For all those who think that Chad, T.O. and Plaxico invented wacky wideout syndrome, think again.
It goes back 73 years, long before television and the Internet could show every move, dance, popcorn throw and sharpie signing. And two decades before rock ‘n roll, which prompted Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco (and other names) to say of receivers: “We’re the rock stars of the NFL.”
The original (somewhat) wacky wideout was Don Hutson, by far the best receiver of the NFL’s Paleozoic Era. His 488 receptions in an 11-season career that ended in 1945 were 200 more than anyone else in that era and he invented routes that are still used today, including the out-and-up.
But he wasn’t your conventional football player.
In 1935, when Hutson came out of Alabama there was no draft. And no agents. And, apparently, no real rules.
a season.
When the contracts arrived in the NFL office, there was considerable head scratching. The league president, a man named Joe Carr, made the only logical decision: The Packers’ contract was postmarked 8:30 a.m., while the one with the Dodgers was postmarked at 8:47 the same day.
Hutson was a Packer.
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Not everyone who catches the ball in the NFL these days is wacky. In fact, the ones that act out are a decided minority.
But Terrell Owens, Ocho Whatever, Randy Moss, Burress and a couple of budding youngsters are among the best at their jobs. And we now have 24-hour sports networks that are so personality driven that anyone whose behavior strays from the norm is a candidate for immortality. “TOPN” is how Colts president Bill Polian refers to the Bristol, Conn.-based network that literally has chronicled Owens’ every move, especially since he arrived on the East Coast in 2004 to join the Philadelphia Eagles.
There are plenty of classy receivers without ego. The best ever, Jerry Rice, never posed for cameras or acted up.
In fact, he often confessed he was too shy to communicate well with the media. And his most contentious moment came after the 1989 Super Bowl when he was voted MVP and suggested that he was getting less media attention than a white teammate might have.
“If it were Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, it would have been headlines all over,” he said.
of today’s best receivers disdain showboating and are never in trouble off the field.
One of the best examples is Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward, the MVP of the 2006 Super Bowl. Known for his work ethic and lineman-like desire to block, his moment in the spotlight this season came when his fierce block broke the jaw of Cincinnati rookie Keith Rivers and put him out for the season.
“I’m not doing anything illegal,” Ward said. “It was a clean hit. I didn’t stand over the guy or anything. I just celebrated the same as a guy does when he gets a sack. … I’m not going to change my ways. If they’re going to keep fining me for that, then I’m going to get fined all year. I don’t know if I hurt him or not, but that wasn’t my intention.”
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The conventional theory about why receivers are individualistic is that they often are separated from their teammates when they line up. And because they need someone else – usually the quarterback – to make sure they get the ball. (See Owens vs. Garcia and McNabb.)
The first chronicled showboating by a wide receiver was by Elmo Wright, who at the University of Houston did a jig in the end zone after scoring touchdowns. He brought the dance with him to the NFL with the Chiefs, Oilers and Patriots, for whom he played from 1971-76.
them as a punt returner. The shoes, obviously, were his trademark and when he scored, he would hold the ball high in the air, roll it up his arm and then down his neck.
Johnson and Wright, however, never caused much trouble for their coaches.
The same can’t be said for some of the current showboats – all in different ways.
Burress, for example, does nothing untoward on the field, played all of last season on a sore ankle and still caught 70 passes for 12 TDs in the regular season, then the Super Bowl-winning touchdown pass for the Giants. But he also has been fined a reported 40 to 50 times by coach Tom Coughlin for various team infractions during his four years in New York, and was suspended for a game this year for failing to show up on the first day of the team’s bye week.
Moss, now a solid citizen with the Patriots, was known in Minnesota for saying “I play when I feel like it,” and walking into the locker room before games ended.
He was even less disciplined during his two seasons in Oakland – where lack of discipline is a way of life – but went to New England and set a single-season record with 23 TD catches last season without a hint of trouble. It helped that he was playing on a team that went unbeaten in the regular season and had Bill Belichick as his coach and Tom Brady as the quarterback.
t few years) left San Francisco after squabbling incessantly with coach Steve Mariucci, offensive coordinator Greg Knapp and Garcia. He played brilliantly, but the trouble prompted the 49ers to trade him to Philadelphia.
He prospered there for a year, helping the Eagles get to a Super Bowl, when Owens came back from a severe ankle injury to catch nine passes for 122 yards in the big game.
But the next year, he feuded with coach Andy Reid and McNabb and ended up suspended by Reid for the season’s final nine games. He was released and signed with Dallas in 2006 and now acts as “team spokesman” on a dysfunctional underachieving squad.
And finally “Chad,” whose defining moments started before he entered the NFL.
In his final year at Oregon State, he was playing in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame when he spiked the ball on the 3-yard-line before entering the end zone, a gaffe that went unnoticed by the officials in that pre-replay era. In the NFL, he’s pulled a variety of “look at me” stunts, including kissing coach Marvin Lewis twice this season, the second time last week when the Bengals won their first game of the season.
“Johnson” remains on the back of his jersey although before the season he officially changed it to “Ocho Cinco” for 85, his number. The NFL, marketing Bengals jerseys with his old name, didn’t permit him to wear his new name on his jersey.
he trend will end …
In Philadelphia’s game with Dallas, rookie DeSean Jackson pulled a Chad, dropping the ball at the 2-yard line as he was about to score on a long pass play. Fortunately for the Eagles, one of his teammates recovered and they went on to score.
And then there’s Brandon Marshall, who caught 102 passes for Denver in his second season last year and has 57 more this year despite being suspended for the first game by the league for off-field problems.
Last week, he got into a trash talk contest in a loss to Miami with Joey Porter, the Dolphins’ linebacker with the mouth of a wide receiver. After the game, Porter suggested that Marshall, who had only two late catches in the game, allowed the taunting to throw him off his game.
After the Dolphins left town, Marshall retaliated.
“He’s definitely one of those guys who all those muscles are popcorn muscles. He’s soft,” Marshall said of the man who leads the NFL with 11 1/2 sacks.
At some point, Denver coach Mike Shanahan will tire of Marshall.
He always can find a home in Dallas or Cincinnati.
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DIRTY DOZEN: The top six and bottom six teams in the NFL based on current level of play:
1. Tennessee (8-0). Five of last eight on the road. Won’t be 16-0.
2. New York Giants (7-1). No egos. Well, maybe Burress, but he’s neutralized.
Did he see Byron Leftwich Monday night?
4. Carolina (6-2). Fell one spot during bye week because Steelers looked so good.
5. Philadelphia (5-3). A healthy Westbrook makes Eagles NFC East’s second-best team.
6. Arizona (5-3). Just about clinched the NFC West.
27. Dallas (5-4). Dysfunctional underachievers.
(tie) Seattle (2-6). Not the way for Mike Holmgren to go out.
28. San Francisco (2-6). Didn’t play. So didn’t move down.
29. Kansas City (1-7). Bradley-to-Thigpen TD the play of the season?
30. Cincinnati (1-8). Chad kissing Marvin? Won’t happen again.
31. Detroit (0-8). Have to be close to a win. Or not.
32. Oakland (2-6). Seventy-seven yards of offense, most in garbage time? Garbage is an appropriate word.