PRO FOOTBALL : Attention to Records Helps Everyone

In the first five minutes here Sunday, the Washington Redskins twice threw to Art Monk, their 34-year-old wide receiver.

The first was a bit over his head. When the second connected, Monk had caught passes in 136 consecutive games, moving a step closer to the only NFL players ahead of him, Ozzie Newsome at 150 and Steve Largent at 177.

Are records important? The Redskins think so. Though upset in Phoenix, 27-24, they romped through a 17-0 first half in which Joe Gibbs, their play-calling coach, took no chances: He went to Monk early.

“Art is such a great football player,” said Charley Taylor, a Redskin pass-offense coach who, as a Hall of Fame receiver, is an expert on the subject. “We want him to have everything he deserves.”

The most important number that Monk is reaching for this season is the big one in the NFL’s pass-receiving book: most catches in a career.

With 813 after pulling in three more on Sunday, he needs six in next Monday’s Denver game to tie Largent’s record 819 for Seattle from 1976 through ’89.

One-man club: Curiously, pro football, hasn’t been very record-conscious over the years.

Baseball, for instance, got excited this season when Robin Yount and George Brett each got hit No. 3,000. That figure is nowhere near the all-time best. In fact, 16 other players are in the 3,000-hit club.

By comparison, if and when Monk catches his 820th pass, he will be in a one-man club.

The Redskins, however, respect all achievements.

“It’s good for (Monk) and us to be a record-smasher,” Taylor said of Monk’s charge for first place in two NFL categories.

Morale work: At Tampa last month, when the Buccaneers were routing Green Bay, 31-3, quarterback Vinny Testaverde completed 21 of his first 23 passes (91.3%) and briefly held the NFL’s single-game record.

Then Buccaneer Coach Sam Wyche tried for more big plays, and Testaverde finished with 21 of 25.

“I messed him up,” Wyche said.

In the pressures of an NFL game, that happens. Thus, the Rams allowed receiver Henry Ellard’s consecutive-game catching streak to lapse at 81 this year the day they beat New England, 14-0.

On a heads-up football club, someone should always have the game-day responsibility of keeping track of key numbers. The clubs have plenty of hangers-on for such work. What’s missing is a recognition that records elevate everybody’s morale, not just that of the individual involved.

For example, the knocks that Testaverde and his teammates have taken in recent seasons would dim in the memory of a Tampa Bay blocker who could tell his friends: “ My passer set the record.”

With a new self-image, the Buccaneers might even win another game or two.

Arizona update: When the Phoenix Cardinals upset the Redskins on Sunday, they were winning for only the 10th time in their last 42 games. That’s a .239 performance--the league’s worst in that span.

Four years ago, when the Cardinals moved in from St. Louis, they were the talk of Arizona. They sold 55,000 season tickets that first year although their owner, Bill Bidwill, was charging the NFL’s highest prices.

Cardinal ticket prices have gone down recently but so has the team, and so has attendance.

“Season-ticket sales are 21,000 and dropping,” said Lloyd Herberg, who covers the team for the Arizona Republic. “Their last year in St. Louis, the Cardinals sold 27,000 season tickets.”

For the NFL champion Redskins, Arizona turned out a crowd that was small--34,488--but involved.

“The (loud) crowd was a big plus for us in the fourth quarter,” said Cardinal cornerback Robert Massey, who in that quarter ran for two touchdowns on intercepted passes.

As Cardinal interest has dwindled, most sports fans seem to have become apathetic. Is that inevitable?

“During a losing spell, you need a winning tradition to fall back on,” said Bob Ackles, the club’s new personnel executive, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys. “We had it in Dallas. It’s a problem here.”

Is Phoenix close to a turnaround season?

“I think we have most of the players,” Ackles said. “We’ve got to let the young guys stay, grow and improve. Show me a team that can’t turn it around and I’ll show you a team that keeps changing personnel.”

Sanders off: A year ago, Detroit Lion running back Barry Sanders was the talk of the league. This season, he has had trouble getting back to the line of scrimmage.

What’s wrong?

“The Lions have moved away from the run-and-shoot offense,” said Redskin defensive coach Richie Petitbon, whose team recently held Sanders to 34 yards, about his average this season.

Although the run-and-shoot took Detroit to the NFC championship game nine months ago, Coach Wayne Fontes kept saying that Sanders would be more effective with more blocking in a multiple offense. So he changed to that this season.

“They’re using a lot of packages now,” Petitbon said.

On passing downs, for example, the Lions are still lining up four wide receivers, but on running downs they prefer multiple tight ends to get Sanders extra blocking.

The consequence is that defensive teams, when they see the tight ends, load up against Sanders. When they see a package of receivers, they load up against quarterback Rodney Peete.

And among other things, opponents are physically manhandling both Sanders and Peete.

Said Petitbon: “Sanders had more openings in the run-and-shoot.”

A multiple offense is nothing new to Fontes, who also tried it a year ago, when the Lions started 6-4. Then, shifting to the run-and-shoot exclusively, his team won its last six.

With a bye this week, the question for the NFC Central is whether the Lions will resume as an exclusive run-and-shoot team when they resume their schedule Oct. 15 at Minnesota.

New champion: Four years after he was turned away by the Raiders, James Lofton of the Buffalo Bills will return to the Coliseum Sunday as the holder of one of the NFL’s most remarkable records: most yards gained on pass receptions.

Lofton, who swept ahead of Charlie Joiner last season and Largent this year, has advanced the ball 13,327 yards on pass plays in his 16 seasons in the league.

There is, however, one even more distinctive fact about the former Raider receiver who plays opposite Andre Reed in the Buffalo lineup: At 36, he still has much of his Stanford speed.

“I work on my speed every summer with my (old track coaches),” he said.

And probably no one else has ever stayed so fast for so long.

Quote Department:

--Jeff Fisher, San Francisco defensive backfield coach, noting that division rival Miami upset Buffalo Sunday: “The teams that do well against the Bills are usually teams that play them often.”

--Walt Corey, Buffalo defensive coach, on tackling high: “You don’t tackle guys’ ankles. We emphasize going from the bottom of the numbers up to make sure you wrap them up. These (NFL runners and receivers) are here because they have quick feet. They’re able to pull away from arm tackles and shoulder tackles.”

--Ralph Wilson, Buffalo owner, predicting that expansion isn’t in the NFL’s immediate future: “There’s no way it could get the votes in the league right now.”

--John Kent Cooke, Redskin vice president: “Expansion is on the far back burner.”