AFC East: Joe Rose
AFC East wire: Byars says players will cave
- On the NFL's labor dispute, former Dolphins, Patriots and Jets running back Keith Byars tells Palm Beach Post reporter Brian Biggane: "The players will cave before the owners will."
- Dolphins teammates turned local broadcasters Joe Rose and Kim Bokamper exchange their thoughts on Chad Henne's future and the quarterback situation as a whole.
- NFL.com senior columnist Vic Carucci explains why the Bills would be keen on Auburn quarterback Cam Newton with the third overall draft pick.
- The Associated Press reports offensive lineman Ed Wang traveled to his parents' homeland in China to teach football.
- Given news the Jets will furlough employees if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached by March 3, Boston Herald reporter Ian R. Rapoport considers whether the Patriots would do something similar.
- ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss compares the Patriots' recent draft classes to the Ravens' -- and finds the Patriots come up a smidge short.
- Newark Star-Ledger reporter Jenny Vrentas writes about the Jets' decision to raise ticket prices for 2011.
- Eli Kaberon of Pro Football Weekly reports the Jets will let cornerback Antonio Cromartie test free agency, but hope he decides to return.
Jason Taylor backs up Ricky Williams' take
Taylor on Wednesday morning was a guest on WQAM, the same Miami radio station Williams made disparaging remarks about Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano two days earlier.
Taylor, the Dolphins legend now playing for the New York Jets, wouldn't refute those assertions when asked by morning host and former Dolphins tight end Joe Rose.
"The people want to get on players sometimes of speaking their minds and for saying things or being truthful," Taylor said. "People don't always want to hear that. But sometimes you've got to look at it and say 'Where there's smoke there's probably fire.'
"I think it's something you have to take a step back and look at and say 'Well, this isn't Ricky just being a cancer in the locker room.' ... Sometimes guys talk and you tend [to dismiss] them as just blowing a horn. But when someone like Ricky talks, I think you can understand that maybe there is something there for real."
Sparano appears to be in limbo. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has not made any announcements that Sparano will return for a fourth year as head coach after a second straight 7-9 season and a 1-7 home record. The Dolphins reportedly have pursued Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh and former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.
Taylor supported Williams' claim that Sparano can be oppressive. Taylor added he can appreciate those methods, but noted not all players respond to that.
"I played under Tony one year in that system and atmosphere, and it's tough," Taylor said. "What Ricky was saying is true in a lot of senses. It's a tough work environment.
"I think Tony does a good job of trying to touch every situation you may see in a game. But the micromanaging and things like that is exhausting , particularly when you're not winning."
Taylor later in the interview cast the Dolphins in a negative light when trying to describe how much fun it has been to play for Jets head coach Rex Ryan.
"It's a very positive work environment, opposite of what Ricky was talking about," Taylor said.
"You're so afraid to make a mistake you just don't have the chance to have success. It goes back to [the] old cliché: You can't steal second with your foot on first. You have to let people relax a little bit, have fun. You take the fun out of the game, then don't play anymore. It's not worth playing anymore. I think you border on taking the fun out of the game sometimes based on the atmosphere and the negative vibe and things are so tense.
"Teams take on the personality of the head coach -- good or bad. It may be a gradual thing where it takes time to get to that point, but they do eventually take on that personality. Sometimes it can be more destructive than it can be nurturing."
Zach Thomas alleges Sal Alosi under orders
Thomas was a guest Tuesday morning on Miami sports radio station WQAM, visiting with host and former Dolphins tight end Joe Rose.
Thomas expressed misgivings about the way Alosi and inactive Jets players toed the sideline in a starched cordon.
"They had to be ordered to stand there because they're foot to foot," Thomas said. "There's four of them, side to side -- five of them, I mean -- on the edge of the coach's zone. They're only out there to restrict the space of the gunner, who is Nolan Carroll.
"But there's more to it because I'm telling you, the only thing [Alosi] did wrong was intentionally put that knee out there. If he just stood there, there would never have been a problem, even if the guy got tripped. But there's more to this. He was ordered to stand there. No one is foot to foot on the sideline in the coach's box."
Jets special-teams coordinator Mike Westhoff was with the Dolphins for Thomas' first five pro seasons. But Thomas suggested he'd never seen anything like the sideline phalanx that created trouble Sunday.
