Meet the new year

... Same as the old year

GREEN BAY, Wis. (and then in the skies above Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania) -- Strange weekend.

But I've come to believe these are the kinds of weekends you must expect as one who covers football these days, a mixture of real football and intrigue and coverups and deceit. Last year it was the stunning resignation by Al Groh from the Jets, the weird-and-unexpected comeback of Dick Vermeil to coach the Chiefs, the strange-but-logical hiring of Matt Millen to run the show in Detroit, the shocking departure of a great college coach, Butch Davis, for an NFL job in Cleveland, and the surprising hiring of Marty Schottenheimer in Washington. This year it's the stunning resignation of Dennis Green in Minnesota, the likely weird-but-expected comeback of Bill Parcells to coach the Bucs instead of the classy Tony Dungy, the overdue firing of George Seifert in Carolina, the shocking departure of a great college coach, Steve Spurrier, for an NFL job expected to be in Washington, and the surprising firing of Marty Schottenheimer in Washington.

The more things change, the more they blah, blah, blah.

In a nutshell, or rather in several of them, here's what it was like in chasing the events of the past few days while covering the game of the weekend:

FRIDAY: While watching the Packers practice in the afternoon, I hear the cell phone ring. Butch Davis. Calling back to talk about Spurrier. "He's got everything it takes to win, but he'd better prepare himself for some hard times," Davis tells me. Late that afternoon, Deep GM calls. (We in the NFL info business have mostly telephonic relationships with some club people who never want to be quoted.) Deep GM says Schottenheimer is categorically out in Washington and owner Daniel Snyder is turning the big guns on Spurrier. Says Spurrier is likely to go to Carolina unless the money in Washington is sick. Agent Tom Condon, representing Schottenheimer, calls to say the coach still wants to coach, but that the Showdown at Snyder Corral will be Sunday afternoon. "He just wants to be left alone to coach," Condon tells me. Then he probably shouldn't have taken this particular job. On Sunday, Snyder and Schottenheimer will meet, Schottenheimer will tell him he's not ceding personnel authority and Snyder, unless Bethesda freezes over, will tell Schottenheimer he's gone.

1. St. Louis (14-2). On his day off, Kurt Warner iced his vocal chords.  2. Pittsburgh (13-3). On his day off, Bill Cowher sandpapered his.  3. Chicago (13-3). Don't you get the feeling that America has no idea what to expect from the Bears on Saturday?  4. New England (11-5). Don't you get the feeling that American has no idea what to expect from the Pats on Saturday?  5. Green Bay (13-4). Boy, it's good to see Gilbert Brown digging graves again.  6. Oakland (11-6). Jerry Rice. Dick Clark. Jack LaLanne. Terminally young.  7. Philadelphia (12-5). Run, Donovan, run. I'm telling you, that opens up everything.  8. Baltimore (11-6). "If we get past the first round," the Genius tells me, "we're going to be very, very dangerous." You know who the Genius is.  9. San Francisco (12-5). Looking for a Super Bowl team next year? Look here. And Steve Mariucci's not going anywhere, you know.  10. New York Jets (10-7). Vinny, Vidi, Vicinnati.  11. Miami (11-6). Zach Thomas is right. Fix it so it's fixed right, even if it means going 1-15 next year. Fix it and get the offense right.  12. (tie) Steve Spurrier (0-0) and Bill Parcells (149-106-1). For all the pressure that's going to be on them, let's start right here. With a tie in my Top 12.

Before I leave the Packers' offices that afternoon, Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman voices concern that during my date with Brett Favre and family that night I'll distract his quarterback with more talk about the Michael Strahan Affair. Don't worry, I tell him. Favre's never one to take anything very seriously. And that's pretty much how he is Friday night at Brett Favre's Steakhouse, a few long spirals from Lambeau Field. His lovely bride, Deanna, and 2-year-old bonus baby, Breleigh, join us. What a beautiful and precocious baby. She has the face and the speaking skills of a 4-year-old.

