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Jimmy Johnson's Keys to success
Week 12 Awards | Factoid
... Click here to send a question to Peter King's NFL Mailbag. MIAMI -- At halftime of the Jets-Dolphins snoozefest Sunday, I found myself picturing a man walking a seven-pound ball of fur, a Yorkie, on a six-acre oceanfront plot of land 95 miles southwest of Pro Player Stadium, halfway down the Florida Keys. "There's only one thing about my life now that's very predictable," Jimmy Johnson told me a few days ago. "Sunday afternoons. I'll be in my recliner at five minutes to one, watching my bank of TVs with NFL Sunday Ticket, and there'll be lots of food and drink there. I'll watch the games at one o'clock, then the games at four o'clock, and at halftime of the second game, I'll take Buttercup for a walk around the yard. A 12-minute walk."
I had a feeling Johnson was not missing the game -- the intense game, the wins and the losses and the sour stomach and the rift with Dan Marino and the fans who fell out of love with him at the end and the critical columns -- and I was right. The only thing that upsets Johnson is a rotten NASDAQ day. I knew he was pretty heavy into the market, but it's interesting to know just how heavy he's into it. A week or so ago, Johnson bought 10,000 shares of Microsoft, which probably cost something on the order of $600,000. His theory: The Feds have ordered a breakup of Microsoft, but George W. Bush has dropped hints that he wouldn't want the huge company broken up. And so the other day, Microsoft was up two dollars and change. I am convinced this is why Johnson called me back. He was happy. I had been trying to reach him for a couple of weeks, without success. "Playing the market satisfies some of the competitor in me," he said. "A day like today, I'm in great spirits. The market's up, and things are looking pretty good for a Bush presidency now. Yesterday, I was no fun to be around." It's clear that Johnson walked away at the right time when he hung it up after the playoff mauling at Jacksonville last January. "I was ready to leave," he said. "I knew it. Staying the extra year paved the way for Dave [Wannstedt] to take over, which turned out to be a great thing for everyone. [Miami GM] Eddie Jones called me the other day and I said to him, 'I was right about Dave, wasn't I?' He said, 'You were really right.' I'm disappointed it ended the way it did for us, but I leave teams in pretty good shape. I left the University of Miami in good shape. I left the Cowboys in good shape. And now the Dolphins are at the top of the division." He's right. But the fact is the Dolphins never got nearly as far as they should have under Johnson. He never figured out -- diplomatically or schematically -- how to blend Marino into a conservative Johnson-type offense, the one Wannstedt is running right now. And though Johnson went to the playoffs three times in four years, he'll go down in the hearts of most Dolphins fans as a man who didn't deliver what he set out to deliver. For now, Johnson says, he's almost certain he'll never coach again, but he might be a consultant for an owner, perhaps as early as this offseason. "I've already talked to one owner about it," said Johnson, who is not contractually bound to the Fish anymore. "And when the time comes, we may talk again about setting up an organization, and the way I'd do it." I don't know the organization, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was Jacksonville, assuming Tom Coughlin leaves at the end of the season. Bad assumption, I think. Anyway, Johnson wouldn't say who it was. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, Johnson won't be pining over it. "I had a good run," he said. "Won a lot of games. Had a ton of laughs. Had some great success. But this is the life for me right now. I'm just one of the Keys people now." I asked him to explain. "It's just a different life. You know, if you want to hire someone down here to do work for you, you don't call on Monday. They'll be hungover. And you don't call on Friday. They'll be getting an early start on the weekend. If you're lucky, you might get them to come to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But that's the environment I live in now, and I like it." Week 12 AwardsOFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jacksonville RB Fred Taylor. In 1975, O.J. Simpson ran for 225 yards against the Steelers in a game, and until Sunday night, that was the best rushing day a back ever had against this storied team. Taylor steamrolled the Steelers 30 times for 234 yards, and the Jags rolled to a 34-24 win. