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Wrench tightening NFL officials look to hold out 'a long time'
Updated: Sunday September 09, 2001 3:09 PM
Sports Illustrated's Peter King chatted with Bob Lorenz about the goings-on around the league on CNN's NFL Preview: Bob Lorenz: We'll have replacement referees on the field for Week 1 and the league is standing very firm after withdrawing its latest offer -- basically, what was to be a 150 percent increase over five years is now a 75 percent increase. What does it all mean? Peter King: There's been a hardening of positions on both sides. I talked to two owners this week, both of whom were angry that the NFL upped its offer to 150 over five years in the first place. I spoke to one game official after the NFL made its announcement the other day and he told me flat-out, "Now we have some wrench tightening. We will not succumb to the pressure of the NFL. We're going to be out a long time." Lorenz: There's a brand new look in Buffalo this season with new head coach Gregg Williams . It's Rob Johnson's offense now. Do you think this will help the Bills? King: No question it's new. On Saturday the team basically fired kicker Steve Christie -- it didn't want to pay him his year's salary. Christie left bitterly, said this never would have happened under Marv Levy. But you know what, a lot of this stuff wouldn't have happened under Levy. This was simply a salary-cap dump by this team, as many moves have been. You've got a new kicker, a new punter, new return men, new pass rushers. You've got 32 first- or second-year guys here, so this is going to take awhile. You've got a new West Coast offense and a new 4-3 defense. All I know is this: I have a lot of confidence in Williams' ability long-term to get this thing done, but the people in Buffalo are going to have to have one thing they haven't needed the last 10-15 years: patience. Lorenz: How are Andy Reid and the Eagles handling all the expectations heaped upon them? Last year, they weren't expected to do anything. Now, they're an NFC favorite ... King: I spoke to Reid on Saturday after the team's practice while he was on his way to his son's football game. I don't know who was more excited: Andy or his son. Reid is excited about this season and about his offense. He has Duce Staley back, but he made it very clear to me that Donovan McNabb is the key to this game against the Rams. He told McNabb, "Go play, be yourself." Mike Martz told me this week he's going to use eight defensive linemen, shuffle them in and out to chase McNabb all over the turf, so this is a game when McNabb is going to have to have his "A" game for the Eagles to win. Lorenz: The Broncos' running game will get a tough test Monday night against one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL. The Giants were No. 2 against the run last year. But there are some questions about the health of that unit, aren't there? King: Yes, in fact, the Giants' best run stopper, young defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin, is nursing an injury and may not play Monday night -- or if he does, he may not play well. To me, Griffin is more important in this game than Terrell Davis because Griffin's two backups are both free agents just out of college. At least Davis has two great backups behind him. As far as the rest of the Giants' injuries go, Jason Sehorn will be a game-time decision -- he had a knee scope two weeks ago. If he doesn't go, look for Will Peterson, the team's third-round pick, to play ahead of first-rounder Will Allen. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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