Football Digest articles from April 2002

Football Digest archives from April 2002

An instant classic. (Kickoff).
April 1, 2002... THERE ARE DARKHORSES, AND there are darkhorses. Then there are the New England Patriots. With all due respect to the New York Jets of Super Bowl 3, has there ever been a more unlikely NFL champion? At least those Jets had Namath. The...

A fan's choices. (The Fans Speak Out).
April 1, 2002... This is in response to your "Breaking Down the Backs" sidebar in your article "Their Cups Runneth Over" [February 2002]. This may be a golden era for running backs, but I want to present my "those were the days" running backs. The...

Bills, Vikings revisited. (The Fans Speak Out).
April 1, 2002... I enjoyed your piece on the teams that made the Super Bowl--the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings--repeatedly but never quite won ["Powerhouses or Punch Lines?" February 2002]. The only thing I didn't like was that you acted as if there was...

Meddling owners. (The Fans Speak Out).
April 1, 2002... I thoroughly enjoyed your article on interfering owners ["When Owners Get in the Way," February 2002]. But you left out the biggest meddler of them all: Cincinnati's Mike Brown. Garland Elder Dayton We figured Brown had received enough...

The Huskers, not Huskies. (The Fans Speak Out).
April 1, 2002... In your February 2002 issue, you had a sidebar in your article "Their Cups Runneth Over" called "Breaking Down the Backs." In this piece you had Ahman Green listed as one of the "All-Pac-10 Pros" from Washington. Green is one of the best...

The Stat Sheet: 2001 NFL milestones.
April 1, 2002... 11 The consecutive number of times Emmitt Smith has rushed for 1,000 yards in a season. By rushing for 1,021 yards in 2001, he established an NFL record for the most consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 yards. 24 The...

A tough act to follow. (Uncovering the Past).
April 1, 2002... ON THE COVER OF OUR SEPTEMBER 1972 issue, we ran the following headline: "The Violent World of Linebackers." Who better to picture on that cover than Dick Butkus, the most violent of them all? Butkus was the personification of what pro...

Franchise snapshot: New York Giants.
April 1, 2002... * Bill Parcells, who led the Giants to their two Super Bowl victories, was childhood friends with Vince Lombardi Jr. * Homer Jones, the Giants' all-time leader in receiving yardage, is credited with inventing the spike after touchdowns. ...

"I can take it up to another level": here's a scary thought: after making the Pro Bowl in just his second season, the linebacker says he's only scratching the surface of what he can do. (Interview: LaVar Arrington).
April 1, 2002... IS THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS' LaVar Arrington destined to become the next great linebacker to wear No. 56? No. 56 is to linebackers what No. 32 is to running backs. NFL linebacking greats Lawrence Taylor (New York Giants), Thomas Hollywood...

Run, Priest, run: Priest Holmes--the reigning NFL rushing king--has come a long way from his humble start as an undrafted free agent.
April 1, 2002... ONE HESITATES TO SUGGEST that Priest Holmes lost his mind upon learning of his selection to his first Pro Bowl. He did, however, come very close to losing his checkbook. "I think he put his foot in his mouth when he said he'd take the...

The ringmaster: Kurt Warner masterfully directed the Rams offense, otherwise known as The Greatest Show on Earth. (Player Of The Year).
April 1, 2002... IT SEEMS LIKE EONS AGO THAT Kurt Warner was cobbling together the resume of a journeyman quarterback: Division I-AA, NFL Europe, the Arena League. Today, Warner not only stands at the top of his profession, but he also has posted two of the...

The fire beneath: Brian Urlacher, a man of few words, prefers to let his tackles do the talking. (Defensive Player Of The Year).
April 1, 2002... BY NATURE, BRIAN URLACHER is a quiet man. Instead of going out and partying after a Chicago Bears win, he is more likely to go home to his wife Laurie and his daughter Pamela. That low-key lifestyle is what makes him most comfortable. ...

Mix and match: from playmakers like Terrell Owens to the thugs in the trenches, our all-star squad has a bit of everything. (All-Pro Team).
April 1, 2002... IF YOU WANT SKILL PLAYERS, turn to the St. Louis Rams. If it's bruisers you desire, look to the Pittsburgh Steelers. To bulk up your defense, the Philadelphia Eagles are a good place to start. The Chicago Bears, too. FOOTBALL DIGEST's 2001...

The amazing journey: what kind of a leader was Chicago's Dick Jauron? He engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in recent NFL history. (Coach of the Year).
April 1, 2002... COACH OF THE YEAR? WHO would have figured? A lot of people around the league thought Dick Jauron simply would be lucky to have a job by the end of the 2001 season. But pro football is a funny business these days. Rags-to-riches stories...

A passing fancy? Steve Spurrier wanted a new challenge, and he's found just that: to display staying power in the ever-changing world of the Redskins.
April 1, 2002... RARELY HAS THE HIRING OF A coach been met with such enthusiasm throughout the NFL. When Steve Spurrier abruptly quit as coach at the University of Florida and then was signed in January by the Washington Redskins, even the people who will have...

Doug Atkins: the Hall of Fame end vividly remembers how Chicago's defense carried the day in a win over the Giants in the 1963 NFL title game. (The Game I'll Never Forget).
April 1, 2002... DURING THE 2000 SEASON, they started talking about the Baltimore Ravens having one of the greatest defenses ever. That got some people thinking about our Chicago Bears team in 1963. The words "Chicago Bears" and "defense" always have gone...

On the spot: Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame's new coach, has taken on one of the toughest assignments in all of football.
April 1, 2002... IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW MUCH about Tyrone Willingham prior to New Year's Day, you probably do by now. When Willingham was introduced as Notre Dame's 28th head coach that day, he was thrust into the most high-profile job in college sports. And...

2001 Team-by-Team Results. (Names and Numbers).
April 1, 2002... 2001 Team-by-team Results ARIZONA CARDINALS RESULTS Record: 7-9 Date Score Opponent 9/23 17-38 L Denver 9/30 14-34 L Atlanta 10/7 21-20 W at Philadelphia 10/14 13-20 L ...

Quick quiz.
April 1, 2002... 1. Two quarterbacks passed for at least 4,000 yards in 2001. Who were they? 2. When was the last time the Green Bay Packers had a losing season: 1989, 1990, 1991, or 1999? 3. During his 10 seasons as head coach of the Minnesota...