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Holmgren sets right tone on Galloway
Posted: Thursday November 11, 1999 01:01 PM
Kudos to Mike Holmgren for his stand on holdout star wide receiver Joey Galloway, who scurried back to the Seattle Seahawks for Week 10. Holmgren, as both the head coach and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks, sets the tone for the entire organization. By not giving in to Galloway's contract demands and by leading the Seahawks to a 6-2 record without him, he has proved what the Barry Sanders' situation has shown: No one is above the game, and no one is indispensable. Holmgren's stand has imbued the Seahawks with a mindset: If an injury occurs, if a contract dispute comes up, if a guy sits out, or if someone misses a bus or plane, they're going to win anyway. That's an important attribute for your team to feel that way. From Galloway's perspective, he knew he couldn't sit out his final contract year and have it just disappear. You have to either play out the year or be traded. And Holmgren had made clear he wasn't going to trade him. With his holdout, Galloway was rolling the dice, hoping to gain leverage. He was gambling that either the Seahawks would lose games early and would be forced to the negotiating table, or that, like so many general managers, Holmgren would cave in to a star player. But Galloway came up snake-eyes on his bet, and it was a costly loss; he's out $837,117 in salary and $210,000 in fines. He came back, of course, to earn credit toward free agency and to test the free-agent market next year. That said, I think Galloway will have an immediate impact if he's used against the Denver Broncos on Sunday night. Galloway has a God-given skill, speed, which allows him to get over the top of defenses. His presence causes the safeties to play back a bit, which takes some of the pressure off Ricky Watters, making it easier for him to run. With Derrick Mayes having a good year, and Sean Dawkins, and Mike Pritchard contributing, he'll add a great deal to their attack. And his teammates won't hold his actions against him. They know that a pro football player's life expectancy is so limited and that they need to make what they can as quickly as they can. You make your decisions as a player, and you live with them. Dolphins should beat BillsI like the Miami Dolphins in their rematch with the Buffalo Bills this Sunday. But it won't be easy. The Bills are coming off a big win against the Washington Redskins in which they doubled the score, 34-17, after struggling a bit for two or three weeks. You can't help but marvel at Doug Flutie, who threw for two touchdowns and gained 40 yards on scrambles. The Bills are extremely tough in Buffalo, although the weather is mild now. And the return of Eric Moulds will be a help to them. However, although I'm an admirer of Dan Marino, I would be hard-pressed to say that Marino could match the performance of Damon Huard last Sunday night against the Tennessee Titans. He was letter perfect. His ball had zip, a tight spiral. He went to the right reads and was extremely impressive. If that continues, and with the Dolphins' third-ranked defense, Miami should win. The kicker is their kicker, Olindo Mare, who is 26 of 29 in field goals this season, and hasn't missed from less than 40 yards. And he's three of three from 50 or more yards. Ron Meyer, a former NFL head coach, is a pro football analyst with CNN/SI and appears weekly on CNN's NFL Preview. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
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