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Chicago CB Thomas Smith. Chicago up 13-10 on Tampa Bay, late fourth quarter, Bucs driving, first-and-10. Smith smells screen, and he spies Warrick Dunn, one of the best screen-runners in football. Shaun King sells the screen and dumps it to Dunn, who turns and KA-BOOM! Smith blows him up for a five-yard loss, making it second-and-15. A couple of plays later, King throws the game-deciding interception to Brian Urlacher. What a great play by Smith, who finished with a team-high seven tackles on the day. SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Detroit punt returner Desmond Howard, who showed why special teams are so important in the Lions' 31-21 win over the Giants. Most football games (most games, that is, not involving the Rams) are field-position games. Are the Lions four touchdowns better than the Giants? No, but they are when their average drive in the first half began on the New York 42. Returns of 50 and 30 yards in the first half by the best punt-return man of all time dictated the outcome of this game. COACH OF THE WEEK: Washington passing game coordinator Terry Robiskie. The Redskins didn't play Sunday, of course. But I reward Robiskie for being a man. He is a veteran NFL assistant and a black man. NFL teams have hired one black head coach since Tony Dungy got the Tampa Bay job in January 1996. Many black coaches shy away from talking about this, thinking it will affect their chances of getting a job. Not Robiskie. He told me Saturday he was beyond frustration on this topic. "In America, you're taught if you grow up, work hard, advance in your job, you'll have a shot at the American dream. In pro football, when you get to the coordinator level and do a good job, you should have a chance to move up. That doesn't hold true in our game right now." OFFICIAL OF THE WEEK: Referee Dick Hantak, for his gutsy call in Buffalo's 21-17 win at Kansas City. With the Chiefs up 17-14, and about four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Bills quarterback Rob Johnson was knocked out of bounds at the Chiefs' 1-yard-line while stretching to hold the ball over the plain of the goal line. The Bills called for a replay review. Hantak, in the face of a hostile crowd and with quasi-marginal replay evidence to overturn the call, could have been forgiven for letting the play stand. But he overturned it, which was the right call. Good job. Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only MeAfter 12 weeks of the NFL season, New Orleans has the league's only perfect (4-0) division record. The 10 Things I Think I Think1a. I think nobody around South Florida ever thought there would be a bigger story than Elian, and now Chadgate happens. Amazing being here in the middle of such an intensely felt and written and covered story. I knew how intense it was late Friday night after landing at Fort Lauderdale Airport when the host of the first talk show I heard on the AM dial of the rental car used the following words in one sentence: "Nazis ... democrats ... need some handguns." b. I think I'm dying to know what's up with Al Groh and that gray sweatshirt. I mean, it's 84° at kickoff Sunday, a slight southerly breeze blowing, and here's Groh sweating with that heavy top on. Weird. c. I think -- and how do I put this nicely -- that Damon Huard is pretty fortunate to have a No. 2 quarterback job in this league. 2. I think I was stunned Sunday about 9:45 a.m. when Kurt Warner, due to get the screws removed from his broken right pinky Monday afternoon in St. Louis, told me he intends to play next Sunday against the Saints. I was on the phone with Rams ace p.r. man Rick Smith after speaking with Martz about Marshall Faulk's status for the Monday night game with Washington (Martz said Faulk would play the full game, unless his scoped knee troubles him during the game) when Warner walked into Smith's office. Smith put me on the phone just to say hello. I said to him: "When will we see you? Two weeks?" He said, "Two weeks? You kidding me? I'm getting the pins out tomorrow, and I'll throw the football tomorrow. I intend to play Sunday." Wow. Does Martz know this? 3. I think if I'm Doug Flutie, I will never trust Phillips again. 