Only Crime Was His Abuse of the Language

John McGrath in the Tacoma News Tribune: “With the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Oilers/Tennessee Titans finally headed to their first Super Bowl, we would be remiss if we failed to mention the legendary Bill Peterson.

“He coached the Oilers for 19 games between 1972 and 1973; they lost 18 of them. But Peterson’s real contributions to football were the priceless malapropisms he dropped.

“ ‘This is the greatest country in America,’ he once said.

“A former Florida State head coach, Peterson was visibly moved upon his induction into the State of Florida Hall of Fame.

“ ‘I’m very appreciative,’ he gushed, ‘of being indicted.’ ”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Super Bowl record for interceptions in a game?

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Say what? Ram cornerback Todd Lyght, on Ricky Proehl’s winning touchdown catch against Tampa Bay: “It will go down as one of the greatest catches in the history of St. Louis football.”

Comment from Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Who knew there was a list?”

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Enough, already: Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Ram Coach Dick Vermeil needs to get his team under control:

“Enough already with the trash talk. Enough with the woofing. Enough with the taunting. . . . Enough with the bragging. Enough with the chest thumping.

“Enough with Vermeil saying his team has no weakness. Enough with Kurt Warner saying the offense couldn’t be stopped. Enough with Vermeil saying that one day Joe Montana might be compared to Warner.”

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Poor prophet: Bill Walsh, the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, often is referred to as “the Genius” in Bay Area newspapers. That doesn’t mean he can predict a game’s outcome.

Before St. Louis beat Tampa Bay, 11-6, Walsh said: “Not only will they [Rams] win, they’ll win big. Maybe score 50 points. They could almost name the score.”

How about St. Louis Blues? Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe: “ ‘St. Louis Rams’ just doesn’t sound right. Teams should change names when they change cities. The Colts could have become the Indy Autoracers when they left Baltimore.

“That’s why the Titans did the right thing dumping ‘Oilers,’ just as the Browns were wise to become the Ravens when they left Cleveland for Baltimore.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1991 the New York Giants survived the closest Super Bowl ever, 20-19, when Buffalo’s Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt with eight seconds left.

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Trivia answer: Rod Martin of the Oakland Raiders, three against Philadelphia in 1981.

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And finally: Michael Jordan, the new part-owner of the Washington Wizards, on trying to revive the underachieving team:

“I’ve been in worse scenarios, but the good thing about it is we have only one way to go. That’s up. We can’t go any further down.”