Dawg Pound Once Fit for a (Home Run) King

Times NFL writer Steve Springer poses--and answers--the burning questions for this week’s games:

Question: Cleveland’s Dawg Pound isn’t the same in the Browns’ flashy new stadium, as the Tennessee Oilers will discover today. What happened to the Dawgs?

Answer: We can tell you what happened to one of them, a guy by the name of Hank Aaron.

Yes, that Hank Aaron.

Baseball’s all-time home run king, a devoted rooter of the old Browns, once donned a disguise to sit in the Dawg Pound and cheer the original Browns.

He didn’t fool too many people, but his fellow Dawgs were considerate enough to leave him alone.

After all, every Dawg should have his day.

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Q: What’s wrong with quarterback Ryan Leaf, whose latest move was to play flag football while under suspension by the San Diego Chargers?

A: A better question might be, what’s wrong with the Chargers? Don’t they do more than look at the 40-yard dash times of their prospects? Ultimately, the blame for Leaf must fall on Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard.

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Q: Will anybody pick up running back Lawrence Phillips?

A: The Chargers should. Then they could team him in a dream backfield with Leaf. They’d be unbeatable in flag football.

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Q: Troy Aikman returned to the Dallas Cowboys last week after having suffered his eighth concussion in an 11-year career. Isn’t eight enough?

A: Aikman saw a specialist who assured him that suffering so many concussions wasn’t career threatening. The specialist said he knew NHL players who had suffered 30 to 40 concussions over an 11-year span.

So quit being a wimp, Troy.

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Q: How long before Mike Ditka explodes again?

A: If you are reading this after 10 a.m. today, check your local Fox station. It may have already happened in St. Louis.