4. I think Matt Millen had one of the best games I've heard an analyst call in a while in the Lions-Giants fiasco. Just before the start of the third quarter at the Meadowlands, with the Giants playing horribly and down 21-0, Millen almost sheepishly suggested the Giants should start a brawl. He said that's what he would have done in his playing days. "Emotion plays such a huge part in this game. One of the things I'd do," Millen continued, "I'd try to get into a fight, or I'd try to instigate something so a fight would start." Later, when the Kerry Collins Giants' offense began sputtering like the Dave Brown Giants' offense, Millen said: "They belong on the island of misfit toys." 5. I think the Cardinals are basking in the passage of a new stadium initiative on election day. "We're looking forward to getting into, and winning, a bidding contest with [Redskins owner] Daniel Snyder for a defensive tackle," said Michael Bidwill, the team's vice president and general manager. Fine. But the Cardinals road is littered with rich players with little hearts. Signing bonuses haven't exactly filled Simeon Rice and Andre Wadsworth with desire. 6. I think these non-football thoughts: a. Field Hockey Note of the Week: I'm in awe of the response -- more than 300 e-mails, a few phone calls -- to the play-by-play from the five-OT Montclair-Livingston New Jersey field hockey tournament game last week, and the lessons about passion and teamwork it leaves with us all. People from the Southern Hemisphere wrote. I mean, is the Internet a great thing or what? Two incredible things about your responses: First, a whole bunch of you wanted to know about senior right wing Laura King's field hockey future. Wow, is my first reaction to that. If she goes to a Division III school -- she loves the University of Rochester, which plays D-3 field hockey -- she would like to play. But above that, she likely won't play. Second, I loved the stories so many of you wrote back. An expectant husband from Illinois was worried that if the baby his wife is carrying turns out to be a girl that he wouldn't have as much fun yelling and screaming at youth sports events; he was comforted that he would be able to be a big fan for girls' sports also. By the way, the $30 tickets are going fast for the Nov. 30 MHS Field Hockey Banquet. I'm trying to get CNN to cover it live, with Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff doing the commentary, Jeff Greenfield the analysis, and Larry King the celebrity interviews. Keep you posted. b. It gets me pumped to write this column when some guy I've never met sidles up to me in the neighboring urinal at a North Jersey restaurant last week and says: "Nice job on Monday Morning Quarterback," and when one of our after-hours travel agents says to me in the middle of making a reservation: "Hey, are you the Monday Morning Quarterback guy?" c. Coffenerdism: Come on, Starbucks. Uniform espresso shots, please. The quality varies so much from store to store. d. Ignorant Music Review of the Week: I cannot stop playing "Wonderful" by Everclear over and over on the car CD player. Now I know why you love that band so much, Drew Bledsoe. e. My movie of the year: Best in Show. 7. I think if you are rooting for a Saints' playoff game that this tiebreaking factoid must bug you: New Orleans' September loss to the Eagles means that if the Saints are in a two-way tie with Philadelphia for a wild-card spot at the end of the season, Philly would win out. And with the 7-4 Saints and 8-4 Eagles heading down the stretch, it doesn't help that New Orleans has the Rams twice and Denver still to play, while the Eagles have Cleveland, a bye and Cincinnati. 8. I think, even with Ryan Leaf playing, San Diego wins Dec. 17 at Carolina. 9. I think the following thoughts about college football: a. If you don't like the poise, grit and ability of Michigan quarterback Drew Henson, you're not watching the same game I am. "I wish I had his future," Bob Griese said on the ABC telecast of Michigan-Ohio State. Amen, brother. b. Not to harp on this Chris Weinke thing, but I don't know how you vote for a 28-year-old man for the Heisman. c. Will Butch Davis run to the NFL? Maybe, but then why would he have called Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez to ask about Alvarez pal Donna Shalala, named U of M president on Saturday, to ask about her support of athletics? d. I vote for a Florida State-Miami national championship game. 10. I think the Patriots ought to be ashamed of themselves. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL and appears
regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's NFL Preview. Click here to send a
question to his NFL Mailbag.
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