Favre is incredulous that the entire Western world is down on him for the Strahan sack. I explain why -- that people don't like it when records are manipulated, and when Favre changed a play in garbage time so he could roll out toward Strahan's side, without the rest of the team knowing he was going to do it, and dove right at the feet of the onrushing Strahan ... well, it looked precisely like nice-guy Favre was handing the record sack to Strahan, his buddy.

I asked if he'd taken a dive.

"No. Absolutely not," he said, looking right into my eyes. "I've done that numerous times before." He explains that it's a naked bootleg, designed to have everyone on offense block straight on, as if it's a running play for Ahman Green, which is what it was supposed to be. In fact, one of the Packers had told me earlier that there is no provision in this play for Favre to pass, and since he didn't audible at the line of scrimmage before the play, there is no way possible that he would pass.

Two more questions. Why did Favre go down so easily?

"The whole idea is to try to get around end and run upfield to get a first down and keep the clock moving," he said. "If I hand it to Ahman there, he's going to gain nothing. They're all stacked up to stop him. If I get around the outside, I might go for 15 yards. There's nobody out there. But Michael was right there when I broke out of the pocket. Look at the film. There is no way I'm getting away from him. No way. And I don't want to risk a turnover. So I protect the ball."

Should it have been a sack?

"The stat gurus can decide what they want," he said, now into his spicy chicken wings. "They can decide if it should be a sack, and I guess they decided it's a sack. If they take it away, I don't care. If they give it to him, I don't care. I didn't do it to get him any record."

Never in this discussion does Favre raise his voice. Never does he get angry. I can tell Deanna's ticked off by the questioning of her husband's honor, but if he is, I can't tell. He's the definition of happy-go-lucky. Shaves when he wants. Eats what he wants. Doesn't drink anymore and loves it that way. That afternoon he sprinted from practice -- yes, sprinted -- and fishtailed out of the parking lot at the team's indoor facility, yelling to the trailing me: "Talk to you later! Gotta get a haircut!" He had to be first in line for the barber the Packers import every Friday afternoon to give free haircuts for the players.

On the drive back to my hotel after dinner I consider whether I believe Favre. I've known him well for seven years. I've heard him imitate Billy Bob Thornton's character in Sling Blade. I've heard him tell me he screwed up with the Vicodin. I've seen him be the only representative of the Packers at a party for a mentally disabled mailroom guy and happily be the life of the party for an hour. I've seen him include the last guy on the roster in his practical jokes, to make the guy feel like he belongs. I've heard, and smelled, him clear out the quarterback meeting room with his noxious gas.

And I decide: I'm buying it. I'm giving him the benefit of my doubt.

That isn't to say it should be a sack. It's just to say I'm buying that he didn't take a dive. If the intent all along was to run, and if no one is running downfield for a pass, then it is a designed run and there should be no sack -- even though Favre would say that if he had gotten around Strahan and there had been a charging corner and he had seen someone to dump it to he would have. Will the NFL look at this now? No. It'd be too much of a hot potato for them, taking away a record that was so publicly celebrated. But the league, if it was smart, should tell the Competition Committee to study the sack rule closely in March at the league meetings and define it more exactly, and give the Elias Sports Bureau the authority to examine every sack for validity starting next fall.

SATURDAY: I do the worst TV show in my history of doing TV shows. On CNN/SI's NFL Preview, I screw up the names Schottenheimer, Snyder and Spurrier so often that I'm sure cable America thinks I think Daniel Snyder is the coach and Steve Spurrier the owner. Afterward, Deep GM calls. "Spurrier will happen somewhere early in the week," he says. I visit the 49ers at their hotel in Appleton, a half-hour away, just after visiting one of the gems of the NFL circuit, the JanSport Outlet Store at their factory just outside Appleton. (I get a nice Bowling Green State University sweatshirt for $8.) Niners-Packers is going to be a great game. Jeff Garcia, turkey sandwich (lettuce, tomato, no mayo) is getting me fired up. "I've dreamt of this game all my life," he said. The 49ers' p.r. man, Kirk Reynolds, is proud of Garcia. Who wouldn't be? Great guy. Survivor of the CFL. Friendly. Reynolds tells me Garcia just won an award as the most media-friendly athlete in the Bay Area.

