Full Court Press: Jerry Green’s Super Bowls
Burning Questions | by Mike O'Hara | 01.26.2009/6:35PM
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What better person for the first installment of Full Court Press than legendary Detroit News sports writer Jerry Green?
Jerry is one of five writers who have covered all 42 Super Bowls, and he is in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII.
I covered 31 Super Bowls with Jerry, and I always knew he’d outlast me. What a kid.
Here are his answers to five questions to kick off Full Court Press, which will be a regular feature on this website:
1. What do you remember most about the first Super Bowl game – the NFL’s Green Bay Packers beating the AFLs Kansas City Chiefs?
“Two things. First the night before, Pete Rozelle tossed a media party at the L.A. Hilton—the writers from the NFL towns stood on one side of the room, the guys from AFL cities stood on the other. And we all eyed each other suspiciously.
But more vivid with Vince Lombardi with the NFL football after the game, tossing the football and I asked the question, “That an NFL football?“ I could read “The Duke” on it, so it was NFL.
Finally, he said, “It’s an NFL football and it kicks a little better, it throws a little better and it catches a little better.“ He proceeded to downgrade K.C. and said, “There, you made me say it.“
2. Name your most memorable game.
“I always say Super Bowl III stands out because of Joe Namath winning (the AFL’s Jets beat the NFL’s Colts) and defining in that one game what the Super Bowl would become.
“Namath refused to show up for the media session. Rozelle fined him. Next day at the Galt Ocean Mile in Lauderdale, Namath again refused to attend the media session. But he walked through the lobby, plopped down at the pool.
“One writer approached him and Namath rebuffed him. A few minutes later, Sy Burick came to me and said Namath told him he’d talk to a few writers – ‘Did I want to go?’
“I jumped a mile high and Namath enchanted us. The Sports Illustrated picture of the small band of us around him was been reprinted over and over. My best Super Bowl moment ever, because The News had an exclusive.
“And the guy whom Namath had rebuffed earlier was somebody you knew—Joe Falls.”
3. Can you imagine the Lions playing in a Super Bowl – ever?
“I have a vivid imagination, wild and crazy. But I can picture the Lions in a Super Bowl only if the Falcons and Cardinals make it some day. Oh, well, a few years after the Saints make it. Sad isn’t it?
4. What’s the hardest part of covering Super Bowl week?
“The hardest part of covering the Super Bowl for years has been putting up with Mike O’Hara. Other than that, it has been the pushing and shoving trying to get close to hear a Tom Brady or a Joe Montana without getting jabbed with a TV camera and/or whacked by one of those boom microphones.
“In other words, access—there are no exclusives at the Super Bowl.”
5. I’m glad you remember me, but look to the future, O great seer. What will your lede be on Super Bowl C (that’s 100, by the way)?
“My lede:
“GROSSE POINTE SHORES—Ninety-seven years after Joe Willie Namath guaranteed that anything could happen at a Super Bowl, it did. Jon Kitna came out of retirement to pitch the Detroit Lions to a victory over the Buffalo Bills and an aged Jim Kelly in Super Bowl C, played before a cheering throng on Lakeshore Drive.
“In the TV booth, veteran announcer Matt Millen uttered to his audience throughout the universe, ‘I never believed in miracles until now.‘“
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Mock Drafts, Lions Coordinators & Ladies
Burning Questions | by Mike O'Hara | 01.23.2009/6:32PM
Contact Mike O’Hara at
The hit list: Mock Drafts, the real draft, Gunther Cunningham, Scott Linehan, Drew Stanton, Rod Marinelli and “ladies:”
Q. Don Banks projects the Lions will take offensive tackle Andre Smith of Alabama with the No. 1 draft pick. On ESPN, Mel Kiper says it’ll be quarterback Matt Stafford of Georgia. Who’s right”
A. “Neither one – yet. And neither one is wrong, either. The draft starts in three months and a week. No NFL team has put so much as one name on its draft bard. That will be done about two weeks before the draft.
“Having said that, Smith and Stafford are good choices, but there will be one or two others by April 25, when the Lions make the first pick.
Mock drafts are as much fun as the real thing because we all can change our minds. In January of 2007, Kiper wrote the following about the Raiders, who had the first pick:
“The Raiders are in need of a franchise quarterback. They had the chance to take a QB in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft (Matt Leinart, Jay Cutler) and passed. Now that the Raiders have locked up the No. 1 pick in the ‘07 draft, Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn should be a lock to land in Oakland. Their offense is one of the worst I have ever seen and they cannot afford to pass on Quinn.”
“However, Kiper mentioned that LSU QB JaMarcus Russell had not yet declared for the draft – he did – and if he declared, he would create a scenario where the Raiders would have a choice of two quarterbacks. The Raiders took Russell. Quinn went to Cleveland at No. 22 – after a trade with Dallas.”
Q. Who would you take between Stafford and Smith?
A. “The real answer is probably neither, but between the two, I’d take Stafford. Smith got suspended from the Sugar Bowl for dealing with an agent, and he’s been overweight. That’s too much of a risk. People I talked to had Sam Bradford of Oklahoma rated over Stafford, but Bradford stayed in school.
“Stafford doesn’t appear to be accurate enough to be a franchise quarterback. Missing on a quarterback sets a team back further than missing on other positions because of the impact on the team – the money and time spent in development.
“As Jim Schwartz said in his introductory press conference, the quarterback is the trump card. If you draft one first overall, he’d better be an ace, and I don’t see an ace in this draft.”
Q. Schwartz hired Gunther Cunningham as defensive coordinator. In Kansas City, Cunningham’s defense ranked 31st in 2008 – ahead of only the Lions – and ninth in 2007. What was the difference?
A. “Players. In 2008, the Chiefs had 10 sacks, fewest in the league. In 2007 they had 37, tied with the Lions for ninth place. Jared Allen had 15.5 sacks for the Chiefs in 2007, but in ’08 he was traded to Minnesota, where he had 14.5 sacks. The Chiefs lost their best player, and the defense went in the tank.
“Coaches need players – whether it’s Gunther Cunningham or Joe Barry.”
Q. Scott Linehan is the Lions’ new offensive coordinator. What does that mean to the offense in general, and the quarterbacks in particular?
A. “The offense will be better, no matter who runs it. Jim Colletto flopped in his one season as coordinator. He was demoted to line coach after the season.
“On his website Thursday, Drew Stanton wrote that he was at Allen Park on Thursday to visit Schwartz, but the new head coach was busy ‘in an interview with someone who I would love to get here in Detroit, but will remain nameless at this point.’ I assume Stanton meant Linehan, and that he expects to get a fair shot at some playing time.
“Linehan was offensive coordinator in Minnesota when Daunte Culpepper had his three best seasons. That could help Culpepper if he is back in 2009 – but first Culpepper has to make a commitment to get his weight down. He was over 290 pounds last year. That doesn’t show any commitment to playing.”
Q. Rod Marinelli took some heat for referring to three beat writers from Detroit as “ladies” in refusing an interview request at the Senior Bowl. What’s your take?
A. “Too meaningless for comment – unless we put recorders in press rooms and publish every comment we make about people.”
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