Sports Watch
NEW ORLEANS - The Pack Is Back. But will Desmond Howard, Super Bowl XXXI's most valuable player, be back as well? Howard shows he’s
money in the big gameHoward's record 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown helped to answer Reggie White's prayer for his first championship of any kind.
Oh, Reggie helped himself, thank you, becoming the first player to record three sacks in a Super Bowl game. But it was Howard who made the difference.
''That kick return turned it their way,'' said Bill Parcells. ''Up 'til that point, I thought we had an opportunity to win.''
His Patriots, 14-point underdogs, had narrowed the score to 27-21 with 3:27 to go in the third quarter. But along came Howard, the greatest bargain the people around these parts have seen since the Louisiana Purchase.
He had already set a Super Bowl record for most punt return yards, including one for 32 yards to set up thePackers' first touchdown. For his encore, Howard ran the ensuing kickoff back all the way after fielding it on the one-yard line.
That and Bart Starr's one-yard touchdown quarterback sneak behind JerryKramer's block now account for two of the Packers' most storied moments when talking about the 100-yard game called football.
We all know about Reggie White and his conversion to a Packer uniform, which like money, is green, too. Maybe God told him to go to Green Bay. But Reggie hasn't been around a long while in the NFL for nothing.
He also saw with his own eyes that if anybody, Packer quarterback Brett Favre,was going to be the one to get him to football's Promised Land.
Now for a repeat visit, White has to convince Howard to come back to the fold, be back with the Pack.
The Packers' Minister of Defense can be mighty persuasive. But don't blame Howard if he says, "Show me the money.''
A free agent who signed a one-year contract for a bargain-basement $300,000, Howard said he asked White about how it was playing in Green Bay and for coach Mike Holmgren.
Howard was one of the last Packers to shower. But he can't be blamed for savoring the moment. He stuck around to answer every last question.
Sure he was disappointed about not being chosen for the Pro Bowl this week in Honolulu. ''You've got to talk to (commissioner Paul) Tagliabue about that,'' he said.
THE first special teams player to be Super Bowl MVP, Howard will be going to Disneyland for winning the award. And David Letterman tomorrow night.
''Probably the only side benefit of not going to the Pro Bowl, which he should have been elected to, is being available to do these things this week,'' his agent, Leigh Steinberg, said.
Steinberg has been agent for the Heisman Trophy winner from Michigan since he was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1992.
''This is a redemption story for all the years he had when things weren't so much fun,'' said Steinberg, who has seen Howard at his lowest point when the Redskins, and then Jacksonville, gave up on him.
Now, Howard, who set an NFL single-season record for most punt return yards (875) with the Packers this season, can command big bucks.
''You're talking about somebody who's going to have a fair degree of marketing opportunity,'' Steinberg said.''He plays a position that's so dramatic. And Desmond's handsome and has a beautiful smile. And this game's watched by a 150 million people. Being the MVP gives him a profile that's astounding.''
You get the idea. One thing's for sure. Howard will command at least a $1 million next season and even that will be a bargain.
Stand in line and show him the money.