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Strange bedfellows Signing Turley was smart, but Rams might regret SehornPosted: Monday March 24, 2003 11:11 AM
PHOENIX -- The backdrop of war is everywhere here at the annual NFL owners' meetings. It's at the last major intersection (Camelback and 24th) before the owners turn into the pristine Arizona Biltmore property, where protesters have gathered with peace signs and candles at all hours of the day and night. It's on the TV in the Biltmore lobby. It's on the TV behind the big concession stand at the San Francisco Giants' spring training park in Scottsdale. And it's right here in the suite of Mike Martz, hard by the 18th green of the golf course that looks so pretty you don't want to spoil it by actually risking a divot. At 9:35 Sunday morning I entered the suite, and Martz was in an easy chair, staring at CNN's war coverage. "I've been watching since 5:30," he said. "It's hard to turn it off. Same thing in our offices this week back in St. Louis. The coaches turned off the tape machines they're usually using this time of year to scout players and have the TVs tuned to the war with the sound turned down. Everything else is in the back seat." Then Martz turned off the TV and we started talking about the most interesting story, in my opinion, of the NFL offseason so far -- the Rams' pursuit of two former franchise villains, Kyle Turley and Jason Sehorn. One's in the bag. One is in the wine-and-dine process. It seems so inappropriate to be talking football right now. But I think it would seem MORE inappropriate to go home and get under the covers for the week. [Quick aside: Bill Rhoden, a New York Times columnist I really respect, wrote this morning that NCAA president Myles Brand should have called off the NCAA basketball tournament. Quick opinion: Why? What good would that do? Sure it's strange to see four views of war every few minutes on the CNN split-screen, but what possible good would it do to send a nation home to sit in front of the TV and watch war all day?] So here we go with some football talk. Turley and Sehorn playing for the Rams seems to me like Jeter and Posada playing for the Red Sox. Turley has always disliked Martz and the Rams; he's an old-school kind of player and thinks the glitzy Rams offense is too much finesse and not enough smash-mouth. Two seasons ago, after his Saints won in St. Louis, Turley told me how much glee he took in whipping the Rams on their turf. "I hate these guys. This is so sweet," he said. On Wednesday, Turley will come to Phoenix, fresh off his honeymoon in Hawaii, and model his new Rams uniform for the press -- assuming the final few i's can be dotted on his $5 million-per-year contract with the Rams. (St. Louis also sent a second-round pick in 2004 to the Saints for Turley.) And on Friday, just before the Rams delegation left for the meetings, they hosted Sehorn. Martz had once said he'd love to play against Sehorn every Sunday "so we could run by his ass all day." Sehorn shot back, then Martz apologized -- sort of -- and their feud simmered. When the Giants released Sehorn, who was coming off a bad season as the team's third corner, and swallowed an $8 million cap hit a couple of weeks ago, the Rams became interested. He can't play corner anymore, the Rams reasoned, but he could be a playmaking free safety. That's Martz's story, and even though not many NFL people think Sehorn has a lot left, he's sticking to it. I wondered this Sunday aloud to Martz: Are these smart moves? Or the last acts of a desperate team trying to rev things up for one more shot at glory after a terrible 7-9 season? "Shoot," Martz said. "I don't know how anyone could think of this as the last acts of a desperate team. We had a problem at right tackle last year. Everyone knows that. And so we went out and got the best right tackle we could get. Kyle's a great, great player. Our offensive line has been upgraded in a terrific way. Add Dave Wohlabaugh [a free-agent center from Cleveland], and we've made a major step forward on the line. Kyle, to me, brings great passion to our team. This is a very competitive and emotional game, and sometimes we all say things and do things because that's the competitive side of us coming out. I love that about Kyle. I think we had a little of the business-as-usual aspect of the game creep into our team last year, and Kyle just won't stand for that. Neither will I. When I called him and sort of welcomed him to the team, I got his voice mail -- we're still playing phone tag -- and said: 'My adrenaline's flowing so much because we've got you.' To me, adding Kyle is like when we added Marshall Faulk and Aeneas Williams. That's the kind of impact he's going to have on our football team. "I spent the morning with Jason the other day. I toured him around myself. I