The Nfl

Metal Fatigue

The season is one week old, and suddenly the Steelers, who made it to within one game of the Super Bowl last season, are in deep trouble.

Pittsburgh's franchise cornerback, Rod Woodson, was scheduled for knee surgery this week after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament in Sunday's 23-20 win over Detroit and is almost certainly gone for the year. Quarterback Neil O'Donnell fractured his right pinkie in the game and was due to have a pin inserted in it this week, which will keep him out of action for two or three weeks. The Steelers can ill afford a loss at either position. At the other corner, Deon Figures, whose knee is still questionable after an off-season gunshot wound, couldn't start Sunday, which will likely leave Pittsburgh with two below-average corners starting for the foreseeable future. Even worse, Mike Tomczak suffered a bruised rib cage in relief of O'Donnell, and he's one hard hit away from the bench. Suddenly, despite Cleveland's loss to the Patriots on Sunday, the power in the AFC Central has shifted decisively to the Browns.

Jerry's Express
This is how badly Dallas owner Jerry Jones wants Deion Sanders: After Jones concluded a four-hour meeting in Dallas last Friday with Eugene Parker, Sanders's agent, he gave Parker the use of his private plane so that the agent could continue his negotiating journey in comfort.

A Waning Moon

At first you couldn't quite make out what the two men standing 40 rows up in Soldier Field's north stands were screaming at quarterback Warren Moon. Forty minutes after his Vikings had lost their season opener 31-14 to the Bears, Moon, a part-time NFL analyst, was stationed in the end zone in front of the TNT cameras, waiting to go on the air live. Moon couldn't figure out what the hecklers were saying either.

Then, suddenly, the shouted words came through loud and clear.

"Hey, wife-beater!" they yelled, almost in unison.

A few minutes later, his TV duties completed, Moon paused to sign a few autographs as he walked toward the tunnel. "Football's not a chore," he said. "Football's still fun. It's dealing with people that's become the chore."

On July 21, Moon was arrested on charges that he had assaulted his wife, Felicia, during an argument in their home three days earlier. The couple's seven-year-old son had called 911 after Moon allegedly choked Felicia.