August 28, 2000 | Volume 93, Issue 8

Trials and TribulationsIn the run-up to the U.S. trials in gymnastics and swimming (page 95), aspiring Olympians put themselves through torturous routines that they hoped would help get them to...

Boston Ruins?New contract disputes could result in another grim season in Beantown

JOHN LECLAIRFLYERS LWA year from unrestricted free agency, LeClair won a record $7 million arbitration award on Aug. II after having scored 40 or more goals in five straight years. LeClair has...

Andy van Hellemond, the NHL's new director of officiating, addressed the general managers at their meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., two weeks ago and said that he wants referees to crack down on...

The Most Coveted player in the NFL today is the quick, strong outside pass rusher who wreaks havoc on an opponent's aerial attack

Powerfully strong Reggie White and cat-quick Deacon Jones have been the biggest thorns in quarterbacks' sides, in the eyes of our resident expert

Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse is running circles around offensive linemen—and terrorizing quarterbacks—with a frightening combination of speed and agility

The Super Bowl hopes of the veteran-rich Redskins may rest upon Chris Samuels, a 23-year-old rookie left tackle who is being asked to protect his quarterback's blind side

How Dr. Z Ranks 'Em

We ranked the NFL's offensive backs, receivers, kickers and return men from I (the best) to 500, based on our projections of their statistical production this season. The categories considered...

For the complete list of PVRs by position, go to cnnsi.com/fantasy. For NFL team pages, statistics, rosters and depth charts, plus the latest news and analysis from Peter King and Dr. Z, go to...

An off-season spending spree produced a wealth of talent as well as a hefty price tag: Super Bowl-sized expectations

1999 Record 10-6 (1st in NFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 9/6/2; defense 27/26/302000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 11 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .520Games against playoff...

A three-year starter at Rice and a 1997 fifth-round draft pick of the Eagles, N.D. Kalu spent one season in Philly, playing in just three games, before the Eagles waived him and he signed with...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Redskins

Like their quarterback, this up-and-coming team may soon be ready to put smiles on the faces of their impatient fans

1999 Record 5-11 (5th in NFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 17/31/30; defense 28/15/242000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 31Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .426Games against playoff...

A 1998 third-round draft pick out of Stephen F. Austin, Jeremiah Trotter averaged 7½ tackles a game last year. Trotter's late father, Myra, was a lumberjack in East Texas, and as soon as Jeremiah...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Eagles

Following another disappointing season, the clock is winding down for an embattled coach and a beleaguered quarterback

1999 Record 7-9 (3rd in NFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 24 (tie)/8/17; defense 13/14/132000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 20Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .488Games against playoff...

When G.M. Ernie Accorsi began scouting running backs last fall, he thought Wisconsin's record-breaking Ron Dayne was a masher in the Jerome Bettis mold. "But the more I watched him," Accorsi says,...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Giants

With another big gun having hung 'em up, Jerry Jones's old gang is reloading for what might be its last shot at glory

1999 Record 8-8 (2nd in NFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 6 (tie)/24/16; defense 6/13/92000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 15 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .500Games against...

"I take the attitude that I have to work harder than anyone else to stay in the NFL," says second-year linebacker Dat Nguyen, the son of Vietnamese immigrants. Undersized since high school, the...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Cowboys

They have plenty of enthusiasm, but it'll take more than that to reverse last season's disappointing decline

1999 Record 6-10 (4th in NFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 29/27/29; defense 30/10/222000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 28 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .441Games against...

Arizona's third draft pick in 1998, Anthony Clement was plagued with back trouble in his first two pro seasons and struggled through 14 starts last year. But now the monstrous (6'7", 355-pound)...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Cardinals

The defense is championship-caliber, no question; but their Super Bowl chances are riding on an overhauled offense

1999 Record 11-5 (1st in NFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 15/30/28; defense 5/2/32000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 9Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .531Games against playoff teams: 9

Not long ago defensive end Marcus Jones wanted just to walk without pain again. Midway through the 1997 season he had been forced to the sideline (and under the knife) by walnut-sized bone spurs...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Buccaneers

In a pass-happy division, the play of a suspect secondary will determine whether a postseason berth is in the offing

1999 Record 8-8 (tied for 3rd in NFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 28/9/21; defense 9/27/182000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 11 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .520Games...

The interview is over—in the mind of rookie Stockar McDougle at least—so he faces the reporter and displays the technique that made him a first-round draft choice: the initial burst, the deft...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Lions

The bounce is back in Antonio Freeman's step, but does he have enough to rouse this team from the nightmare of '99?

1999 Record 8-8 (tied for 3rd in NFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 21/7/9; defense 22/18/192000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 10Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .523Games against...

As his fingers furiously tap on his kneecaps and his legs bounce rapidly to an unheard beat, you'd swear Antuan Edwards is nervous. "No, I'm just ready to play, that's all," the nickelback says...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Packs

Coach Dennis Green is putting all his eggs in the basket of young, strong-armed quarterback Daunte Culpepper

1999 Record 10-6 (2nd in NFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 14/5/3; defense 14/30/272000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 5Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .555Games against playoff...

When Linda Wong asked her son to help her write The Mom's Pocket Guide to Watching Football by providing descriptions of the positions, Mom was going to an expert: Kailee Wong lined up at...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Vikings

Their success will hinge on a high-priced defensive end and an offense that's still attempting to find its way

1999 Record 6-10 (5th in NFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 26/3/8; defense 23/29/292000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 11 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .520Games against...

