Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993 TAG: 9308220040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
\ Joe Montana's itinerary has taken him from San Francisco to Kansas City. Next stop: Canton.
Lawrence Taylor's resume includes just one stop, in East Rutherford, N.J. Next stop: Canton.
Anthony Munoz spent 13 years in Cincinnati establishing himself as one of the greatest tackles in NFL history. He has made a side trip to Tampa, Fla., this year. Next stop: Canton.
No one is saying this is the final season for pro football's quarterback, defender and blocker of the 1980s. Nor is anybody claiming that Ronnie Lott, now a New York Jets safety after starring for the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Raiders, is ready for retirement. Or that Eric Dickerson, playing for the Atlanta Falcons this season after building his reputation as a game-breaking runner and back-breaking complainer with the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Raiders, has nothing left.
What all of them will have left when their ebbing NFL careers conclude is a date in Canton, Ohio, for entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"We know we're closer to the end than the beginning," said Taylor, who announced plans to retire last season, then tore an Achilles' tendon a week later and missed the second half of the schedule. "But that doesn't mean we can't play, or we wouldn't be back out here."
Taylor, who decided to come back when Ray Handley was fired by the New York Giants and Dan Reeves took over as coach, is the only one of the sure-fire future Hall of Famers who has stayed with the same team. He isn't the only star of the 1980s who came out of a planned retirement, though.
Munoz saw all the dollar signs being waved in front of free-agent offensive linemen with lesser credentials. He figured he could earn a cool $1 million or so for another year - but certainly not from the stingy Bengals.
With the freedom to choose his new employer and, basically, the price, Munoz contacted Sam Wyche, his former coach in Cincinnati. Soon, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Initially, it was just a matter of choice to go play where you want to play," he said. "For 13 years, it was basically: `You've got to play here or you don't play the game.' All of this kind of started before all the salaries were printed. But then the salaries came out, and maybe that's when talks got a little more serious."
Wyche always was serious about adding "the best tackle I've ever coached or seen."
"He's got the juices flowing. I've been around him for eight years and I can read him," Wyche said. "He is tremendously disciplined, so when he tells you he is determined to play, you can count on him doing everything necessary. There are no downsides to signing Anthony Munoz."
Or to signing Lott. The New York Jets desperately need veteran leadership. In the NFL, you spell that L-O-T-T.
"One of the big motivating factors for who we signed was that we were looking for guys with leadership ability," said Jets general manager Dick Steinberg. "They bring credibility. These are guys who played in Super Bowls and won them, and in Pro Bowls. They've been around a long time and they know how to prepare themselves to compete for a championship.
"They know how to react to good things and bad things, because they have been through both."
Dickerson has been through all the pluses and minuses in his decade as a pro. Recently, as he moved into second place on the all-time rushing list, the negatives - fines, suspensions, injuries, criticism from coaches and teammates - have outweighed the positives.
Still, there was a demand for him in Atlanta, where the Falcons hope Dickerson can regain the speed, cuts and moves that made him the most feared runner in football.
"This whole change to Atlanta and an offense I like . . . it's had me feeling like a young colt again," he said. "I don't feel 32, and when people see me on the field, they won't believe I am. I know what the calendar says, but I think under the right conditions, I could still gain 1,000 yards or more."
The Kansas City Chiefs aren't looking for 1,000 yards from another likely Hall of Famer, Marcus Allen. But adding the former Raider as a free agent after they traded for Montana gave the Chiefs a new look. And, perhaps, the spark the offense desperately needs.
"You don't get many opportunities to acquire people like Marcus Allen," Chiefs president Carl Peterson said. "The intangibles he provides off the field are as important as the skills he brings on the field. You need people who have been there, who understand how it's done."
No one has been there more often and knows better how to get it done than Montana. Of all the future inductees in the Hall of Fame, Montana figures to have the biggest impact in 1993.
"Wherever we've been in the past, there have always been a lot of expectations," Montana said. "It's not a big deal with us. At the 49ers, they expected us to go to the Super Bowl every year. And with the talent on this team, they've got a chance to do that, too."
Which would be just another impressive stop for Montana en route to Canton.
by CNB