wanted him to know how important he is to us. I think he could have a great second career in the league as a free safety. He's been played out of position, I think. Our doctors are pretty tough; they reject a lot of guys other teams sign. And Jason came through fine on our physical. His knee's fine. I see him as an excellent tackler with a great nose for the ball. Our areas of need aren't a lot, but we think we're addressing them right now." The Rams are the league's biggest mystery right now. I can't figure if they're the 14-win team of 2001 or the awful letdown of 2002. Who can? Who knows how good they'll be this year? No one, until Kurt Warner starts throwing the football next week at the Rams' facility. He has been cleared by doctors to do everything, but we've heard that before. Last year, his chronic throwing thumb throbbed, he had a hairline hand fracture that made his throws wobble, and he finished with three touchdowns against 11 picks and a quarterback rating -- 67.4 -- south of Shane Matthews'. "He's fine," Martz said of Warner, and I wonder if he believes that deep down. But some combination of Warner and the skinny-kid backup Marc Bulger will have to make the Rams right. Martz made a pretty remarkable admission Sunday. "I take responsibility for last year," he said. "I did a bad job coaching. No question." "Are you just saying this to take the pressure off your players?" I asked. "No. I could have handled things better," Martz said. "We started our offseason [program] a little bit late, maybe 10 days late, after we lost the Super Bowl. I just wanted the guys to get away long enough so they would feel fresh coming in. But I shouldn't have done that. We had to forget it and get back at it. And the criticism of our team was unbelievable, I thought. This team won 16 games, but no one remembered that. I was stunned by how intense the criticism was. Then, in training camp, I tried to protect too many guys [from injury by practicing them sporadically] but most of them got hurt anyway. For some reason, the emotion we've always played with was not there from the very first day. We got a little sloppy. That won't happen this year. This year, Faulk will be a full-time offseason-program participant, so maybe his nagging injuries will be a thing of the past. Anyone who wants to be on this team -- Sehorn included -- will have to make these workouts. It's going to be an interesting chemistry experiment, I'll say that. I think the Turley acquisition is a great one. He's a gritty, tough leader and an excellent run- and pass-blocker. It's not often teams can find a tackle this good who’s available for a second-round pick, and I think other teams with cap money and a need on the line (Houston, Minnesota) should have stepped forward and stolen this guy. Sehorn? I don't see greatness there anymore. I don't get that one. But we'll see. The Show Me State has the Show Me Team right now.
John Madden's Outback Steakhouse Maddencruiser was parked in front of the Biltmore for an unusually long time Sunday morning. Seems his room wasn't quite ready yet. Having been on said bus -- or at least the previous Maddencruiser, which was a giant hotel suite on wheels -- 11 years ago, I can report reliably, without knocking the Biltmore, that Madden's bus room is nicer than the hotel room.
... With Dallas owner Jerry Jones, on the proposed increase in the number of NFL playoff teams from 12 to 14: MMQB: You're pretty bullish on expanding the playoffs, aren't you? Jones: It's at the top of my list for these meetings. I just think it's something long overdue, particularly with 32 teams. MMQB: Why? Jones: When the league went to 12 playoff teams, we had 28 teams in the league. Now we have 32. It's basically the same percentage of teams [43.8 percent under the new proposal, 42.9 percent with 12 of 28 in] that we had before. Look at the competitiveness of our league in December the last few years. This would give two more teams, two more deserving teams, the opportunity to play in the postseason. We'd still take the eight division winners, and instead of just two wild cards, it would give each conference three wild cards. MMQB: Any downside to this, as far as you're concerned -- such as watering down the playoffs? Jones: Not at all. It's still [fewer playoff teams] than the other sports [except baseball]. We'd probably get a lesser team in there every now and then, but I just think it would give more teams a chance to be excited late in the season."
At Newark Airport Saturday morning, two camouflaged guardsmen with their right hands cradling the trigger of their submachine guns stood guard at the head of the three security lines I saw. They weren't smiling. All I can say about commercial airline flight today is this: Don't be worried. I can't imagine any segment of our society today being safer.
