It Appears Panthers Will Feel Chill in Draft

WEST The Carolina Panthers, a colossal flop this season, appear to be in position to have one of the top five picks in the NFL draft--maybe as high as No. 2. The operative word here is “appear.” The Panthers, in keeping with the spirit of doing everything wrong, traded their No. 1 pick in 1999--and to make sure they looked out of touch with reality--also gave away their No. 1 pick in 2000 to Washington to acquire defensive lineman Sean Gilbert. They pay people to make these moves?

“It’s easy to look now and say, ‘Gee, wouldn’t you like to have that pick?’ ” Coach Dom Capers said. “I think probably, sure, anybody would. But am I happy we have Sean Gilbert? Yes. We put a lot of thought and a lot of reasoning into making that move. Sometimes you can get paralyzed and not make any move and never make any progress. So I’m not going to ever look back.”

Not much to look forward to, either.

New Orleans’ defensive coordinator, Zaven Yaralian, learning that his father, George, was dying of liver and bladder cancer last week, said he made a special commitment last week in his father’s name to shut down the Dallas Cowboys.

“I prayed the Lord for strength to call this game,” Yaralian said. “This was for him. The players played it, but if there was a game I wanted him to see, this would have been it.”

The Saints held the Cowboys to three points.

CENTRAL / He’s Not Just Crying Wolf on Packers’ Hopes The quicker the Packers exit, the longer the winter in Green Bay, so General Manager Ron Wolf insists his team can still get hot and make it to the Super Bowl for a third straight year.

“It will be tough for us to get to the Super Bowl this year,” Wolf said. “We’ve got a tough road. But our guys have been there. They have a leg up because they’ve been through the pressure cooker before. We have to believe we still have a shot.

“I’m not a statistical person, but I believe the best defense in the NFC belongs to the Green Bay Packers. That gives you a chance. Then we have Brett Favre, Antonio Freeman, Mark Chmura, Derrick Mayes and Dorsey Levens. With the way [Levens] ran, there is still life in his legs. That’s still a formidable group. This team will compete. I don’t think you can discount us.”

Sure you can. They have no one to cover Randy Moss.

The Vikings are taking just one game at a time. . . . Yeah, right: “I watch the Broncos every time they’re on--you’re damn right I do,” Viking nose tackle Jerry Ball said. “And I tell guys on the defense, ‘Hey, look at them, this is what they’re doing. How are they doing that?’ Damn right we’re looking.”

EAST / This Pick Turned Into a Giant Mess General Manager Ernie Accorsi of the Giants, working for Baltimore in 1983, selected John Elway with the No. 1 pick in the draft. “Cost me my job,” Accorsi said.

Accorsi moved on to Cleveland, where Elway beat him in AFC championship games in ‘86, ’87 and ’89. Accorsi, who has never had the chance to talk with Elway about his selection, maintains the Colts would never have moved from Baltimore if owner Robert Irsay hadn’t traded Elway to Denver.

“Bob told me not to draft him,” Accorsi said. “But morally, I couldn’t sell the franchise out. I just had too much respect for the Baltimore Colts. I know it sounds corny, but I wouldn’t do it. I figured if it was good enough for Johnny Unitas, it was good enough for John.”

Accorsi learned that Elway had been traded to Denver by watching TV.

“I really think he’s the greatest quarterback since Unitas,” Accorsi said. “To me, nobody could ever be better than Unitas. But John is amazing.”

Just when the Cowboys began crowing that they were back, they lost Deion Sanders because of a toe injury and haven’t won since. In the last two games, Cowboy opponents have thrown for six touchdowns and 598 passing yards.