The traveling Terrell Owens circus opening Sunday in the City of Brotherly Love couldn’t be unfolding any better for Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb.
While the Dallas Cowboys’ offense has been less productive after three games with Owens than it was after three games last season, McNabb’s Eagles are the No. 1-ranked offense in the league.
Regardless of what he says, Owens will be hard-pressed to concentrate in Philadelphia, especially with the broken finger on his right hand.
McNabb has rebounded from injury and is playing as well as ever. Moreover, he is coming off a Monday night domination of Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers.
Of all the shots Owens fired during the disintegration of their relationship, it was Owens’ suggestion the Eagles would have had a better record last year with Favre at quarterback that rankled McNabb the most.
Just in case you think the McNabb-Owens feud is merely part of the sideshow, this is what McNabb said during the Super Bowl: “It was definitely a slap in the face to me. Because as deep as people won’t go into it, it was a black-on-black crime. To say if we had Brett Favre, that could mean that if you had another quarterback of a different descent or ethnic background, we could be winning.
“It would be like me saying if we had a receiver like Steve Largent or Joe Jurevicius, we’d be winning. It was something that I thought about and said, `Wow.’ It’s different if you’re saying, `If we had Michael Vick or if we had Daunte Culpepper, Steve McNair, Byron Leftwich.’ . . . But to go straight to Brett Favre, that kind of just slapped me in the face.”
Hali’s mother visits
Kansas City Chiefs rookie defensive end Tamba Hali finally got his mother, Rachel Keita, out of Liberia. He hadn’t seen her since he was 10 and vowed after he signed a contract he would bring her to America.
Keita was in the stands last week when her son had 1 1/2 sacks and forced a fumble in a 41-0 victory over San Francisco.
“We all know that feeling of having our mother and father in the stands,” Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. “But this was so unique because she had never seen him play football before. I looked into his eyes, and I knew. I said, `Oh, boy, Tamba is going to have some kind of game.'”
His mother plans to stay for a couple of months before Hali can bring her here permanently.
“It’s just so exciting,” she told the Kansas City Star. “I do not have the words for it. I’m just so happy to be here, in this big place, with all these people. I would dream about it, but I never dreamed of anything like this.”
Hali told her to watch the quarterback because it was his job to tackle him.
“I’m not going to lie, this was not just another game,” Hali said. “I felt a little emotional at the beginning of the game. I kept thinking about my mother watching me play for the first time, and I wanted to show her.”
She caught on to the sport fast.
“My favorite part is watching them stop the other team from scoring,” she said. “That is how you win games. You stop the other team from scoring.”
Sherman’s downfall
The release of cornerback Ahmad Carroll means there are only six players left from Mike Sherman’s four drafts (2001-04) in Green Bay.
Carroll, the 2004 No. 1 choice, follows 2002 No. 1 Javon Walker and 2001 No. 1 Jamal Reynolds out the door, leaving 2003 No. 1 Nick Barnett as the only first-rounder to survive. Walker was traded to Denver and, unlike Carroll, actually can play.
In 34 games, including 28 starts, Carroll drew 33 penalties, 26 for coverage violations, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Those penalties cost 256 yards. He also allowed 11 touchdown passes.
Unworthy Haynesworth
Carolina center Justin Hartwig spent four years in Tennessee as a teammate of Albert Haynesworth and once was kicked by him in practice.
Asked if he believed Haynesworth was a different person away from the field, Hartwig said: “I never talked to him. He’s just the kind of guy I stay away from. I realize there are things that happen on the field, but there are boundaries that get crossed. He just kind of loses his mind sometimes. That’s just him.”
Carolina receiver Keyshawn Johnson said the five-game suspension Haynesworth received for kicking a helmet-less Andre Gurode of Dallas in the face last week wasn’t enough.
“I don’t think he should be playing football,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t want him on my team. I’m not into giving guys who do something like that an opportunity. That’s just me, but I don’t own a football team and I’m not a head coach. If I did, he wouldn’t be on my team. That’s how I feel.”
Haynesworth said he will start behavioral management counseling this week and plans to spend Sundays during his five-game suspension at a local center for kids.
“I still don’t know why I did something like that. I have a sick stomach all the time,” he said. “I don’t know how to explain how sorry I am.”
Playmaker Moss
Santana Moss has supplanted Randy Moss as the best Moss receiver in football.
Since coming to the Redskins from the Jets, Moss has 12 touchdowns in 20 games. He had 19 in 51 games with the Jets.
“Phenomenal downfield skills, great long-ball reaction, a really good runner with the ball and somebody who makes play after play after play,” Washington coach Joe Gibbs said.
Meanwhile, Oakland’s Randy Moss appears lost. Ex-Bears cornerback Daven Holly, who played three games last season, covered Moss for the Browns last week and Moss had one catch for a 5-yard touchdown.
No offense
The Vikings have converted nine of their last 43 third-down opportunities and went 12-plus quarters without a touchdown. Marcus Robinson caught a touchdown pass in the third quarter of the season opener at Washington, and the Vikings’ offense didn’t score again until Robinson caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter at Buffalo last week.
“I know it’s a heck of an offense when it’s clicking,” said first-year coach Brad Childress, who installed the West Coast offense and calls the plays.
The Vikings committed 12 penalties against Buffalo and lead the league at 9 1/2 penalties per game.
LaVar is back
Terrell Owens isn’t the only player facing a former team this week. Giants linebacker LaVar Arrington gets his first shot at the Redskins, where Arrington couldn’t get along with defensive coach Gregg Williams and linebackers coach Dale Lindsey.
Lindsey, a former Bears assistant, was asked how much Arrington could help the Giants prepare for the Redskins
“None,” he replied. “He didn’t know anything when he was here. What makes you think he’ll know something up there?”
But Arrington revealed he never returned his Redskins playbook and shared it with the Giants’ coaching staff.
“So if I don’t understand [the playbook] I’m sure coach [Tom] Coughlin can decipher it,” Arrington said.
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dpierson@tribune.com
