Column: Boorish Behavior Hits NFL Hard
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 6:15 PM EST
The Associated Press
By TIM DAHLBERG
Extended properly, the middle finger usually works every time. So it was probably overkill when Michael Vick used both of his to let the fans in Atlanta know just how he felt.
Then again, everything is super-sized in the NFL these days. Even boorish behavior.
Vick's two-fingered display ended up costing him $10,000, or five grand per digit. Which seems a bit pricey for, as one wag suggested, merely showing fans how many wins the team had in its last six games.
Give Vick some credit. Instead of hiding behind the obligatory apology written by the team's PR department, he stepped before the cameras the next day and apologized for everything but the price of beer in the Georgia Dome.
"It will never happen again. Never," Vick said.
If only the same thing were true about some of the other displays of the week, as players preened and pouted, coaches ranted and raved, and the seasons of some prominent teams continued to spin out of control.
Almost lost in it all was Terrell Owens, who barely got noticed when he deposited a ball into a Salvation Army red kettle after catching a touchdown pass on Thanksgiving Day. Of course, Owens already helped dump one quarterback this year, so he can be excused for taking a late-season break.
Then again, all is well in Dallas, where Tony Romo is suddenly the new Troy Aikman and Bill Parcells is finally happy because he got rid of a kicker who was so cocky he wanted someone else to handle his kickoffs.
Things are not so good in New York, where the running back is calling out the coach, the coach is calling out the quarterback, and more fingers are being pointed in the locker room than Vick has on both of his hands.
You have to wonder what Plaxico Burress was thinking about when he quit on a long pass in the fourth quarter with the Giants up 21-0 and on their way to what seemed like a sure win against Tennessee. Maybe whether to order the lobster or steak that night on the team's flight home?
Michael Strahan would sure like to know. His slim chances of playing in another Super Bowl didn't get any better when Adam "Pacman" Jones intercepted the pass and Burress made little effort to tackle him as the Titans went on to a comeback win.
"I don't quite understand what his motivation is, or what his lack of motivation is in those type of situations," Strahan said. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to try to see what it is and try to see if I can talk to him about it."
Maybe he should ask Randy Moss, who used to be a pretty good pass catcher in the NFL himself. That's "used to be" because he had only three passes thrown in his direction against San Diego, didn't catch any of them, and played like he didn't care.
Of course, Moss usually quits before a play begins, not during it. Actually, in Minnesota he once quit before a game was even over.
Maybe it's something in the Gatorade wide receivers are drinking lately. Or maybe they just all just want to be like T.O.
I mean, when's the last time you saw an offensive lineman stomping around on the sidelines, screaming and grabbing his quarterback's jersey like Cleveland's Braylon Edwards did on Sunday?
Edwards blamed it on his "passion for the game," which must be the same passion that prompted him to criticize the Browns' conservative play calling a week before and question a hard hit by one of his own teammates on Ocho Cinco himself earlier this season.
Besides, Edwards knows quarterbacks who act even worse.
"It's not like I gave the bird to somebody in the stands or anything like that," he said.
No, and it's not like Vincent Jackson is a real deep thinker either.
San Diego's T.O. wannabe made a big catch for the Chargers as they rallied against Oakland, then jumped up and spun the ball forward in celebration. The only problem was no one had touched him, and Oakland's Fabian Washington jumped on the ball.
Luckily for Jackson, when it was all sorted out his team kept the ball with a measly 5-yard penalty for an illegal "forward pass." If not, he might have been joining Mike Vanderjagt in the unemployment line.
"My emotions just got me for a second," Jackson said.
That seems to be happening a lot in the NFL lately, where getting on ESPN's highlight clips seems more important to some players than winning a game.
Get a sack and strut around like you've just hit the lottery. Make a catch and dance like you're Emmitt Smith.
No matter that your team is losing by three touchdowns. It's the air time that counts.
Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall was out to get some when he faded back to protect against a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the first half against New Orleans.
Batting down the ball was too simple. There were plenty of teammates around to do that.
Instead, he flailed at the ball in an ill-advised attempt at an interception.
"I was trying to make a play," Hall said.
The ball, of course, was caught for a 48-yard touchdown that probably cost the Falcons the game. Hall made it on SportsCenter all right, just not quite how he envisioned it.
The only bright spot was that Vick wasn't pointing a finger at him.
