Shutting up did get Weis points

Tonight, “60 Minutes” takes a look at Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis and his somewhat intense sideline demeanor, asking the question any mother watching will be able to appreciate: What’s with the foul language?

Describing himself as an “obnoxious, sarcastic guy from New Jersey,” Weis says he honed his talent for verbal abuse at the round table of the master, Bill Parcells.

After Weis had offered advice for the first time at a coaches’ meeting with the New York Giants, he recalls that Parcells looked “down at the end of the table with a scowl. Says, ‘You have been in the league five minutes. No one cares what you think, so just sit there and shut up.’ ”

From that less than auspicious debut, Weis became Parcells’ whipping boy.

“I mean, there was no doubt,” he says. “The hammer is coming out, and it’s being swung and swung hard.”

Today, Weis wields the hammer at Notre Dame.

“It’s nicer to be on the delivering end than the receiving end,” he says.

Trivia time

How many years did Weis serve as an assistant under Parcells?

Six of one ...

As Edgerrin James coins a “2.7 yards and a cloud of dust” cliche, Briefing makes some NFL picks:

* Green Bay over Arizona: Frustrated by the Indianapolis Colts’ failure to reach the Super Bowl, James jumped to Arizona during the off-season. Now, he’ll never have to worry about it.

* Cincinnati over Atlanta: When handed “In Chad We Trust” fake dollar bills to voice their support for Cincinnati’s wide-mouthed receiver, Bengals fans reply, “Speak for yourself.”

* New Orleans over Baltimore: HBO green-lights a new reality series built around all the offensive coaches Brian Billick has fired.

* Tennessee over Houston: In a poll that asks Houston fans, “Which team would you rather have, the Oilers or the Texans?,” 93% respond, “the Colts.”

* Philadelphia over Jacksonville: Donovan McNabb leads the league with 16 touchdown passes, not counting the two he threw last Sunday to Tampa Bay’s Ronde Barber.

* Kansas City over Seattle: Elias Sports Bureau reports that no NFL team has ever beaten the Chiefs in Kansas City with players named Seneca and Maurice in its starting backfield.

Half-dozen

of the other

While waiting for Terrell Owens to formulate his first insult about Tony Romo, Briefing has time for six more picks:

* Chicago over San Francisco: The 49ers watch Bears-Cardinals game film and can’t believe Rex Grossman threw four interceptions and lost two fumbles -- “Hey, he stole our game plan!”

* New York Giants over Tampa Bay: McNabb is overjoyed to hear that Barber is planning to retire. Until Andy Reid tells him, “Tiki, not Ronde.”

* San Diego over St. Louis: Antonio Gates says playing with LaDainian Tomlinson is “like playing with Kobe.” That’s not a perfect comparison. Last Sunday, LT passed to a teammate for a score.

* Indianapolis over Denver: There’s one question this so-called AFC championship game won’t answer. In the January rematch, will it be Peyton against Jake or Jay?

* Pittsburgh over Oakland: What Steelers-Raiders meant in ‘72: Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception. What Steelers-Raiders means in ‘06: More Andrew Walter interceptions.

* Carolina over Dallas: Who holds the real power within the Cowboys? Jerry Jones wanted to stay with Bledsoe. T.O. says he likes Romo. At least for now. Romo makes his first NFL start today.

Trivia answer

Weis coached for eight seasons with three teams for Parcells -- the Giants in 1990, the Patriots from 1993 to ’96 and the Jets from 1997 to ’99.

And finally

Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics executive director of basketball operations, to the Toronto Star about the NBA’s new zero-tolerance policy on players’ behavior toward referees: “I hope they don’t take away the emotion of the game.

“But it’s something that can be cleaned up. Then again, I’m not sure I would have been able to play if they did that in my era.”

mike.penner@latimes.com