a paper bag." Tell us what you really think, Bryan. 6. I think these are my personal, non-football thoughts of the week: a. Coffee-nerdness: Starbucks baristas are supposed to empty the espresso pods after each use, then wash the remaining coffee grounds out with hot water. Three of my four lattes this weekend were made without rinsing the pods between uses. That gives the lattes a slightly bitter taste. Memo to baristas nationwide: We can taste the difference. b. Field hockey: Montclair (N.J.) High, the object of my fall fan-ness, beat Ramsey on Thursday 5-0, was idle during the weekend, and rose from 14th to 12th in the (Newark) Star-Ledger state poll. Please, however, do not ask me to get any of the highlights with clarity on my handicam. I stink at videography. c. Cy Young opinion: There should be little disputing Pedro Martinez' chances for the Cy after he won his 18th in Chicago, but just in case there's any doubt, I say this to the voters: His 1.74 ERA, a career low, is less than half of any other legit candidate (Wells, Hudson, Pettitte, Sele). His four shutouts are double the number that any other legit candidate has. Foes batted .167 off him, .285 off the only 20-game winner, David Wells. Pedro struck out 11.8 per nine innings, four more than any legit candidate. In his six losses, Boston scored seven runs -- total. And not that this plays in, but Martinez, spotty run support and all, is 60-17 in his three Fenway seasons. A pitcher in Fenway, 43 above .500 over three years? Your witness, counselor. d. U2 alert in St. Louis: Post-Dispatch sports columnist Bernie Miklasz reports exclusively that Bono, U2 lead singer and international champion of erasing Third World debt, is eager to attend a Rams game. Maybe he'll attend a physical, brutal game and sing Sunday, Bloody Sunday at halftime. 7. I think what makes Peyton Manning so impressive is what everyone questioned about him coming into the NFL: Quickness. Release. Watch those highlights of Colts-Bills. He gets rid of the ball as quickly as anyone in the game, and he proves that it's not how fast you are in pocket, it's how you make those little steps in the pocket to avoid being hit that helps you avoid the monster hits. 8a. I think St. Louis will never be a Rams town. The Cardinals, who'd long since clinched the National League Central, sold every ticket plus standing-room passes for Saturday's game with Cincinnati. 8b. I think, quite honestly, the Rams could have beaten San Diego 78-24 had they wanted to. They called off the dogs with 20 minutes to play. 9. I think Sunday's overtime loss to Dallas was just one more indication Carolina must concentrate more on building a team from within less on buying old guys. The Panthers signed free agents Chuck Smith, Reggie White and Eric Swann (average age: 33) to join 30-year-old Sean Gilbert for a dream defensive line this fall. With Swann's nine-times-cut-upon knees troubling him and the achy right quad of the $21.5-million Smith forcing him out until mid-October, the moral of the story shouts at Panthers brass: Develop your own players. Rent-a-geezer doesn't work. 10. I think Tom Coughlin must not have gotten a good night's sleep last night. And so no Jaguars player will sleep well all week. Click here to send a question to Peter
King's NFL Mailbag.
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