This is NFL Films ... at its best

Miking of John Lynch adds subtext to Super Bowl story

MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- In my last official act of the 2002-2003 NFL season, I took part in the HBO "Inside the NFL" show last Thursday in New York, as I'd done all season. At the start of our usual Thursday morning staff meeting, show guru Dave Harmon played the NFL Films tape of Super Bowl XXXVII. For the next 20 or so minutes, we watched an incredible display of visual documentation. Brilliant work by NFL Films. I don't think those people have ever done a better job illustrating why a game went the way it did, why Tampa Bay had Oakland's number every step of the way in a 48-21 rout. When the tape was over, the former players in the room were impressed, as they should have been.

"Film was awesome," said Cris Carter.

"Better than the game," said Cris Collinsworth.

"Man, it makes you want to go out and play again," said Dan Marino.

The best part was the in-game miking of Tampa Bay safety John Lynch. I reached Lynch Friday in Hawaii, where he was Pro-Bowling, and told him so. "People probably remember Hank Stram most for his wiring in Super Bowl IV, not for some of the big games he won," I told Lynch. "And you'll be remembered for some of your great lines in this one."

"What's funny about this is that I didn't even know it was going [to be live the whole game] until a couple of minutes before the game," Lynch said. "I thought I was only going to live in pregame. Then I talked to Lynn Swann just before kickoff and he told me, 'It's going to be good to have you with us all day.' I had no idea. But I guess it turned out okay. [Thursday night], I was out on the street and 15 people must have come up to me and said: 'Hey, you're the guy who was miked for the Super Bowl.'"

The really amazing part Lynch's commentary came with the Raiders down 6-3 early in the second half. Oakland had the ball, first-and-10, at its 45, when Lynch saw a formation he immediately recognized from being drilled on the Oakland offense all week. A "Trips" formation, meaning three receivers to one side and, more important, around midfield. Bang! Where Oakland was on the field -- and the formation, the down and the distance -- led Lynch to recall what Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden, who was Oakland's coach last year, and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, had been telling him all week.

Immediately, Lynch turned to his fellow safety, Dexter Jackson, and said, "Dexter, don't let him fool you with his pumps on this one! Get to our landmarks!"

Lynch shouted: "Sluggo Seam! Sluggo Seam!" That, to the Bucs, meant Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon would pump-fake to the deep left, draw the ball back, then throw up the right seam to receiver Jerry Porter.

As Lynch said to me five days after the game: "The thing with the Raiders is, you had to believe in Gannon's pump. They make you believe in it because he's so accurate and you can't risk not thinking he'll really throw it. But if you know when it's likely he'll pump and not throw, you've got a huge edge. That's what we had going in. We knew their tendencies on the pump so well."

Back to the play. Gannon dropped back from center and faked a throw deep up the left side. Jackson, the deep safety on the play, would normally have cheated to the left a few steps, maybe even started running, when Gannon pumped. Instead, he didn't bite. He didn't even nibble. And when Gannon let a surprisingly wobbly pass fly into double coverage (that was surprising too), Jackson was right there. Intercepting that pass was about as difficult as Barry Bonds catching a fungo during outfield practice. And when it happened, Lynch was as gleeful as an athlete can be out on the field. He ran to Jackson and screamed: "Dexter, I told you! Sluggo Seam! Told you, baby!" Lynch ran to the bench and cackled: "They're too predictable! They're too predictable! We know 'em!" When he saw Kiffin, Lynch said: "I called it, Monte! Called it!" Four minutes later, the Bucs scored the first touchdown of the game, and the rout was on.

Later in the game, Lynch marveled at how well-prepared his defense was, remarking to one assistant coach: "Every play they've run, we ran in practice. It's unreal."

