PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT

By BILL PLASCHKE

Jan. 24, 1996 12 AM PT

Steeler linebacker Kevin Greene claimed there would be no distractions in his team’s effort to shock the sports world with a victory over the Cowboys.

Then he scurried off to board a private jet bound for Las Vegas and a professional wrestling card featuring Hulk Hogan.

“Today is our day off, I can either sit in my room and beat my head against the wall, or I can do something fun,” said Greene, whose flowing blond locks and grimace have caused fans to compare him to Hogan.

What if Greene was invited into the ring?

“If I’m in the ring, I’m going off the top turnbuckle and taking somebody out,” Greene said. “You better keep me out of there.”

And after Tuesday night?

“No distractions, nothing will get in our way of this big game,” Greene said.

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Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.

PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT

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