A Tirade That Will Live On

The Arizona Cardinals fell apart, Coach Dennis Green flipped out, and Jim Mora’s phone started ringing.

Mora, a former coach, now works for the NFL Network. He had nothing to do with Green’s team blowing a 20-point lead to the heavily favored Chicago Bears on Monday, and suffering perhaps the most heartbreaking defeat in Cardinals history.

But Green’s microphone-slapping tirade after the game -- spun gold for “SportsCenter” and an instant classic on YouTube.com -- was reminiscent of an unforgettable Mora meltdown five years ago.

In turning “Monday Night Football” into “Bobby Knight Football,” Green may have forever altered his legacy. Now, even people who don’t watch football will remember him as the coach whose head almost popped at the podium.

“It’s perfect for talk radio,” said Mike Jurecki, who co-hosts a show on XTRA in Phoenix. “This will stick with him forever.”

Mora knows. Back in 2001, after his Indianapolis Colts dropped to 4-6 with a loss to San Francisco, a reporter asked the coach what it meant for the team’s playoff chances.

“Playoffs?” Mora shrieked, his voice cracking in disbelief. “Don’t talk about playoffs! Are you kidding me? Playoffs? I’m just hoping we can win another game!”

Mora’s response was so memorable and hysterical, the NFL even posted video of it this week on its own website. But Mora is sick of talking about it. Normally happy to oblige reporters, he refused to answer those calls this week. In a conversation at the Super Bowl two years ago, he said he still couldn’t walk through a hotel lobby without hearing some joker cackle “Playoffs?!?”

From now on, Green’s sure to get a similar serenade. By Tuesday morning, his rant was already reduced to a few choice clips that radio stations were using as comical sound effects.

Former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson, an analyst for Fox NFL Sunday, says he feels for Green, even though he couldn’t help chuckling at the outburst.

“I had a few clips here and there, but I never actually punched a podium,” Johnson said. “Now that I’m not behind the podium and I’m on the other side, it’s kind of entertaining.”

The morning after Green came unhinged, he held his weekly news conference and repeated his nonsensical message -- “The Bears are who we thought they were” -- this time without the color, kind of a Valium version of Monday’s performance.

It wasn’t as bleep-filled as a Tom Lasorda tirade, or as over-the-edge angry as some of Knight’s thermo-nuclear rants, but Green’s screed already rates right up with the best. It would have been ideal fodder for the late Jim Healy, the Los Angeles radio legend whose shows were full of recorded quips, quotes and blow-ups.

“He was a firm believer that when people lose their temper it was a true insight into their soul,” said his son, Patrick, a longtime Channel 4 reporter. “Apart from that, he thought it had great entertainment value.”

On Sunday, Green’s Cardinals play at Oakland, where they’re looking to end their five-game losing slide against the winless Raiders. Whether Arizona wins or loses, the cameras will be trained on Green.

Hey, you never know what the game might mean for Arizona’s playoff chances ...

(Cue Mora.)

Next Up at the Podium

It’s not only the Cardinals coach. Lots of people around the NFL seem primed for a conniption fit:

* Wade Wilson. As quarterbacks coach for the Bears, Wilson has to be concerned with the way Rex Grossman fell apart at Arizona. Not only were four of Grossman’s passes intercepted, but Cardinals defenders dropped two more in the first half. The 26-year-old quarterback looked as rattled as a rookie, particularly after the first of his two fumbles, and that has to be a concern for the otherwise stupendous Bears.

* Art Shell. OK, he’s cool under pressure. We get that. Now the Raiders coach needs to show some kind of fire on the sideline -- a pulse even? -- as his 0-5 team circles the drain. Things aren’t going to get any easier. From the look of things, there are only two remaining games his team has a decent chance of winning: against Arizona on Sunday, and Dec. 3 against Houston. You know how it can go with the quiet types. Suddenly ... they ... just ... snap!

* Rodney Harrison. The New England safety works his way back from a devastating knee injury, and for what? Sports Illustrated names him the league’s dirtiest player for the second time in three years. In a poll of 361 players, he wins in a 23% landslide. Tied for second are Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter and Philadelphia tackle Jon Runyan, each of whom got 6% of the vote. Oakland defensive tackle Warren Sapp was next at 5%. For the record, Harrison voted for Runyan.

* Tiki Barber. Long viewed as the quintessential team player, the 31-year-old New York Giants running back is taking some heat for letting it slip to the New York Times that he’s strongly considering retirement after this season. Some people are saying the admission could be a season-long distraction for the Giants.

* Chicago Bears beat writers. The Bears are as good as they’ve been in two decades, though you might not know it from their tense relationship with reporters. To signal the end of each daily media session, someone mans the lights in the locker room and flicks them on and off. Someone else amps up Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” on the stereo. The other day, players pulled out those eardrum-busting air horns and blasted them to shoo away the press.

Imagine how loud the headlines might blare after a loss.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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Denver defense

Denver has given up one touchdown through five games, and the Broncos are ranked No. 1 in average points given up (7.4). Denver can become the first team since the Detroit Lions in 1934 to give up one or no touchdowns in the first six games of a season. The fewest given up through six games since 1934:

*--* TEAM SEASON TDs Detroit Lions 1934 0 Chicago Bears 1934 3 Green Bay Packers 1935 3 Chicago Bears 1936 3 New York Giants 1937 3 Minnesota Vikings 1970 3 Atlanta Falcons 1977 3 Miami Dolphins 2000 3

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Source: nflmedia.com