"Maybe they were cold and just trying to get warm, snuggle with each other on the sidelines," Thomas said.
Bills' last-to-first hopes have precedent
Some might snicker, but what else would you expect a competitor to do? The man is confident in his team.
I proposed the circumstances surrounding the Bills organization would make winning the AFC East this year more astonishing than the Miami Dolphins rebounding from 1-15 to win the title in 2008. They didn't draft a Jake Long with the first overall pick or have a Chad Pennington fall out of the sky in training camp.
Even so, there's a steady history of last-place teams winning their division a year later.
Fifteen teams have pulled off the feat since 2000. Twelve of them had records as bad or worse than Buffalo's 6-10 mark.
The New England Patriots did it in 2001, surging from 5-11 to a Super Bowl victory.
The only year a team hasn't gone from last to first in the past decade was 2002. Multiple teams did in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Gailey on Buffalo's chances: Why not us?
The Buffalo Bills head coach was a guest with Joe Rose, the former Miami Dolphins tight end and morning host on local sports station WQAM.
Gailey talked about a number of Bills issues, including his quarterbacks, his relationship with Marshawn Lynch and first-round draft pick C.J. Spiller's holdout.
Gailey's most interesting comments had to do with the Buffalo's preseason expectations. It would be difficult to find a prognosticator who doesn't believe the Bills will finish fourth in the AFC East.
"You get excited about the challenges," said Gailey, a former Dolphins offensive coordinator. "If you're any kind of competitor, if you go out on the racquetball court or anywhere you compete, you love a challenge. I know it's not easy, but guess what. It's not easy anywhere.
"People say, 'What kind of chance do you have in the division because the division's so tough?' I said, 'What kind of chance did they give Miami two years ago, and what kind of chance did they give the Jets last year?'"
The Bills would need to break out of an organizational funk to reach the playoffs, a feat that might be more miraculous than the Dolphins rebounding from 1-15 to win the division in 2008.
The Bills haven't been to the playoffs in a decade and have posted one winning record in that span.
"If you go out and get yourself organized and get a football team that will refuse to quit, you got a chance to be successful," Gailey said. "What you try to do is take 53 different guys from different parts of the country and different thought processes and load them into a unit that can go fixate on winning. If you can do that, you got a chance to be successful, and that's the challenge and the fun of coaching.
"The best football teams that I've ever been on didn't have the most talent. They were the best football teams. So I'm excited about the challenge here."
Today's question: After watching John Isner and Nicolas Mahut play their epic, 11-hour Wimbledon match, "What do you recall from the most grueling game you played in?"
Former Miami Dolphins tight end Joe Rose, who caught two touchdown passes in the epic, January 1982 overtime playoff loss to the San Diego Chargers:
"If you're ever sitting around at a sports bar and you run into somebody who was at that game, you have two hours of stuff to talk about. That was a friggin' hot night. The guys were cramping up. On that second touchdown, I got clipped going into the end zone, and I cramped up like everybody else. Of course, we weren't hydrated like the guys are today.Former New York Jets defensive lineman Joe Klecko on a 1983 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Shea Stadium:
"I remember seeing Kellen Winslow get helped off the field, like, 20 times. It was tough, especially on their guys because they weren't used to the humidity in South Florida. The game was wide open. The numbers were crazy. It was a track meet. We were so far down, we had to throw the ball every down to catch up. We weren't a throwing team at that time.
"Emotionally afterward, the season was over. It was one of the toughest losses I've ever experienced. We thought we had the game and then the season is done. It was emotionally draining. I remember the next day being absolutely depressed."
"It was a knock down, drag out. It was a game they had to win, and we were hoping to win to get into the playoffs. The Steelers were a bruising team. They were the kind of team that when you woke up on Monday morning, you knew you were in a war. I remember the game being extra heavy because of who they were. We were a young team and up and coming, but we didn't really know where we were yet. This was a big test for us.Former Buffalo Bills receiver Andre Reed, who scored three second-half touchdowns to help overcome a 32-point deficit and eliminate the Houston Oilers in overtime in January 1993:
"I faced Mike Webster all game. I didn't get a break anywhere I went. I remember going into the complex for ice baths for two days. It was the toughest game I've ever been in. You don't recover for a couple weeks, and if you play a smash-mouth game two weeks in a row, it would take its toll. A game like that, it's a two- or three-week recovery."
