Stick This One in Your Computer
In the Rams’ 20-17 win over the Chicago Bears a week ago Monday night, Steve Dils said he was making up his own plays on the drive that led to Mike Lansford’s game-winning field goal.
He said he threw to Mike Guman after noticing that Chicago linebacker Mike Singletary got up limping after tackling Eric Dickerson.
Also: “We hadn’t worked on screens all week, but I threw two to Eric when I saw what they were doing.”
In the Raiders’ 17-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, Jim Plunkett likewise said he was winging it.
“I couldn’t make out some of those signs from the bench,” he said, “so I just called what I knew.”
Of his second touchdown throw to Dokie Williams, he said, “We made eye contact when he was downfield and I adjusted accordingly.”
Pretty sophisticated stuff, right? No wonder Jim Everett isn’t ready.
Add Dickerson: He leads NFL running backs in fumbles with 11, but on a percentage basis, he’s not the biggest culprit. According to the New York Times’ figures, Lionel James of San Diego leads with one fumble every 20 carries. James Wilder of Tampa Bay is next at 22, followed by Dickerson at 24. At the other end is Walter Payton of Chicago, with only one fumble in 228 carries.
Trivia Time: In the 1985 Orange Bowl, what was the unusual unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty that wiped out a field goal that would have given Oklahoma a 17-14 lead over Washington? (Answer at right.)
Missouri head football Coach Woody Widenhofer, a former Pittsburgh Steelers’ assistant coach, on Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth: “He’s got everything it takes to be as good as Jack Lambert. He’s out there head-hunting and he finds a lot of heads.”
From University of Pittsburgh running back Craig (Ironhead) Heyward, a criminal justice major: “I’m studying juvenile delinquency. I should know something about it. As a juvenile, I was a delinquent.”
Wait a Minute: Golf Journal says that Glen Canyon in Arizona has this local rule: “If your ball lands within a club’s length of a rattlesnake you are allowed to move the ball.”
First question: Who’s going to measure it? Second question: Who’s going to move it?
In other words, “It’s all yours, Mr. Snake.”
In the wake of Sunday’s 9-3 loss to the San Diego Chargers, the Denver Broncos have abandoned a proposed videotape similar to the one the Chicago Bears did last year, called the “Super Bowl Shuffle.”
“I didn’t want to do it anyway,” Coach Dan Reeves said. “I can’t sing and I’d only embarrass myself.”
The Humanist: New England wide receiver Irving Fryar, on mistakes: “When you’re human, you’re going to make mistakes. Sometimes you try too hard and you just make more mistakes. We’re only human. A lot of things like that happen to you when you’re human. It’s one of the bad things about being human.”
Trivia Answer: Oklahoma was penalized 15 yards because the Sooner Schooner, the school’s pony-pulled covered wagon, came onto the field. The subsequent field goal try was blocked. Washington won, 28-17.
Quotebook
Darryl Rogers, coach of the 3-7 Detroit Lions, on turnovers: “You’d think that those are things you could work on and overcome. We’ve worked on them and perfected them.”