Sunday, January 14, 2001
NFL insider
Vikings coach reaches playoffs with 7th different QB
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dennis Green has coached the Vikings into the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons in Minnesota, and he's done it with seven postseason quarterbacks.
This time, it's Daunte Culpepper, the team's 1999 first-round draft pick who threw for 3,937 yards and 33 touchdowns this season.
Green also got production from his other playoff quarterbacks: Sean Salisbury, Jim McMahon, Warren Moon, Brad Johnson, Randall Cunningham and Jeff George.
Credit goes to Green and his system.
“His track record is, it doesn't matter who the quarterback is,” Packers general manager Ron Wolf told reporters who cover the Vikings. “My belief is, you start with the quarterback. His belief obviously does not start with the quarterback because he's had so many different ones.”
Minnesota will play the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game today at Giants Stadium.
WHO NEEDS IT? The Giants have won two playoff games without scoring an offensive touchdown: Sunday's 20-10 win over Philadelphia and their 15-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990 NFC Championship Game.
The Vikings' high-powered offense had better score early. New York is 9-0, including the playoffs, when leading after the first quarter.
SUPER DREAMS: Ravens owner Art Modell and Giants owner Wellington Mara are close friends. They would have met in the 1987 Super Bowl if it weren't for “The Drive” led by Denver's John Elway against the Browns.
Now Modell and Mara are each one step away from a Super Bowl.
“Baltimore and the Giants in Tampa - I'd give my right finger,” Modell said. “It would be enormous for me and Well. One of us might make it. It's a long shot for both of us. You go down to win against anybody. Once you take the field, you forget who your friends are. But he is Mr. NFL. He is the NFL.”
RAIDER TALK: Here is what Oakland wide receiver Andre Rison had to say this week about his approach to the title game: “You've got to become more cocky and more arrogant. More detailed, more disciplined. But more than anything, more cocky and more arrogant.”
THROW HIM BALL: Tennessee's Frank Wycheck became the fourth tight end to lead a team in receiving at least five consecutive seasons. He joined the Broncos' Shannon Sharpe (1992-97), the Raiders' Todd Christensen (1982-86) and the Browns' Ozzie Newsome (1981-85).
MENDING FENCES: New Lions president Matt Millen has extended an olive branch to former Detroit running back Barry Sanders, who retired before the 1999 season.
Millen wants to see if Sanders is interested in playing again or becoming part of the organization.
Sanders will be 33 in July, and while he keeps himself in shape, Lions insiders aren't sure if he wants to return to the demands of the NFL.
There also would be money/salary-cap issues. The Lions signed James Stewart to a five-year, $25 million contract in 2000. Bringing Sanders back would require some negotiations. He played two years on a six-year, $36 million contract and has repaid the team almost $2 million of an $11 million signing bonus.
SIN CITY: The city of Tampa is trying to remove the Triple-X from Super Bowl XXXV.
Tampa Police plan to tackle an expected surge in illegal lap dancing at the city's nude dance clubs during Super Bowl week. Since December 1999, the city has enforced an ordinance requiring dancers to stay six feet from customers. There have been about 200 such arrests since the Tampa City Council unanimously passed the ordinance. It carries a maximum $1,000 fine and six-month jail sentence.
But dance club owners have their own game plan: ignore police and showcase the city's infamous attraction to a national audience. They're launching Super Bowl-related promotions and drafting extra dancers for an around-the-clock bump and grind.
Mons Venus, Tampa's most notorious club, will be open 24 hours a day beginning Wednesday of Super Bowl week.
DRAFTY: The Redskins' draft is thin. After two years of extra first-round picks, Washington only has four picks - first, second, fourth and fifth — the team's fewest since 1979.
Washington gave Kansas City its third-rounder for the next two years for signing coach Marty Schottenheimer, who was still under contract.
Schottenheimer expects to have his staff complete by Jan.18. Former Bengals coach Bruce Coslet is a leading candidate to become offensive coordinator.
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