"Every time we played Miami down there in the heat it was grueling. I never played a game like the Chargers and the Dolphins. That game was for the ages. I'd probably have to go with the Comeback Game against Houston. It was exhausting, mentally challenging. We had to grind, coming back like that.
"Every play it was a track meet, bro. That was our offense. They used to call the St. Louis Rams the "Greatest Show on Turf." We were the "Greatest Show in Football." We were non-stop. We were trying to run people out of the stadium. We were getting run out of our own stadium that game. Jim Kelly wasn't even in that game. I sat in the training room for a little while. I probably played in more-physical games, but that game was a mental drain."
Ricky Williams is an unconventional parent.
Williams was a guest Monday morning on "The Joe Rose Show" on Miami all-sports radio station WQAM and addressed a variety of topics. Williams plugged a local screening for "Run Ricky Run: Hard to Tackle, Harder to put a Finger On," the latest in ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary film series.
Williams spoke about the recent trades that brought Brandon Marshall to Miami from the Denver Broncos and sent Ted Ginn from Miami to the San Francisco 49ers, talked about his relationship with Bill Parcells, said that he might play beyond 2010 even though he previously announced it would be his last season and outlined his future plans to attend medical school.
Rose also probed Williams about the film and the intimate moments it captures from turbulent times. Williams said if he had his druthers, the documentary would have been killed, but he didn't want to pull the plug because filmmaker Sean Pamphilon worked so hard on it.
In rehashing Williams' crazy journey, Rose asked if Williams straightened himself up to be a better example for his kids.
"The way I look at things is probably different than most people," Williams said, "and one of the things I want to teach my kids is not to be afraid to make mistakes and not to judge yourself or be ashamed when you make mistakes but to embrace mistakes as opportunities and a way to learn.
"If you go through life and you always make the -- quote, unquote -- right decisions you're going to have a boring life, and you're not going to learn anything. I'm just trying to teach them not to be afraid to make mistakes, to go and live and know that I'm always going to be here to help them learn from them and support them."
Williams acknowledged some of the film's footage, shot over nearly eight years, is unpleasant to watch. He is shown smoking marijuana while watching Dolphins game film, appears disheveled, makes disconnected comments about loved ones and generally looks like a lost soul.
But he explained he's able to handle the material because it's almost as though he's watching another person. Maturity and time have provided distance.
"My story shows my personal life was a wreck," Williams told Rose. "I was having success on the football field, but there was no balance, and I couldn't appreciate it.
"If by me going away and doing me ... I come back and I'm married. I have an incredible marriage and wonderful, beautiful children and I have a great football career and a medical career in front of me. It shows the benefit of going out and being you and having the courage to find yourself."
For those in South Florida, Williams is hosting an event at the Colony Theater in Miami Beach to coincide with the film's debut at 8 p.m. Monday. The event costs $50 for general admission and $100 for a VIP package with proceeds going to the Ricky Williams Foundation for at-risk youth. Williams will hold a Q&A session afterward.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback threw three interceptions in a 27-24 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans at LP Field.
Henne, who led the Dolphins to three fourth-quarter comeback victories this year, nearly pulled out another dramatic finish with the help of a fluke 57-yard completion to Brian Hartline. The Dolphins scored 15 points in the final frame to force overtime.
The Dolphins won the toss. Three plays into sudden death, Henne sailed a pass that got picked off. The Titans then kicked the game-winning field goal and sent the Dolphins one loss closer to playoff extinction.
It was a frustrating performance for Dolfans who were hopeful Henne was rounding into franchise form. In consecutive weeks, Henne threw 52 passes to upset the New England Patriots and completed a team-record 17 straight attempts to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But on Sunday, Henne played more like the sophomore who tossed three interceptions in the final 2:43 of an unacceptable loss to the inferior Buffalo Bills three weeks back.
Dolphins icon Dan Marino isn't concerned.
Marino made his weekly visit on old teammate Joe Rose's radio show Monday morning and predicted Henne will blossom when the Dolphins acquire some receiving help.
You could tell Marino was trying to be diplomatic in lobbying his former team to get better receivers for Henne.
