Referees Are Safety-Conscious

Referee Jerry Markbreit issued a rare “correction” in Sunday’s San Diego-Denver game, waving off a safety about two minutes after the ruling had been made.

Barely five minutes into the game, the Chargers were awarded a safety when Denver quarterback John Elway was whistled for intentional grounding in the end zone.

Scoreboard replays, however, clearly showed Elway released the pass from the two-yard line instead of the end zone, and fans booed lustily every time it was shown.

About two minutes later--as both special teams came onto the field and Denver was about to execute a free kick--Markbreit stopped play. He huddled with other officials and issued a correction, saying there was no safety.

Markbreit insisted the reversal was not prompted by the scoreboard replay. Asked if his crew saw the replay, he said, “We did not.”

Markbreit made the intentional grounding call after noticing Elway threw the ball into an area where there was no receiver while he was still in the pocket.

“I threw my flag, and when I realized the flag and he were lying in the end zone, I went up with the safety call,” Markbreit said.

“My head lineman and line judge conferred after the play was over and came to me and said, ‘We don’t feel that the ball was thrown from the end zone. We feel it was in the field, at about the two-yard line.’ So I made the correction.”

THE VOICE OF AMERICA

Brooke Robinson, 18, sang the national anthem at the Jets-Lions game.

What’s the big deal, you ask?

An operation that removed one-third of her esophagus when she was 6 ruined her dream of being able to sing tunes from her favorite musical, “Annie.” She had to be content mouthing the words in silence.

“I would just sing my heart out,” Robinson recalled. “But no sound would come out.”

After a recent operation and a couple of months in the hospital, she was able to sing along when she watched the movie.

Lion quarterback Scott Mitchell heard about her story and convinced the Lions to give Robinson a try.

STRONG ENOUGH FOR A MAN, MADE FOR COWBOYS

The NFL season ended Sunday for Emmitt Smith and his Dallas Cowboys. No playoffs this time.

But the running back will be seen this winter in a TV commercial for a deodorant.

The commercial depicts Smith as someone who shows dogs. In fact, he is a dog lover and two of his dogs compete.

There is another element of truth to the commercial for a deodorant, Smith said.

“There were times when the Cowboys stunk up the field so bad we needed something to get rid of the odor.”

‘I WAITED FOUR YEARS FOR THIS?’

At the end of his fourth NFL season, Redskin quarterback Trent Green finally played a down Sunday. He took one snap, throwing incomplete.

SELF-SERVICE IS USUALLY CHEAP

It’s becoming a rite of winter for the Arizona Cardinals--the finger-pointing that comes as another miserable season ends, even if it does end with a victory.

Enter defensive end Simeon Rice, the 1996 rookie of the year, who said before Sunday’s game that it was obvious some players on the team “packed it in” during a season that ended 4-12 with a 29-26 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. He didn’t name names.

That didn’t sit well with Coach Vince Tobin, who called Rice’s comments “self-serving.”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Tobin said. “Whenever you’re losing, and you hear someone say, ‘I’m doing my job and everyone else isn’t,’ it’s a self-serving statement designed to take the criticism off himself and put it on someone else.

“Simeon needs to take care of himself and not worry about others. He should take care of his own position. That’s my job to worry about other people.”

THIRD MAN IN ALWAYS PENALIZED ANYWAY

Steeler quarterback Kordell Stewart had 20 rushing yards and fell 24 rushing yards short of becoming the third NFL player to collect 3,000 yards passing and 500 yards rushing in a season. Randall Cunningham and Steve Young are the only two players to hold that record.

THERE’S QUITE A CATCH TO THIS CATEGORY

Tim Brown passed some of the most illustrious names in Oakand Raider history Sunday. With 14 catches, he boosted his total to 599, surpassing Fred Biletnikoff, who had 585 in 14 seasons, as the team’s career leader. Brown’s 104 catches this season eclipsed the previous team record of 95, set by Todd Christensen in 1986, and his 1,390 yards topped Art Powell’s 1,361 in 1964.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Career Rushing Leaders *--*

Player Att. Yards Avg. TD 1. Walter Payton 3,838 16,726 4.4 110 2. Barry Sanders 2,719 13,778 5.1 95 3. Eric Dickerson 2,996 13,259 4.4 90 4. Tony Dorsett 2,936 12,739 4.3 77 5. Jim Brown 2,359 12,312 5.2 106 6. Marcus Allen 3,022 12,243 4.1 123 7. Franco Harris 2,949 12,120 4.1 91 8. T. Thomas 2,720 11,405 4.2 63 9. John Riggins 2,916 11,352 3.9 104 10. O.J. Simpson 2,404 11,236 4.7 61 11. Emmitt Smith 2,595 11,234 4.3 112 12. O. Anderson 2,562 10,273 4.0 81 13. Earl Campbell 2,187 9,407 4.3 74 14. Jim Taylor 1,941 8,597 4.4 83

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE PLAYMAKERS

RUSHING

*--*

Player, Team No. Yds. TD BARRY SANDERS, Lions 23 184 1 ROBERT SMITH, Vikings 17 160 0 JAMAL ANDERSON, Falcons 33 152 0 WARRICK DUNN, Buccaneers 16 119 0 CHARLIE GARNER, Eagles 18 115 2 JERALD MOORE, Rams 27 112 0 MARSHALL FAULK, Colts 23 102 2 CHRIS WARREN, Seahawks 17 99 0 NAPOLEON KAUFMAN, Raiders 21 94 0

*--*

PASSING

*--*

Player, Team Att. Comp. Yds. TD ERIC ZEIER, Ravens 41 28 349 2 JOHN ELWAY, Broncos 26 17 273 4 ALEX VAN PELT, Bills 44 23 255 0 BOBBY HOYING, Eagles 31 21 255 2 BOOMER ESIASON, Bengals 34 21 254 2 JEFF GEORGE, Raiders 37 24 244 1 MARK BRUNELL, Jaguars 27 18 243 2 JAKE PLUMMER, Cardinals 40 19 237 3

*--*

RECEIVING

*--*

Player, Team No. Yds. TD TIM BROWN, Raiders 14 164 0 SHANNON SHARPE, Broncos 8 162 1 DARNAY SCOTT, Bengals 6 129 1 QUINN EARLY, Bills 7 120 0 KEENAN McCARDELL, Jaguars 7 116 1 DERRICK ALEXANDER, Ravens 5 111 1

*--*

--Compiled by Houston Mitchell