"You beat out Barry Bonds?" I say. "Amazing."

"No," he said. "I beat out T.O."

Terrell Owens. The not-very-friendly Niners receiver.

Joke.

Driving back to the hotel, I check on the rest of the job openings via cell. San Diego's waiting for Parcells. Indy's in the smorgasbord phase but could get hot for Schottenheimer or Dungy if he's gassed by the Bucs. Washington's all Spurrier, all the time. Carolina's all over the map, with Spurrier ranking No. 1. Back at my hotel, I watch the end of the Bucs debacle in Philadelphia. Poor Tony Dungy. One of the best men ever to step on an NFL field. Respects the game. Honorable in every way. But Tampa Bay's ownership feels four years of playoff disappointments are enough. I call Bill Parcells, the alleged coach-in-waiting. He is not pleased to take my call. "Nothing's changed," he growls. "I told you I'd let you know if it does."

Dine and quaff and watch Jets-Raiders with a group including SI's Steve Rushin, making his first trip to Cheeseland, and CNN/SI alum and crackerjack ESPNer Ed Werder at the Stadium View, with an obstructed view of the stadium. Interrupted only twice by the cell phone, once with the interesting news that Carolina may be getting out of the Spurrierstakes because, the ol' reliable source says, the Panthers have a ceiling on what they'd pay a coach. The other call says Spurrier's giving up on Tampa Bay. He thinks Parcells is a lock there. I always have to define what's true and what's being passed on from a not-so-reliable source. I think both of these things are true, but the highlight of the night is me, having trouble with a plastic ketchup bottle and squeezing it so hard the top comes off, causing a red explosion at the table. Rushin catches most of it, I'm afraid, some on his glasses. After he calmly tidies up, he says: "I should be textbook example of how to handle condiment accidents."

SUNDAY: Great game. Two big moments. At 15-15, Favre throws a dart to Donald Driver with a third-and-8 laser to keep the go-ahead field-goal drive alive with 11 minutes left. At 18-15 Pack, Garcia underthrows "I Never Get The Ball Enough" Owens by 18 inches for what would have been the winning touchdown. It's the winning deflection, actually. Packers cornerback Mike McKenzie dives to tap the ball away from Owens into the arms of fellow corner Ty Williams for an interception. Pack wins. Favre is brilliant in the second half, 16-of-21 (two drops) for 226 yards and a touchdown. "Sometimes I think to myself: 'I'm playing with the best quarterback of all time,'" Driver tells me later.

So I write my piece for SI and get the last plane out of Dodge. NFL Films photographer Phil Tuckett, in the business of shooting these games for 30 years, sits next to me and gushes about Favre. "Every time you have the camera on him, the story of the game is on his face," Tuckett says. "He's not all hip and suave. He's real. He's mad, he's cool, he acts like a kid when he throws a touchdown. He's so great to focus on. Remember when you were a kid and couldn't wait to get home to play with the other kids? There's an innocence he's never lost about the game."

Changing planes in Detroit, the phone rings. It's a Snyder p.r. man, telling me the Redskins owner is finally going to return one of my 63 calls of the past fortnight. When he does, I'm on the connection to Newark, and I have to call from the Airfone. I know enough -- that he's fired Schottenheimer, is apparently on the verge of hiring Spurrier, and is at loggerheads with prospective GM Bobby Beathard over money. Snyder won't talk for the record, except to say the Schottenheimer thing was tough. Stop the presses! I get off the phone with the impression he'll have Spurrier hired by Tuesday. I call Deep GM from the plane. "Carolina's off Spurrier for sure," he says. "They're going to the second string. They'll talk to [Giants defensive coordinator] John Fox on Monday."