"It's just a matter of him getting experience," Marino said. "They've got some guys that are working hard and playing hard at receiver, and as the whole offense gets better as far as talent-wise goes ... You look around the league and teams have more guys that are big playmakers."
The Dolphins don't have a consistent deep threat. They went into the season with a collection of possession receivers better suited for Chad Pennington's precision darts, not Henne's big arm. If the Dolphins finally land that No. 1 receiver they've been trying to find for months -- but have refused to overpay for -- then the offense will open up.
"Quite honestly, they've got a young quarterback in Henne that slings it around," Marino said. "At the same time, his aggressiveness and how he throws the ball ... Sometimes he throws it a little hard, and sometimes he takes some chances. That's what put him in the hole against Tennessee. But that same style got them back to give his team a chance to win the game."
Around the AFC East: Ainge absent from Jets
New York Jets
- Jane McManus of the Journal News reports third quarterback Erik Ainge hasn't been working out the past two weeks.
- New York Daily News reporter Rich Cimini writes the Jets' interest in Cowboys restricted free-agent receiver Miles Austin ceases to be.
- Newsday's Erik Boland reports Stony Brook University should be in the Jets' training camp conversation with Cornell University and SUNY Cortland.
Buffalo Bills
- Olean Times Herald sports editor Chuck Pollock shares his thoughts on the myriad Bills headlines from the past week.
- David Naylor of the Toronto Globe and Mail reports organizers for the Bills' games in the Rogers Centre have slashed ticket prices 17 percent.
Miami Dolphins
- Miami Herald reporter Jeff Darlington takes a look at the receivers in this year's draft class.
- Palm Beach Post columnist Dave George compares two remarkable seasons in Miami sports.
- Local sportscaster and former Dolphins tight end Joe Rose breaks into blogging with his take on what his old team should address in the first round.
New England Patriots
- Boston Globe reporter Mike Reiss catches up with one of Bill Belichick's sounding boards to find out what the Patriots might do with all those draft picks.
- Providence Journal writer Shalise Manza Young rates the 10 best draft picks on Belichick's watch.
- WEEI.com's Christopher Price rates the best late-round picks in franchise history.
Dolphins still fishing for No. 1 receiver
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| Doug Benc/Getty Images | |
| Dolphins wide receivers Greg Camarillo and Ted Ginn Jr. are serviceable, but not true No. 1 options for the Dolphins. |
Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham
A casual Miami Dolphins fan would be satisfied with the idea that all their receivers will be back this year.
The Dolphins won 11 games and the AFC East title. Chad Pennington enjoyed maybe the best season of his career. He threw for more yards than any Dolphins quarterback since Dan Marino in 1997.
"We finished in the top 10 on offense," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said at the NFL scouting combine. "We don't have any stars. Everybody knows that. ... I kind of like where we are with our offense."
Then why does every NFL analyst this side of Mozambique insist the Dolphins' biggest offseason need is at receiver?
Because it is.
A closer look at the Dolphins shows that, despite passing for 3,761 yards last year, they didn't get as much out of their receivers as you might think.
"They need somebody to frighten you," Scouts Inc. analyst Matt Williamson said.
The Dolphins have some nice targets. Speedster Ted Ginn Jr. led them in receptions (56) last year, although he's a true No. 2 receiver. They have a pair of effective slot receivers in Greg Camarillo, who is recovering from season-ending knee surgery, and Davone Bess.
But production was pedestrian at best. Miami receivers caught only five touchdown passes last year and managed just 11 receptions of 25 yards or more. The top three -- Ginn, Camarillo and Bess -- averaged 11.9 yards per catch.
"I think the position as a whole has some really good players there, but they need to come out of their shell a little bit and show what they can do," Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said last week.
Miami's tight ends annihilated its receivers statistically. Anthony Fasano averaged 13.4 yards per catch and scored seven touchdowns. David Martin averaged 14.5 yards and scored three touchdowns. Third tight end Joey Haynos also had a touchdown, giving the tight ends 11 scores.
What the Dolphins were lacking was a physical, every-down receiver who can make plays downfield.
"They're looking for a guy that come in and line up on the outside and go down and catch some takeoffs, catch some corner routers, catch some deep square-ins," said former Dolphins tight end and local sportscaster Joe Rose. "They need another guy on the outside.