When we finished watching the tape in the HBO conference room, Collinsworth made an excellent point about how the footage showed the increased respect the Tampa Bay defense had for its offense. It used to be, of course, that the players on the Bucs' D treated the offense like three-week-old garbage. Whenever they got near offensive players, they held their noses. Not now. The NFL Films stuff shows that in a big way. Midway through the third quarter, with the Bucs on another long drive, Joe Jurevicius gathered in a short pass from Johnson and rambled 33 yards with it, stiff-arming cornerback Tory James viciously at the end of the play. (It's the play that ended up immortalized on the cover of Sports Illustrated last week.) Soon, the Bucs would lead 27-3. When Jurevicius came off the field, he found himself standing on the sidelines in front of Lynch and Warren Sapp. Lynch, nodding at Jurevicius, said to Sapp, "That guy's a soldier, Sapp." And Sapp clapped Jurevicius on the shoulder pads and shouted, "Attaway to pound his ass!"

Bottom line: The Bucs knew way too much about Oakland's offense, and Oakland should have seen it coming. The Raiders should have mixed things up. They should have said during the week: We're going to confound them on our most basic tendencies and do things they haven't seen all year. They should have done things like pump to the left, then throw to the left. But this footage leads me to believe Raiders coach Bill Callahan and offensive coordinator Marc Trestman thought they were foolproof. No way anyone can stop us, they thought, even if they might know what's coming. Well, one of the quickest defenses ever can stop anything if it's not disguised. It also shows me Jon Gruden is brilliant.

And another thing: NFL Films is pretty good too.

MMQB: What's more fun -- playing a football game in the NFL or running a franchise in the AFL?

Elway: You can never replace playing on Sunday. Never. But it's a totally different thing now. Before, I had all the control between the white lines on Sunday. Now I have none. Before, I had no control of everything outside the white lines. Now I have it all. So now I have different things to worry about. But it has been great. This is a great sports town. The Broncos have been sold out for 30 years. The Avalanche have been sold out just about since they got here. I take pride in the fact that our opener is sold out.

MMQB: Will the Arena League fly on NBC?

Elway: I think so. We've got a manageable sport, a great TV sport. Our salary cap is $1.6 million per team. You can buy a ticket to our game for $7. We're a very appealing sport to the fans. Plus, our parking lot is full of Toyotas, not Mercedes, and our fans like that.

MMQB: First Kurt Warner, then Tommy Maddox. Why has Arenaball been a good training ground for NFL quarterbacks?

Elway: Here's the thing about this game, for a quarterback: There's lots of reps, and the game is so quick, and you have to make quick decisions, and you have to throw the ball into a little tiny window. You have to be able to take a beating. I really think there are more NFL quarterbacks in this league.

Ed Mueller of Englewood, Fla., says the "fans are the ones who support the game, not the writers!" Mike of New York, writes, "I hope you just misspoke." Sean, checking in from Dublin, Ireland, says: "The MVP isn't the Nobel Prize. What is the harm?" Iain Getty of Edmonton calls me "pompous and arrogant." Josh of St. Louis says: "Your elitism is showing. I went to Ohio University too. I suggest you visit Athens and see if that jogs your memory of where you came from."

I'll let Jody Horton of Chicago speak for all of you: "Just who do you think you are? Who pays the players' salaries? Who supports the advertisers that pay for the games to be aired? Who pays YOUR salary? The FANS! Fans are the reason you can fly all over the country with your daughter covering games. Fans are the reason players are paid exorbitant salaries. Fans are the reason advertisers pay MILLIONS for air time during the game. You are such an expert that you feel your opinion is more valid than mine or my neighbor's or any fan."

I have no problem with fans having input into the MVP award. Never have. Fans should vote for all-star teams, and fans should have a say in the online balloting for MVPs. A say, I said. I like that fans have a voice, the way I have a voice. But the way the system works is unjust. Let me explain.

The Super Bowl MVP is decided by 19 "voters." Fifteen are media members covering the game. Four are designated fan votes. You can vote on the Internet late in the game and just after the game, and the winner of the fan vote gets all four designated fan votes.

Last year, after the Patriots beat the Rams on a late Adam Vinatieri field goal, the media vote was very close: Ty Law had 5.5 votes, Vinatieri had 5.0 and Tom Brady (my selection) had 4.0. About 400,000 people voted online, and Brady beat Vinatieri by one-quarter of one percent of the total Internet vote, 29.02 percent to 28.74 percent. Brady was given all four votes. So even though Brady finished third in the media vote and beat Vinatieri in the fan vote by the slimmest of margins, he won the MVP.