I walk into my house near midnight and I think: I have a feeling this week's not going to be any quieter.

Deanna Favre has a long memory. I have one of The Associated Press Most Valuable Player votes. In 1997, with her husband up for his third consecutive MVP award, I voted for Pittsburgh's Carnell Lake, who had played at a Pro Bowl level at two positions while shuttling between safety and corner. Favre ended up tying Barry Sanders for the award, and obviously my vote was pretty significant in the results. Deanna thought her man deserved more than five votes from the 50-man media panel this year which picked Warner over Marshall Faulk, 21 1/2 to 17 1/2. And so when we met Friday night, she asked me about my vote in this way: "Did you vote for Carnell Lake again?"

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Oakland wide receiver Jerry Rice, whose nine catch, 183-yard, one touchdown performance in the 38-24 wild-card win against the Jets conjured up memories of Montana -to-Rice from 1987, and Young -to-Rice from 1994. What an incredible player, still, at 39. "I feel young again," he said after the game. Jerry, you looked 23.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: San Francisco DE Bryant Young. That's right, "DE." For the first time, the Pro-Bowl tackle moved outside to left end because of a spate of Niners injuries and he contributed well -- despite only three tackles -- to a stout run defense that held the Packers to 106 rushing yards and 3.8 yards a tote. He was in the middle of the rushing scrum all afternoon and he forced Favre to have to win the game for Green Bay.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Philadelphia P Sean Landeta. Six days after his 40th birthday, Landeta showed it's the quality, not quantity, of punts and distance that's important. With his six punts, he pinned the Bucs at their 35, 5, 15, 20, 16 and 40 to start drives, averaging but 37.7 yards per punt while having a great impact on the game.

COACH OF THE WEEK: Oakland coach Jon Gruden. With the pressure of Al Davis and Raider Nation on his back, he came out firing -- with a no-huddle offense that led to an opening drive field goal and started a 38-point Raiders day. I will only say this: If Gruden isn't the head coach of this team next fall -- and I truly have no reason to believe he won't be -- his owner is making a very serious mistake.

GOAT OF THE WEEK: Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman. Sorry, but even a winning coach can screw up. With 3:31 left in the third quarter Sunday against the Niners, Green Bay scored a touchdown to go up 15-7. (The Packers had missed an earlier extra point.) Instead of going for the extra point to take a 16-7 lead, Sherman chose to go for two. Green Bay failed. The successful extra point would have made this a two-score game; the failed conversion made it a one-score game. Of course, San Francisco drove for a score early in the fourth quarter, and Jeff Garcia threw to Tai Streets for the two-point conversion. That tied it at 15 with 11:48 to go. So instead of being up 16-14 with the ball, the Packers were tied at 15 with the ball. "I was very frustrated with the missed extra point," Sherman said. "I wanted to get it back." Learn to move on, Mike. That could have been a game-determining mistake.

Except for the top of his head and his eyebrows, Detroit quarterback Mike McMahon shaves all of his body hair.

I mean, all of it.

He thinks it makes him faster.

And this guy's not a kicker?

1. I think the Rams are happy the Packers won. The Rams, deep down, think a team that hasn't seen them recently -- the Packers haven't played the Rams in the Warner-Martz Era and not since 1997 -- takes a while to catch up to their speed once the game starts.

2. I think Shannon Brown, the anthem singer at the San Francisco-Green Bay game, whose painfully slow and sloppy rendition of the anthem caused a mistimed F-16 flyover to run over his final stanza, should take a course in how to sing this song. Why do so many anthem singers, coast to coast, insist on screwing up the song with some idiotic rendition instead of simply singing it?