Despite a number of run-ins with opponents and a mouth that never stops, third-year center Olin Kreutz was voted by his peers to the Pro Bowl last season as a second alternate. The team's fourth...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Bears

New coach, new-look offensive line, same old bombs-away philosophy: It all adds up to another run deep into January

1999 Record 13-3 (1st in NFC West)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 5/1/1; defense½0/62000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 30Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .430Games against playoff teams: 4

In October 1998, on his way home after a night of drinking to celebrate his 24th birthday, linebacker Leonard Little ran a red light and drove his car into another vehicle, killing its driver....

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Rams

After taking its lumps last year, the defense will cause a few this season, courtesy of an aging but still feared front four

1999 Record 8-8 (2nd in NFC West)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 20/2/6; defense 24/23/262000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 21Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .469Games against playoff teams: 6

The low point for running back Tshimanga Biakabutuka came in 1998. Plagued by injuries since the Panthers took him with the eighth pick in the 1996 draft, Biakabutuka was relegated to special...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Panthers

Jamal Anderson is up and running, which has teammates all but doing the Dirty Bird in anticipation of another postseason

1999 Record 5-11 (3rd in NFC West)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 30/17/27; defense 29/9/162000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 22 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .465Games against...

The Falcons are hoping defensive end Patrick Kerney turns out to be a lot flashier than his choice in cars. The team's first-round pick in 1999, he still drives the '91 Volvo wagon his parents...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Falcons

Another trying fall awaits this long-dominant franchise, which has plenty of eager young players but, alas, no Young

1999 Record 4-12 (4th in NFC West)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense½1/10; defense 15/31/282000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 25Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .457Games against playoff teams: 3

Because his mother was a 49ers cheerleader during the '60s, Jeff Ulbrich has heard plenty of stories about the franchise's gory years. "My mom told me the team was so bad they'd get booed coming...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the 49ers

Boring is out, a new wideout corps vowing to bust the roof off the Superdome is in, making this a last-place show worth catching

1999 Record 3-13 (5th in NFC West)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 18/19(tie)/19; defense 20/21/202000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 26Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .453Games against...

During a training camp drill, rookie fullback Terrelle Smith suffered a nasty half-inch gash above his left eye. Instead of alerting the trainers, the 6-foot, 245-pound Smith snuck off to the...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Saints

Last year they made the most dramatic single-season turnaround in NFL history. Now they're eyeing the next step: the Super Bowl

1999 Record 13-3 (1st in AFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 19/4/4; defense 18/19/152000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 3Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .563Games against playoff teams: 8

Last year at Auburn, 6'3", 247-pound Marcus Washington, Indianapolis's second-round draft choice, played defensive end. The Colts are moving him to strongside linebacker, to provide some relief...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Colts

Their tried-and-true strategy—choosing inexpensive youth over costly experience—will be put to the supreme test

1999 Record 11-5 (2nd in AFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 8/19 (tie)/11; defense 4/1/12000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 1Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .586Games against playoff...

He has spent three years as a situational rusher, coming in on passing downs. He has started four NFL games. Now all Marcellus Wiley has to do is step in for the second-leading sacker of all time,...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Bills

Can they get off the ground again after a tumultuous off-season that cost them brain-and star-power?

1999 Record 8-8 (tied for 4th in AFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 11/28/25; defense 17/24/212000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 4Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .559Games against...

Last season Randy Thomas became the first Jets guard to start as a rookie since Randy Rasmussen in 1967. Tough, good on the move and a punishing drive blocker, Thomas was a big reason that Curtis...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Jets

A new coach, a new offensive coordinator and a new attitude will not be enough to make up for a lack of firepower

1999 Record 8-8 (tied for 4th in AFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 23/10/18; defense 21/7/82000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 6 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .539Games against...

In 1996 Tedy Bruschi came to the Patriots as a rookie defensive end. The Patriots checked his height, a bit more than 6 feet, and his weight, 245, and told him he was now a linebacker. "I didn't...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Patriots

In Year One of the post-Marino era, the passing game is as much of a question mark as the defense is a strong suit

1999 Record 9-7 (3rd in AFC East)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 22/13(tie)/20; defense 8/5/52000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 2Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .570Games against playoff...

On July 20 Miami signed defensive tackle Daryl Gardener to the biggest contract it had ever given a lineman—a seven-year, $49.5 million extension. He'd been a decent player, never missing a game...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Dolphins

With a new wideout sporting a new attitude, they may have all they need to get back to the Super Bowl—and this time win it

1999 Record 13-3 (2nd in AFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 13/13 (tie)/13; defense 10/25/172000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 24Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .461Games against...

Keith Bulluck, who fell into the Titans' lap as the 30th pick in the 2000 draft, played both middle and outside linebacker at Syracuse, but he'll start his rookie season on the strong side....

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Titans

'Hold that line (together)' is the battle cry of a team trying to get to—and win—a Super Bowl before old age sets in

1999 Record 14-2 (1st in AFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 2/12/7; defense 7/3/42000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 22 (tie)Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .465Games against playoff...

As a child Fernando Bryant didn't have to look far to learn how to play cornerback. One of his uncles, Don Griffin, played that position for 10 years in the NFL, while another, Ray Griffin, spent...

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Jaguars

With more consistency from a talented offense, they could be a playoff team for the first time since the move from Cleveland

1999 Record 8-8 (3rd in AFC Central)NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 16/25/24; defense 2/6/22000 Schedule strength NFL rank: 18Opponents' 1999 winning percentage: .496Games against playoff teams: 7