This year, in the media balloting, Simeon Rice had 6.5 votes, Michael Pittman 4.0, Dexter Jackson 4.0 and Greg Spires 0.5. (I split my vote between Rice and Spires.) Here's how to top picks in the fan voting stacked up, out of a pool of about 200,000 votes:

1. Dexter Jackson, 37,138
2. Michael Pittman, 32,384
3. Brad Johnson, 31,663
4. Simeon Rice, 28,791

I talked to NFL spokesman Greg Aiello about the electoral college method of awarding fan votes last week. I said, basically, that the fans should play a part in the voting, but that this was the second year that a tight contest in the fan inequitably affected the outcome of the race. He said he thought the league would look into a more equitable cut of the fan vote.

My suggestion: Make every fan vote count equally. Jackson had 18.6 percent of the total fan vote, which would equate to .74 of one vote. Pittman got 16.2 percent of the vote, which would be .65 of one vote. Johnson: 15.8 percent and .63 of one vote. Rice: 14.4 percent and .58 of one vote. That would have given Rice 7.08 votes overall, Jackson 4.74, Pittman 4.65.

Last point: The current system makes your vote totally meaningless unless you pick the winner. Now for a selection of the more than 2,000 pieces of e-mail this week.

YOU INSULTED ALL NORTH AMERICANS WHEN YOU SAID A CANADIAN SHOULD NOT HAVE SUNG "GOD BLESS AMERICA." From Gerald Cadet of Montreal: "I would like to remind you that the comment about Celine Dion and America is deeply offensive for anyone living in this hemisphere. Your country is named the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, not AMERICA, which is where 800 million people live. If you travel to Mexico, Venezuela, Chile or Brazil, you would be in America; so to say that Mrs. Dion shouldn't be able to sing it is offensive to all of us. It would really be appreciated if you, and American journalists in general, could make that distinction. It would help the people from the U.S. to understand that they're not alone in this hemisphere. By the way, don't you think Emmitt Smith should stay a Cowboy and share the load with Troy Hambrick?"

Not unless he'd agree to chop his salary way, way down and agree to be a backup. I see neither happening.

TAKE A BOW ON GRUDEN. From Joe Rizzo of Paramus, N.J. "I just wanted to drop a note and tell your columns are always must-reads for me. I really cherish the time and effort you put in, from a personal and professional standpoint. I opted to look back into the King archives and found that you, my friend, are deserving of a lot of kudos. In your MMQB following the Pats' Super Bowl win last year, you wrote this: 'Coaching in the NFL means more than in any other sport, ever. (I cackle at an owner going into a room with Al Davis and throwing draft picks at him until he forks over Jon Gruden. He's worth it! Can't you see that?!)' You deserve major props for nailing that one."

Thanks, Joe. This was my deal on Gruden: He was a 38-year-old super-motivator and a great offensive mind, and he'd done ridiculously well with a veteran group of players, and he's a great teacher. I don't know what else you could want out of a coach. In the last five years, we've seen the first two chapters of one of the great coaches of our era.

REARRRRRRRRRRR. From Anita of Kansas City: "I'm disgusted that you would even refer to the 'catfight' women in the Miller Lite commercial. And its stab at men's infatuation with lesbian sex is horrendous. I love your Monday column -- please don't make me want to turn it off like I have my TV recently."

Just making some social commentary. That was my point.

HALL OF FAME, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS. From Seth of New York: "What is the rationale behind having a minimum number of Hall of Fame entries each year? It seems to devalue the honor. In my opinion, if someone has been on the ballot 10-12 years and hasn't been voted in already, why should he get in just because the other nominees that year aren't as strong?"

You're making a point a lot of us have made to the Hall officials over the years. I suggest you write a letter to the Hall's responsible and responsive executive director, John Bankert, at 2121 George Halas Drive NW, Canton, OH 44708.

YOU'RE WAY OFF ON ART MONK. From Mark Tuben of Fairfax, Va.: "What is the argument against Art Monk for the Hall of Fame? He has held several NFL records, and he was a reliable and constant contributor to three Super Bowl-winning teams. I understand there is an argument that his average yardage per reception was low, but we are talking about 940 receptions. That's what I want from a Hall of Fame player: reliability and spectacularly consistent play. I can't imagine the logic that works against Monk."