3. I think these are my personal thoughts of the week:

a. Pickup Hell of the Week: I witnessed the most painful thing I've witnessed in some time on the Comair connection from Cincinnati to Green Bay on Friday. A fully bedecked Packers fan trying to make time with the friendly flight attendant. Ouch. How many different ways can a woman say no? "Well, we're going out as a crew tonight, just to get a bite to eat. We're all tired ... I'm not really sure where we're staying. All these cities run together ... No, really, I don't know. The pilots have a book with all that information, and I'm with them ... No thanks, I'm not really much of a drinker ... I'm not really into cheese, I don't know why ... No, I've never been to the Packers Hall of Fame, but it sounds great ... I've got to be up at 4:45 tomorrow morning, so I'll probably be asleep by 9."

b. Coffeenerdness: Ever seen grown men cry? You should have been at the Starbucks in the Greater Cincinnati Airport rotunda Friday morning around 8:05. The place was shuttered. No explanation. Those poor pilots, having to get by on McDonald's coffee. Poor me. I bypassed said swill. Waited for the nice coffee shop down Oneida Avenue from Lambeau Field, Seattle Grounds, once I landed.

c. Coffeenerdness II: While on my pre-West Wing Grande White Mocha run last Wednesday, I spotted Giants LB Micheal Barrow and his lovely bride at the Upper Montclair (N.J.) Starbucks. She is with child. Due in March. They're all excited. Cute, canoodling couple. Barrow is one of the great standup guys in the game. "I walk my dogs by your house," I told them.

d. Sad Dog Note of the Week: The greatest dog in history, Woody, our golden retriever, is in his final days. Cancer is dogging our best friend. And I'm thinking very seriously of making Woody the top of next week's MMQB. Would anyone out there mind?

e. Memo to the Red Sox: If you don't sign Pokey Reese, and apparently you are lowballing the daylights out of him, you are making a big mistake.

4. I think Oakland will go to New England brimming with confidence.

5. I think Bill Belichick loves when that happens.

6. I think there is nothing like a weekend in Green Bay at playoff time. So real. So pure. So much like it used to be. Standing in the end zone for the CNN/SI show before the game Sunday, I heard the 49ers wideouts be taunted thusly: "You just wait! It's going to snow a blizzard!" And "You look like Richard Simmons!" You'd get thrown out of the Black Hole for those. Physically.

7. I think I'm jumping all over Tony Dungy this afternoon if I'm Jerry Richardson and the Panthers.

8. I think I will share my all-pro team now. My all-pro-picking philosophy: Most often I go by what I see, either in person or on TV. Less often, I check with players, personnel men, GMs or peers. If I see a guy play superbly two or three times, and I know he hasn't slacked off the rest of the season, he gets big points in my book. This year, NFL Europe grad Brandon Noble, Rams defensive end Grant Wistrom, Steelers outside linebacker Joey Porter and Bills cornerback Nate Clements (my defensive rookie pick) qualify as guys I saw tear it up. Noble just killed the interior of the Giants' line in a midseason game in New Jersey; he was the poster child for a surprisingly excellent no-name Dallas defense.

On with the picks:

At wide receiver, Denver's Rod Smith led the NFL in receptions and, less notably, continued as the best-blocking wideout in the game. No one knows it, but he's putting together a Hall of Fame career as the most complete receiver now playing. And Arizona's David Boston is a wrecking crew of a 238-pound receiver, fast and brutish to tackle ... The tight end is Kansas City's ultra-productive Tony Gonzalez, though I would have picked Mark Bruener had he stayed healthy in Pittsburgh ... I'm not crazy about picking two left tackles, but Tra Thomas, a real masher for the Eagles, and the Rams' Orlando Pace are the best people-movers in the game ... Everyone tells me the Cowboys' Larry Allen played great, but I'm a victim of what I saw -- giving up a sack to ex-Giants practice-squadder Frankie Ferrara on a mediocre day against the Giants. Ray Brown is the heart-and-soul of the 49ers' offense, a first-time Pro Bowler at 38 who played great this year. Pittsburgh's Alan Faneca is one heck of a run-and pass-blocker. I saw him move piles at Tampa ... Center Kevin Mawae anchors the stingy Jets line like a burly watchdog, just nipping the Bears' Olin Kreutz ... Warner did throw 23 picks, but he also had the second-best passing season ever ... Tough not picking Priest Holmes or Curtis Martin, both of whom were superior, but Faulk is so tough, versatile and productive that I couldn't keep him off. He averaged 153 total yards a game ... My fullback, William Henderson, is a bruiser who has decent hands.