"We got two guys [Camarillo and Bess] who do a nice job underneath of moving the chains, making the tough catches, going across the middle. You want one more guy who can make plays down the field."
The problem, however, is tricky to solve.
The Dolphins haven't made any free-agent moves to shore up the position. They also hold the 25th selection in the draft. Even the bluest-chip rookie receivers rarely make a significant impact right away. The best the Dolphins can do is the third- or fourth-best prospect at that position.
Dolphins football operations boss Bill Parcells and Sparano have been checking out the likes of North Carolina's Hakeem Nicks, Florida's Percy Harvin and Kenny Britt from Rutgers.
"What they really need is not just another guy, but a No. 1, and those guys don't grow on trees," Williamson said. "If you take a first-round pick on one of them, which is somewhat un-Parcells-like, chances are he won't be a No. 1 for you this year or even maybe the next year.
"If they were to take a Hakeem Nicks, who complements Ginn well, how much are you going to get out of him immediately? It's a difficult need to fill."
Ireland said there's depth at receiver in this year's draft class. None were selected in the first round last year, but three or four could be off the board before everybody has a chance to pick.
The Dolphins last year selected franchise left tackle Jake Long with the No. 1 overall draft choice, but they also owned No. 32 and could have taken any receiver in the whole class.
Neither Eddie Royal, DeSean Jackson, Donnie Avery nor Devin Thomas were the right fit. The Dolphins chose defensive end Philip Merling instead and went the entire draft without taking a single receiver.
They instead banked on Ernest Wilford. The Dolphins made him one of their first free-agent signings. They gave him a four-year, $13 million contract with almost half the money guaranteed. Miami deactivated Wilford nine times. He caught three passes all season.
But the Dolphins proved there's value among the unwashed masses. They signed Bess, Colt Brennan's favorite target at Hawaii, as a rookie free agent. Bess caught 54 passes for 554 yards.
Camarillo also went undrafted and was plucked off the waiver wire by the previous Dolphins regime. Their fourth gameday receiver, Brandon London, followed the same route -- an undrafted castoff.
Those types of players can take an offense only so far.
The Dolphins are missing a go-to threat.
Some believe Ginn can be that guy, but others insist he can't be a No. 1 receiver. Ireland last week issued a public challenge to Ginn.
"Teddy is going into his third year, and I think it's time for him to really show what he was drafted here to do," Ireland said.
Ginn led the Dolphins with 56 receptions for 790 yards and two touchdowns. He added two more touchdowns on reverse plays, running five times for 73 yards, and was the top kick returner.
"Teddy Ginn's not a bust yet," Williamson said. "He showed some signs of coming on, but he's a No. 2. He can't
be the one that people roll coverages to. He's still a straight-line athlete, where he's better on longer routes as opposed to breaking down and running outs and digs. Comebacks aren't exactly his specialty. He's questionable over the middle as well.
"So he's really a perimeter deep threat, which is fine, and the arrow's still slightly going up on him. I think he'll be OK in time. He really hasn't been in the league all that long. But he's a No. 2."
The fact that the Dolphins won 11 games minus a true No. 1 receiver is testament to their coaching and Pennington's guile. Offensive coordinator Dan Henning found production in unusual places. Most fans immediately think of the Wildcat package, but the Dolphins rarely passed out of the formation.
Pennington indicated he doesn't much care whether the Dolphins upgrade the receiving corps. He expects to win no matter who's on the field with him.
"You have to have that mentality as a quarterback, or you're going to paralyze yourself and not be as successful as you want to be," Pennington said. "To me, that is a huge component to being a quarterback, taking the talent you have around you and getting the best out of those other 10 guys.
"That's my responsibility as a quarterback, and that's part of being a leader and part of the guy who's the signal caller, to push your teammates and get the best out of them and really get them to overachieve regardless of what their abilities are. That's a true quarterback."
Pennington frequently called private meetings and held extra workout sessions to wring out every bit of potential from his receivers.
Some scouts, Williamson included, wonder if the quarterback situation will affect how Miami addresses receiver in the draft. Pennington is a highly accurate touch passer, but second-year backup Chad Henne is expected to take over in 2010. Henne can go deep, and that will unfasten the offense.
"You don't have to defend the whole field against them," Williamson said of a Pennington-led offense. "Deep outs, deep streaks and those types of things aren't a real good fit for his throwing the ball.
