Herman Edwards made his mark as a player in one game against the New York Giants. Now he has a chance to pull off another Miracle of the Meadowlands as the New York Jets’ coach.
Until he was hired Thursday to replace Al Groh, Edwards was best known for returning Joe Pisarcik’s fumble 26 yards for the winning touchdown in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 19-17 win over the Giants in 1978. The play, with 31 seconds left, was dubbed the Miracle of the Meadowlands.
“At one time, I thought Giants Stadium held about 70-something thousand,” said Edwards, the former assistant head coach to Tampa Bay’s Tony Dungy. “But the longer this thing goes, the more people that have been at that football game. Every time I talk to someone, it’s, `Hey, I was there!”‘
Edwards becomes the third active black head coach in the NFL and the sixth overall. The other current black head coaches are Minnesota’s Dennis Green and Dungy.
Brooks resigns: Rich Brooks, defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons since 1997, surprisingly resigned, saying he was disappointed about failing to land another head-coaching job.
Brooks said he turned down an offer last fall from the upstart XFL because he was still under contract to the Falcons.
Brooks, who coached the St. Louis Rams in 1995-96, never interviewed for another head-coaching job.
Circle complete: The Carolina Panthers appointed Paul Boudreau offensive line coach, completing a circle with the Miami Dolphins.
Boudreau, 51, spent the last two seasons in the same job with the Dolphins. He replaces Tony Wise, who left Carolina at the end of last season to take Boudreau’s job in Miami.
Fine time: Ray Lewis and Tony Siragusa have been fined a total of $17,500 by the NFL for celebrated hits on quarterbacks in games the Baltimore Ravens won to reach the Super Bowl.
Siragusa was fined $10,000 for slamming Oakland’s Rich Gannon in the AFC championship game. Lewis was fined $7,500 for hitting Tennessee’s Steve McNair in the chest the week before.
In addition, Minnesota defensive tackle John Randle was fined $12,500 for making an obscene gesture and wearing face paint in the Vikings’ playoff game Jan. 7.