At defensive end, Strahan was a given. "Best defensive player in the game," St. Louis head coach Mike Martz says. Rams beat Jints 15-14 this year. "Without Strahan, we would have scored four touchdowns. Easy." Energizer bunny Wistrom is the other end, a superb pick left over from the Vermeil Era ... Wide-open crop at defensive tackle. I like the closest thing the NFL has to the Tazmanian Devil, Noble of the Cowboys, and widebody Ted Washington, who occupied blockers to give the Chicago's linebackers time to do big damage all year ... I saw Pittsburgh's outside 'backer Joey Porter shred the Bucs for four sacks with moves and power, and Chicago's Warrick Holdman is a tackle machine who penetrates like Carl Banks ... At middle linebacker, I'm lucky AP lets us take two. Brian Urlacher. Ray Lewis. Questions? ... I love Aeneas Williams and what he meant to the defense-hungry Rams. He can be Ronnie Lott- brutish or Champ Bailey coverish. What a great player. And Troy Vincent is a terrific all-around corner for the Eagles, one of the best signings in the history of free agency ... Chicago free safety Mike Brown makes things happen. People talk about his overtime picks for touchdowns, but if you had watched his home game against Detroit, you'd say: Bigger impact guy than Urlacher. It was very hard to leave Rodney Harrison off this team, because he is such a great tackler and rangy threat. But I had to pick New England's Lawyer Milloy for his enforcing play and because I so wanted a Patriots player on the starting 22.

My kicker is John Hall, proficient enough (77 percent) and the maker of the biggest kick of the NFL season, the 53-yarder in the last minute that put the Jets in the playoffs ... New England's Troy Brown ("the most complete player in the NFL this year," says Ron Jaworski) returns for me. How about a 101-catch guy doing the punt-return chores? ... Shane Lechler is my punter for the second year in a row, a powerful guy perfecting his inside-the-20 stuff ... AP doesn't ask for a special-teamer, but mine is Seattle's Fabien Bownes, who conjures up memories of Steve Tasker with his elusiveness and pursuit.

As I explained in the magazine this week, Warner and Faulk get my split MVP vote. (When my daughter Mary Beth, the marginal sports fan and high school sophomore bowler, saw the 21 1/2-17 1/2 vote the other day, she said: "Who's the idiot who couldn't make his mind on the MVP?" I said, sheepishly, that it was me.) This is the best offense of our time, and probably ever, and these are two incredible pieces. Warner throws the ball downfield more than any quarterback in football, and he also led the NFL in accuracy by three percentage points. That's huge. Faulk got the team MVP vote and is the best talent in the game. That's huge ... San Francisco's Garrison Hearst is my comeback player -- of the century ... Arizona guard Leonard Davis, a piledriver from Day 1, is my offensive rookie, while Buffalo's rookie shut-down corner, Nate Clements, edges Pittsburgh's Kendrell Bell as defensive rookie ... Strahan and Warner are my defensive and offensive players of the year, respectively, for obvious reasons ... Belichick and Davis get my split vote for coach of the year, edging Dick Jauron. Belichick has survived so many woes this year, not the least of which was the death of quarterback coach Dick Rehbein; Belichick took over many of the quarterback coach duties, something no one knows. Davis had a defense and an offense in the bottom 10 of the league and still won seven games, sweeping the Super Bowl champs -- after the Browns won five games in the previous two years.

9. I think I've said just about enough.

10. I think there's one more thing: Woody's a damn good dog. I don't know what we'll do without him.

Rams, Pats, Bears, Steelers. I'd love to pick a roadie, but I just can't do it.

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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