Philadelphia sports fans, boorish and boo-ish, should be booing themselves for booing the drafting of quarterback Donovan McNabb last year. They chanted for Heisman Trophy running back Ricky Williams when they should have been cheering all along for the runner already on their roster, Duce Staley.
Staley is what Williams hopes to become: a tough, productive, dependable, versatile pro. He proved it last week with the first 200-yard rushing game in two years and the first for an Eagle in 51 years. Eagles scouts and coaches didn’t need convincing.
“Williams wasn’t much of a consideration for us,” said Mike McCartney, the Eagles’ director of pro personnel. “Duce is as complete a back as there is, without the speed.”
Lack of great speed dropped the 5-foot-11-inch, 220-pound Staley to the third round in 1997, the 10th running back drafted. But he broke a 60-yard run in the stifling fourth-quarter heat of Texas Stadium last week, the final carry of his 201-yard day.
It also was his only carry in the fourth quarter. Could he have broken Walter Payton’s 275-yard record?
“I probably would have passed out,” Staley said.
It was so hot in Texas Stadium that the Eagles have become football’s latest trendsetters by ingesting pickle juice to prevent cramping during their surprise 41-14 win.
Staley was a wide receiver in high school and junior college before finishing his final two years at South Carolina as a running back. He didn’t know about Payton’s record, but Payton was his idol as a kid.
“I loved his style,” Staley said. “He rarely went out of bounds. He would hit you before you would hit him. He wasn’t the kind of guy who was going to absorb much.”
Said McCartney: “He never gives up on a run until he’s on the ground. He’s similar to Barry Sanders, not from an athletic standpoint, but from the second and third effort.”
Asked whether he hears much about Williams anymore, Staley was kind: “I really don’t know about that. I know Ricky is a good back. He’s a great back, he’s going to come into his own, he’s going to get the job done. As for the comparison thing, I don’t really read up on that.”
Staley’s total offense was 262 yards. He said he had enjoyed days like that before “on Play Station. I’m pretty good at that.”
Carried away: Redskins safety Mark Carrier, the 1990 No. 1 draft choice of the Bears, was suspended for Sunday’s game against Detroit, Carrier’s last team. Carrier hit Carolina tight end Wesley Walls helmet to helmet, a habit Carrier can’t seem to break. He has been disciplined five times for similar offenses.
Before this season, Carrier told the Associated Press: “I’ve changed quite a bit from when I first came into the league to now. If I was trying to tackle the way I was when I first came into the league, I probably wouldn’t be in the league. … Guys are bigger, stronger. You’ve got to be smart in your way of surviving, while being effective.”
Carrier was talking about technique, not attitude.
“I consider myself a throwback,” he said. “I was taught at a very young age that this game is a tough game and you’ve got to be very aggressive. You can’t show any fear, any intimidation. You’ve always got to be ready to attack before they attack you. It’s just the way I play.”
Carrier was 10 years old when his father was in an automobile accident. Not wearing a seat belt, Willie Carrier was thrown through a window and paralyzed from the neck down. Mark Carrier has two children.
“You always think of the dangers of the game when you’re not playing; you don’t think about it when you’re playing,” Carrier said. “You think about it when you see other players go down, when you see other players carted off. You know this is a very violent, dangerous sport. Being a family man now, married with children, you always want to be there for them.
“When the NFL says the things they’ve said about me, it gives me a bad image, and that’s not who I am. It’s not my character. I want to be a leader on and off the field.”
Record Rams: The St. Louis Rams have scored 30 or more points in seven consecutive regular-season games, tying an NFL record shared by the 1956 Bears, the 1963 Green Bay Packers and the 1968 Cleveland Browns. The Rams can take sole possession of the record with a 30-point effort Sunday in Seattle against the Seahawks.
During their streak, the Rams have scored 244 points, nearly 35 per game (34.8). That is three points off the highest average of the four teams, the ’56 Bears, who averaged 38 points per game (38.1) on 267 points.
Reg-gie! Reggie White, 38, played 37 plays in his comeback with Carolina. He had no sacks but made three tackles and had four quarterback hurries.
“My body felt great, and I didn’t feel rusty at all,” White said. “The thing is to keep working and not get too disappointed with what I thought I didn’t do, or what I saw [on tape] that I didn’t do.”
Batch of money: After signing a four-year, $31 million contract extension with a $10 million signing bonus, Detroit quarterback Charlie Batch called his mother, Lynn Settles.
“All she could do was cry,” Batch said. “You talk about that much money and she writes it down on a piece of paper and you count that many zeroes. … I’d never seen a check like that, and my mother had definitely never seen a check like that.”
Where were we? Dennis Green’s advice to his Vikings defense after it allowed the Bears 27 points, 425 yards and 9-of-15 third-down conversions: “You can’t worry too much about Chicago because that’s a style of play you don’t see. I think we’ll play much better against Miami this week, and I think we’re a better defense than we were last year.”
Manning’s the man: The accolades for Peyton Manning poured in from Oakland, this week’s Colts opponent. Quarterback Rich Gannon said he loved what he saw Manning do at last season’s Pro Bowl. “He takes a lot of pride in his performance and preparation. At the Pro Bowl, we were running the Jacksonville system. He’s out there telling players what to do … guys he doesn’t even know. He’s coaching them up, talking to them behind the huddle. He’s a very mature guy for his age. I was very impressed with him.”
Raiders coach Jon Gruden loves how Manning runs the play-action offense. “The key is this quarterback. The guy has ice in his veins. He does a great job standing in there, turning his back to the defense and making great fakes.”
But defensive tackle Darrell Russell dissented. “You can get into Manning’s head. Although a lot of people pump him up and he’s looked at as one of the premier quarterbacks, if you look at his track record, he can’t really win the big game.
“He never came close to winning a national championship. He never won the big game in college, and he hasn’t done it now. Whether it’s us getting in his head or him getting in his own head, there’s definitely space for some elbow room.”
Tangled web: They’re calling the latest grudge match between the Jets and Patriots the “Tuna Helper Bowl.”
Bill “Tuna” Parcells, who quit the Patriots to go to the Jets, had the tables turned on him when defensive coordinator Bill Belichick, his heir apparent, quit the Jets to go to the Patriots. Parcells then turned to linebackers coach Al Groh.
Belichick took Jets offensive coordinator Charlie Weis with him to the Patriots. Weis and Parcells had a falling out last season when Tuna stripped him of play-calling duties. After the season, Weis testified against Parcells in the Belichick hearing. Belichick also took Jets pro personnel director Scott Pioli to New England. Pioli is married to one of Parcells’ daughters, Dallas.
Miller translated: Britannica.com is offering “The Annotated Dennis Miller, Our Guide to the Monday Night Football Pundit’s Cultural and Historical References.”
When Denver’s Terrell Davis was getting his ankle taped Monday, Miller said the artist Christo didn’t use that much fabric when he enveloped the Pont Neuf bridge. Britannica.com explains that Christo Javacheff used 40,000 square meters of beige cloth and 43,000 feet of rope when he wrapped the Paris bridge in 1985.