Dear readers: I'd like to thank you for two things this week. One, for all the coffeemaker suggestions; I'm going to investigate a couple of them in the coming weeks. Two, for the justifiable chiding about me complaining about paying my taxes. Also, thanks for all the thanks. Lately, your missives have been filled with gratitude, and I send that gratitude right back. On with the mail. THE JETS WILL MISS COLES. From Michael Higgins of Pittsburgh: "Peter, I understand the point you were trying to get across in your column about the Jets not matching Washington's offer for Laveranues Coles. However it would have had a bit more impact had Keyshawn Johnson not been a big contributor to Tampa's Super Bowl run. Who's to say the Jets wouldn't have won the Super Bowl one of the last few years if they had kept Johnson?" As I said in the column last week, trading Johnson to Tampa three years ago allowed the Jets to draft Chad Pennington; without the trade, Pennington wouldn't be on their team. I will never, ever buy the fact that the Jet' decision to keep Johnson -- and pay him gigantic money -- would have made them a better team today. COLES IS AN INGRATE. From Sharon Flood of Schenectady, N.Y.: "While I really hate to see him go, I have to agree with your comments regarding Laveranues Coles and the Jets letting him go. Fans understand that football is a business and the salary cap means that teams have to make difficult decisions. What bothers me is that Coles was someone who had some trouble in his past and, after a number of teams passed on him, the Jets took a flyer. Then they offered him a $6 million bonus and fair money. He, in turn, started running off at the mouth about how they were not fair to him, and Washington treated him so well. His lack of any loyalty to the Jets or appreciation for what they did for him makes me think that they are better off without him." The amazing thing about this whole story is that the Redskins offered him more money than he originally asked the Jets for. I've never heard of this in all my years covering the league, a team paying a player more than he'd been asking for. AH, THE LONG-LOST DESHAUN FOSTER GETS A MENTION IN MMQB. From Brian Cook of London, Ontario: "What do you think of Carolina adding Stephen Davis to its roster? What about DeShaun Foster? Do they want to give him a veteran influence from whom to learn before turning the running game over to him? For a coffeemaker, try something from Tim Horton's." Thanks, Brian. And just to let you know, I am a bit of a Horton's aficionado. Last year, Don "Donnie Brasco" Banks and I were en route from Toronto to Buffalo after a very fun night watching your Maple Leafs play Les Habs, and we stopped at a Tim Horton's drive-thru for coffee and a donut. The coffee was tasty, though a bit mild for my taste, but the best thing was the jelly donut. Hadn't had one in a while, nor since, but that one really hit the spot. As for your question, Foster last year suffered a freak knee injury in the preseason that necessitated microfracture surgery. This sort of surgery tries to regenerate worn-away cartilage in the knee. The Panthers are optimistic the surgery will work, but it doesn't always have great success; Jason Sehorn's never been the same since his, for instance, and it forced Eric Swann out of football. So Davis obviously comes in as the No. 1 back, and he comes as sort of an insurance policy in case Foster doesn’t turn out to be the real deal. WHAT ARE THE EAGLES DOING? From Ron Zucker of Washington: "It seems to me that the Eagles are being tremendously hit by their losses in free agency, and they're doing it at a time when they have room under the cap. It seems to me that this is as good a year as any for them, as they're aging on defense (especially in their great secondary), so if ever they were going to sign some people, now is the time. What are they waiting for?" Question for you: If you had a really nice house, a source of real pride and joy, with a bare wall and $500 to spend on a painting, would you walk into a gallery, look around for 45 minutes, and, not seeing anything you loved, spend the $500 on the framed velvet Elvis thing because it was kitschy and you felt you just had to fill the space? I didn't think so. The reason the Eagles are in serious contention every year is because they're smart, and they have a healthy cap, and they don't get seduced by the thought that they're "one player away." I think they'll try to put an offer sheet out for Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila to be the youthful pass-rusher they need in the wake of Hugh Douglas' defection to Jacksonville. I COULD MAKE A REALLY FUNNY RHYME HERE AND SAY ORLANDO PACE RHYMES WITH NUTCASE, BUT I WON'T. From Gayle Wilson of Fremont, Calif.: "What are your thoughts on the demands Orlando Pace's agent is making?" Pace, through his agent, has reportedly asked the Rams for a $23 million bonus and $86 million in all. After I stopped laughing when I read this, the first thing I thought is that Brett Favre's last TWO signing combined bonuses from the Packers do not amount to $23 million. When Pace gets a flight out of Wackyworld and back to earth, I'm sure the Rams will begin taking him seriously. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING US ON KYLE BOLLER. From Michael Baker of Berkeley, Calif.: "Kyle Boller as a top-10 pick? I'm not saying that he won't go that high, because the secret machinations of pro GMs are mysterious to me. But as a Cal fan, I have to tell you that anyone who thinks Kyle Boller is a pro QB stud didn't watch him play in college. Until this past year, he was poor. Coach Jeff Tedford's new system helped him out, to a degree, but Boller often looked rattled against better defenses. Any team that spends a high pick on this clown hoping he'll be their savior is certifiable." You could be right, Michael. Boller and Carson Palmer, the two guys I think will be the first quarterbacks picked in next month's draft, both had zero going for them before last September, and I think it's pretty short-sighted for scouts to forget three years and remember one. Having said that, I've watched coaches' tape on both players and think they're the top two quarterbacks in this draft. Palmer, in particular, played superb football, from the three games I saw on the tape. He looked so confident. COFFEENERDNESS. From Kevin Humphreys of Madison, Miss.: "The answer to all your problems is a French press." Thanks. You and 12 or 13 others say the same thing. SHAME ON YOU FOR WHINING. From Ron of Denver: "Come on! We all accept the fact that you earn huge cash for doing what we all do for free. We even really, genuinely like you. Moaning about taxes is beneath you. I'm guessing that you probably have just about any material thing that you would want to have. It sounds like you have a loving family. Your gripe is denied." Ron, thanks for putting me in my place. It's deserved.
1. I think one of the most amazing things about being here is that it makes you realize how Americans on both sides of the war issue are everywhere, and not just in what people consider to be activist cities, such as New York and San Francisco. Saturday night, four blocks down the street from the site of the league meetings, a crowd of about 200 with candles and anti-war signs chanted on the northeast and southeast sides of the block. On the northwest side, about 20 pro-war people waved flags; as our car stopped for the light, I heard a man singing the Star-Spangled Banner in the pro-war group. They were still there this morning at 4:55 Mountain time. This is not an apathetic time in the United States. 2. I think Curtis Conway will catch 62 balls for the Jets this year, and they will surpass their nine-win total from 2002. 3. I think we should all wish the best of luck and good health to Trevin Dilfer, the 5-year-old son of Seahawks quarterback Trent Dilfer. Trevin was stricken by a virus that attacked his heart last week. He's hospitalized in serious condition. 4. I think Bill Parcells really likes his defensive coordinator in Dallas, Mike Zimmer, who was retained when Parcells took the Cowboys job. Not long ago, Parcells said to Zimmer: "You've got to join my tribe." Meaning the Belichick-Groh-Carthon tribe. High praise for a man who hasn't coached a game with him yet. 5. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week: a. I have not seen a nicer, better-laid-out and picturesque small minor-league park than Surprise Stadium, the spring home of the Royals and Rangers. I saw my new favorite player, Texas third baseman/first baseman Mark Teixeira, hit a couple of ropes off Anaheim fireballers Saturday. What a swing on that kid. There is nothing like spring training, especially at such a fan-friendly, beach-blankets-on-the-outfield-berm place like Surprise Stadium. Too bad it takes about three days to get there, including some vicious traffic. b. There is no blue like the color of the sky above this city every day. Amazing. c. Coffeenerdness: Oh, the resort life. A large latte at the carryout coffee shop at the Arizona Biltmore costs $5.95. It's one of those faux Starbucks jobs, the kind that says it proudly brews Starbucks coffee but actually bears faint resemblance to a real latte. d. Montclair (N.J.) High Softball Note of the Week: I missed our one-sided loss to a strong Sparta team Saturday in the bubble at Giants