"The passing game has issues in many regards. It's going to be a difficult thing to overcome, and I think they know it. I think they've gotten the most they can possibly get out of Pennington, and they know Henne can burn the defense more in the long term. He's not ready today, but they know they need a strong-armed guy to get the ball down the field."
Ireland, however, said the Dolphins will not draft receivers based on how they project their quarterback. Ireland called the ability to separate against man-to-man coverage "a critical factor" in evaluating prospects.
"If he can get open, it really doesn't matter who's throwing to him," Ireland said.
Jason Taylor calls Harbaugh's quotes 'unprofessional,' 'immature'
There's another country heard from.
Washington Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor on Thursday morning made his weekly visit to "The Joe Rose Show" on Miami radio station WQAM.
It was a given Taylor would be asked for his reaction to comments Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh's made Wednesday about last year's 1-15 Dolphins team.
Harbaugh was trying to defend Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who was the Dolphins' head coach, but Cameron's former players wound up insulted.
"He did a great job there with what he had to work with," Harbaugh said. "He's got the respect of our players."
Taylor and linebacker Zach Thomas were the Dolphins' defensive co-captains last year.
Rose, a Dolphins tight end in the Dan Marino days, asked Taylor for his take. Taylor laughed at first, then said "I didn't hear those comments" before giving a response that suggested he'd given it much thought.
I would imagine it's a head coach taking up for his offensive coordinator now. Harbaugh wasn't in Miami and didn't know what was going on, so I think it's a little weird for him to say anything. But, look, we all tried to make it work last year. It didn't work out.
We won one game, just so happened to beat the team [Cameron] now works for. It was a tough year for everybody, and for the coach over there to take a shot at the players that were in Miami when he had no idea what the players were doing, the work they were putting in, I think is a little unprofessional.
Rose said he thought Cameron made a bad first impression with the Dolphins' veterans last year and asked if Taylor agreed. I found it interesting Taylor still considers the Dolphins "we," but after 11 years, you can't blame him.
We had talent in Miami last year. We had plenty of guys that could've played well and could have won games for us. If you remove a lot of guys from that team now and look how well they're playing. We should've won last weekend and should've beat the Jets in the opener, beat two teams in New England and San Diego. The talent's there.
Rose asked for Taylor to comment on how Cameron handled the late-season dismissal of veteran defensive tackle Keith Traylor essentially for insubordination.
When you're losing, that losing mentality is very contagious. It makes things worse. When you lose a game, you always played worse. When you win a game, no matter how bad you played, people tell you that you played well. There was a lot of situations we all would've liked to handle differently. There was times in games we could've played better or made a different play.
So I'm not going to take sides for one guy or the other. It was a bad situation. We were losing and kind of stuck in a rut. There was a lot of things that could've been handled different from everybody, players included.
Taylor pointed out Cameron made plenty of changes to the Dolphins' roster after he was hired.
You got 53 professional football players. Harbaugh should know the sacrifices guys go through and things they put their bodies through to play the games. It does take a toll. I think it's kind of immature to take a shot at the players that way.
Let's remember: At the end of the day, the coaches and the staff do pick 12 to 14 players a year, so it wasn't like they didn't have a chance to change [the talent on the team].
So I don't like those comments. But you guys play them this week. We play them later on in the season, too. So maybe I'll have to hear it again, unfortunately.
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| Ken Levine/Getty Images | |
| Andre Tippett is the Patriots' franchise leader in sacks (100) and fumble recoveries (17) |
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The notion young New York Giants assistant Bill Belichick could hold up another player for Lawrence Taylor to emulate sounds preposterous.
Taylor was the nouveau outside linebacker, remaking the position before our eyes with every wicked movement. Taylor revolutionized the position, made it his own. He was considered the standard.
"When you're coaching Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks," Belichick said, "there's not a lot of guys you can really put film up on and say 'Let's do it the way that guy's doing it.' In most cases (other linebackers) couldn't do it as well as those two could."
Except one guy. There was a contemporary outside linebacker who could be considered Taylor's peer.
Andre Tippett, who toiled on so-so New England Patriots teams for most of his career, was overlooked compared to the Big Apple spotlight Taylor enjoyed.
But in NFL film rooms he was looked at over and over and over.
