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Monday, February 7, 2000
Give ’em a hand!
Vikings receiver Randy Moss
comes up big as the NFC sends
a message in a Pro Bowl
to rememberPRO BOWL NOTEBOOK
By Paul Arnett
Star-BulletinThere were so many sideshows in yesterday's 50th Pro Bowl, it was difficult to find the main event.
Bickering coaching staffs, a disgruntled star and an avenging Carolina Panthers quarterback produced one of the more memorable National Football League all-star games ever.
It came to a head late in the fourth quarter after NFC quarterback Steve Beuerlein inexplicably called a pass play on fourth down in a game where the winner's check was all but written.
Randy Moss wouldn't have been the man had Tony Dungy not fired one off the bow to fellow Floridian Tom Coughlin.
ABC-TV was about to hand over the MVP trophy to Tampa Bay running back Mike Alstott, when the network was forced to throw a play-action pass.
With 1:05 remaining in a game long since decided, Beuerlein threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Moss. It was the missing score on Moss' MVP resume and his second Pro Bowl record for the afternoon.
It was also a not-so-subtle reminder by Dungy to Coughlin to play by the book. Beuerlein suggested to reporters after the game that the touchdown was payback for the AFC breaking Pro Bowl rules.Coughlin bristled at the suggestion.
"Steve Beuerlein is out of control in that respect," Coughlin said. "We didn't coach anything other than what the rules are. Before speaking about what we're doing, they ought to take a look at themselves."
The statement-making touchdown lifted the NFC to a 51-31 victory over the AFC yesterday before a sellout Aloha Stadium crowd of 50,112.
But don't go looking for the player of the game to be in this year's team picture. In another strange twist of Pro Bowl fate, the mercurial Moss left Aloha Stadium in a huff Saturday morning.
He wanted a couple of his friends to get field passes from the NFL, but when league officials told him they wouldn't lift up the rope, he left in a huff.
Moss proceeded to tell reporters yesterday that there were too many requests for his time by the NFL and how he had more fun last year. But when asked to comment about his skirmish with NFL officials the day before, Moss went on the offensive."Who told you that?" Moss said. "That's not any of your business."
Moss certainly gave the business to the AFC secondary. Asked to play the entire game, Moss set Pro Bowl records for most receptions with nine and most yards with 212.
He also had catches of 48 and 46 yards from NFL and Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner that led to a 21-yard field goal by Jason Hanson and one of three touchdown runs by Alstott.
The league asked reporters from the Houston Chronicle and the Star-Bulletin to vote on the player of the game award. Alstott was the choice, due to 67 yards on 13 carries with a Pro Bowl mark three touchdowns. But after Moss rewrote more pages of the record book, there was a change in the balloting.
"When you have Randy split out wide, you just throw it up and let him go get it," said Warner, who didn't play in the second half. "I'm looking down field at Cris Carter, Isaac Bruce, Randy Moss. Who do I throw it to? Everyone one of them is open. What a great situation for a quarterback."And what a strange situation for the Tampa Bay coaching staff. If you haven't seen enough irony in this game already, try this one on for size.
The Buccaneers had five games during the season where they didn't score an offensive touchdown. They fired their coordinator Wednesday, then came out and set a Pro Bowl record for most points scored in a game.
"I've said all along there's nothing wrong with our system," Alstott said. "We just didn't execute as a unit. You saw what happened out there. And those were our plays."
Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the kind of talent the NFC unleashed on the AFC.
If it wasn't an offensive barrage that produced 397 yards, it was an aggressive defense forcing the AFC to pay for its mistakes.
AFC quarterback Peyton Manning's first Pro Bowl pass was taken back 62 yards for a touchdown by NFC cornerback Aeneas Williams. Intended receiver Jimmy Smith fell down on the play.Manning and Smith eventually atoned for their sins. Manning completed 17 of 23 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns to Smith. He also threw two interceptions.
Like Alstott, Smith scored three times to set a Pro Bowl record for most touchdowns by a receiver.
He also had a 5-yard touchdown catch from Jacksonville teammate Mark Brunell. Brunell threw two interceptions as well. Oakland's Rich Gannon had one.
"Football is football," Coughlin said. "You turn the ball over, you're going to get beat and that's what we did. It comes back to haunt you."
Coughlin's questionable calls on defense may haunt him as well. Dungy wasn't afraid to address the AFC's tactics.
"It's a game where you're supposed to have restrictions on defense," Dungy said. "On defense, we have a set of rules and the game wasn't played that way.
"Either, we weren't given a correct copy of the rule book or someone was breaking the rules out there. I was concerned for the safety of our players who were taking hits that weren't necessary."
In all, seven individual and eight team records were broken.
An additional five individual and two team marks were tied.