Stadium, but I did see the 1-0 loss to Caldwell in the 2002 Essex County tournament semifinal rematch in 39-degree temperatures Wednesday. A breeze made this maybe a 32- or 33-degree afternoon, and raw. Junior southpaw Mary Beth King walked the Chiefs' leadoff batter, who scored on an infield out in the first inning, and that was it. Walks will haunt, as they say. It's amazing how the fields have come back to a decent state, at least until torrential rain began Thursday. The regular season begins a week from tomorrow at Branch Brook Park in Newark, against Barringer High. 6. I think I like the Hugh Douglas signing by the Jags, but I wonder how he got the money he did, in light of other developments in the league this free-agency season. Maybe this is too salary-nerdy for some, but look at how the money paid to 31-year-old pass-rusher (he turns 32 in August) Douglas, compares to the money paid to Rosevelt Colvin, who will turn 26 in September and recently signed with New England, after the first three years of their contracts:
Now, you could make the argument that Douglas is more accomplished than Colvin, and that the Jags need the off-the-field leadership juice Douglas will bring. I suppose. I really like Douglas as a player and a leader and a person. But all I know is Colvin will be a better player over the next three years, and the Patriots got him with a great deal. 7. I think the surprise of the meetings is seeing Parcells here. He hates these meetings because they are, in part, schmooozefests. But Jerry Jones and crack Cowboy publicist Rich Dalrymple told Parcells they thought it was important he come, and so, even with the team's offseason program beginning today, here he is. 8. I think Martz thinks Carson Palmer's the no-doubt No. 1 pick in the draft. 9. I think I am a decided underdog in my effort to repeat as rotisserie champ this year. Unfortunate. You know, you spend all this time reading the baseball-nerdy rotisserie mags and sucking every note out of the online services and the Sporting News and Baseball Weekly (now, I guess, called Sports Weekly) for baseball draft hints, and then get screwed by the piece of paper you pick out of a hat. The 12-team (N.J.) Suburban Sluggers League gathered for its annual draft Thursday night. I finished 12th in 2001, first in 2002. We protect only three players from one year to the next, so I protected Nomar, Zito and Ichiro (leaving Jim Thome, Garret Anderson, Derek Lowe and Eric Gagne available), and I longed for a mid- to late-first-round pick. The draft was a serpentine one, meaning if you pick first, then you don't pick again until back-to-back jobs at 24 and 25. I really wanted to get four players from my draft board's top 13 (Magglio Ordonez, Jorge Posada, Thome, Ray Durham, Todd Helton, Ivan Rodriguez, Lowe, Tim Hudson, Wade Miller, Roy Oswalt, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark Prior, Torii Hunter), and I figured that was possible if I could just pick mid-round and then make one trade -- my second-round pick for a low two and a three. That would leave me with four picks in the top 30 or so, and with the disparity of opinion in leagues like this, I was confident I could get four. Well, disaster struck when I picked "2" out of a hat, and further disaster struck when six trade proposals went untaken. So I picked Ordonez at No. 2, and Durham, the great run-scorer ahead of Barry Bonds, at No. 23, and got two of my top four players. Great. Problem was, everyone saw the board mostly my way. All my guys vanished. So when it came time for my third-round pick, I dealt it for a four and a five, I took Joel Pineiro (3.08 career ERA in 40 starts), Ryan Klesko, Vernon Wells and Mark Buehrle. So now the infield is Klesko, Durham, Nomar and Joe Crede, with Eli Marrero catching (our league bases position on the previous year's position) and an outfield of Ichiro, Ordonez and Vernon Wells, with Fred McGriff DHing, probably, unless my hometown phenom Kevin Millar is everything Boston's Boy GM thinks he is, or unless my real phenom, Teixeira, gets 500 at-bats, which he will do if he starts hot. Hurlers: Zito, Buehrle, Pineiro and Rodrigo Lopez or Elmer Dessens, with a weak bullpen (Scott Williamson, Scott Stewart and either Arthur Rhodes or Mike Remlinger, or prospective Pads closer Brandon Villafuerte). I am nowhere near as optimistic as I was a year ago, when I got Lowe and Gagne in the 18th and 20th rounds and won it all. 10. I think Brian Billick is going to get to know Kyle Boller very, very well over the next month. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space every week. Click here to send him a comment. |
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