"We'd watch him play and talk to our players about 'See how he's doing that? That's the way we want to do it,' " Belichick said.
"He was one who was every bit as dominating of a player in his time and in his game."
Tippett on Saturday night will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Tippett spent his entire career with the Patriots. He made five Pro Bowls, all in a row, and finished as the franchise leader with 100 sacks and 17 fumble recoveries. He recorded the highest two-season sack total in 1984 and '85, amassing 35 of them.
He was named the NFL Players Association's top linebacker in 1985, '86 and '87. That was in Taylor's prime.
"The average guy goes 'I don't really remember him.' Well, look at his stats," said former Miami Dolphins tight end Joe Rose. "He was special, boy.
"He was unbelievable. He was just phenomenal."
This weekend, though, Tippett's an emotional wreck. He admitted so himself. He has been overwhelmed since he got the call. The more he learns about Canton's magnitude, the more intense the whole thing gets.
"There is so much history here in the National Football League," Tippett said Thursday during a news conference in Gillette Stadium, "and to be part of the Hall of Fame is unbelievable."
Tippett rattled off numbers that put his awe in perspective, starting with his estimate that there have been 18,000 players in NFL history.
"The percentages will stun you when you look at it," Tippett said.
There are 247 Hall of Fame members. Only 230 were players. Tippett said 155 honorees still are alive.
He's the 17th linebacker to get in and the second career Patriot behind guard John Hannah.
"This is something you can't pay for," Tippett said. "You can't be cut from this team. You can't even quit.
"To be part of this is the greatest honor there is. There is nothing after this honor -- just to die."
For 11 seasons he snuffed opposing quarterbacks. He overmatched tight ends, tackles and fullbacks, leaving them strewn behind him in a path of tornadic ruin.
His sack total began with Mike Pagel in September 1983. He dotted the likes of Cliff Stoudt, Vince Ferragamo, Art Schlichter, Brent Pease and Browning Nagle along the way before stopping on Scott Mitchell in January 1994.
Two of his favorite destinations were within his division, Hall of Famers Dan Marino and Jim Kelly.
"I just remember seeing Andre as a guy that was dominant," Belichick said. "Tight ends couldn't block him. They couldn't run outside to his side. They couldn't run off-tackle to his side.
"He was a very powerful pass rusher. He was fast. He was athletic, and he used great technique. He used his hands well."
Oh, those hands.
That's where Tippett had it over everyone else. He studied martial arts since he was 13, when self-preservation in the Newark ghetto motivated him to learn karate. He was a black belt when he played, and the reflexive hand movements he demonstrated in his Sunday dojo were studied and adopted around the league.
Belichick, for one, put his linebackers through hand drills because of Tippett. When he became head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1991, he hired a martial arts instructor.
"When you watched Andre play you could really see it," Belichick said. "You could see how fast his hands were and how he was able to swat people off him or knock blockers' hands down to create a better leverage."
Tippett explained his objective was to work the outside frame of a would-be blocker to make him reach. That's when Tippett unleashed a torrent of forearms and elbows. Former Patriots tight end Don Hasselbeck once said nobody inflicted more pain on him that Tippett did in practice.
"Pass rushing was really simple because of pass rushing and playing outside linebacker is hand-to-hand combat," said Tippett, who still owns two of the top six season sack totals for linebackers in NFL history.
Tippett was named to the NFL's all-decade team for the '80s, a period when outside linebackers overtook middle linebackers as the defensive glamour position. His best season was 1984. He recorded 18 1/2 sacks, 118 tackles.
Yet he never garnered the widespread attention Taylor did.
Taylor became known as the most vicious defensive weapon in NFL history, a reputation galvanized with a pair of Super Bowl victories.
Tippett, meanwhile, played for middling teams. The Patriots had six losing records in his 11 seasons. They totaled double-digit victories twice and reached the Super Bowl once -- the epic blowout defeat to the Chicago Bears.
The Patriots were ordinary during Tippett's tenure, but now he can count himself a member of football's ultimate team, every bit as worthy as Taylor or Jack Ham or anybody else in Canton.
"It's cool," Tippett said. "I feel so cool. I can't wait to put that jacket on."
ABOUT THIS BLOG
James Walker
Walker joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the NFL and NBA for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. He's a Temple graduate and Hyattsville, Md. native who lives in Miami.