My rationale on Monk: First of all, as one of the 38 electors of the Hall, I voted for Monk when we 38 electors whittled the field from 14 to 10 on the first vote nine days ago. I thought he was more deserving than four of the candidates on the ballot. But I did not vote for him after that. I covered the Giants in the '80s, and they were always more concerned with the impact Gary Clark and the running game had on the outcome of games than they were with Monk. Also, Monk played 16 years in the NFL. He was voted All-Pro one time. He led his own team in receptions six times. That's not good enough for me, and that's why I think he belongs in the Hall of Very Good.

2. I think one other thing I found interesting last week: Joe Gibbs called Detroit CEO Matt Millen last Wednesday and said, "Thanks but no thanks" to the Lions' coaching job. Millen, since playing for the Redskins a decade and change ago, has always held Gibbs in the highest regard, and he wanted to feel him out about whether he'd be interested in the Lions job. From talking to Gibbs a couple of weeks ago, I know he isn't because he's so firmly and successfully ensconced in the NASCAR life in Charlotte with his racing team (and with his kids and grandkids). Gibbs told me he'd never coach again. But isn't it interesting that Millen never treated this as a one-man show? And isn't it interesting that this story got all of one paragraph of a mention in a Detroit newspaper on Friday? Get on it, people.

3. I think we all should hope that John Butler, the San Diego GM fighting cancer, does well in his next round. Soon he'll start getting radiation to try to stem his brain cancer. I saw Butler a couple of days before the Super Bowl, and he was in his typical "up" mood. Some of his hair has grown back from previous treatments, a peppery white/black mix, very short, and he said to me: "Look! It's my George Clooney look!"

4. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Heck of a job, UConn, going to Cameron Indoor Stadium and beating Duke by double-digits. Wow. Geno Auriemma is so smart, playing a bunch of tough games to get a bunch of freshmen game-calloused before the tournament. How about wins over Oklahoma, Tennessee and Duke with a four-fifths new starting lineup?

b. Spent my first non-football Sunday afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with three people -- including my wife -- who actually have real lives. Saw the extensive collection of Da Vinci drawings. The place was mobbed. Thousands of people. Incredible crowd. And while I had some appreciation for 505-year-old drawings that still look incredibly vivid, I had more appreciation for the Van Goghs in the 19th Century European wing. (I can't believe I'm saying that.) I mean, look at "Irises." Still looks wet, and it's a century-and-change old.

c. This was my quote of the week, really. From a guy with his wife or girlfriend, standing in front of a Van Gogh painting. "Do you think that's the original?" he said.

d. Coffeenerdness: How'd you like the espresso at E.A.T. on Madison Avenue yesterday just before 1 p.m., Lizzie Grubman?

5. I think I have one last Super Bowl question: Has anyone see Al Davis? Anywhere?

6. I think this is what I think of the Pro Bowl: Ricky Williams wins the MVP award. I have salmon for dinner. Equally significant events.

7. I think I'd put even money on HBO doing Hard Knocks next summer with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All Gruden, all the time. He'll like that.

8. I think I erred in last week's column, saying Tampa Bay guard Kerry Jenkins is a free agent. He's not. Sorry.

9. I think, just for the record, this is the Barret Robbins financial situation, if you're wondering about the Raiders cutting him: Robbins is slated to have the 10th-highest cap value on the team in 2003, at $4,196,666. If they cut him now and took the entire cap hit in 2003, they would save just over $1 million from their current charge; his cap number for 2003 would be $3.14 million. If the Raiders chose to cut him but not until June 2, when the cap cost could be spread over 2003 and 2004, they'd incur a cap charge of $946,666 this year and $2,196,668 in 2004, which would be the rest of his pro-rated signing bonus. And so it is a lie to say it's a wash if the Raiders cut him or keep him on the team. The long and short of it is: If they keep him on the team, it would cost the Raiders $4.2 million this year. If they cut him right now, if would cost them $3.14 million.

10. I think this will be, by far, my longest column of the offseason.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space each week. Click here to send him a comment.

 

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