The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 13

The Index-Journal, Greenwood, S.C. 3B NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Cameron canned by Dolphins By The Associated Press Friday, January 4, 2008 Sapp tells Oakland he's done By The Associated Press Ss ALAMEDA, Calif. Warren Sapp told the Oakland Raiders on Thursday that he was retiring, ending the career of one of the best defensive tackles to play in the NFL. Sapp told the Contra Costa Tones that he phoned Raiders owner AI Davis with the news Thursday. The Raiders had no official comment, but coach Lane Kiffin hinted at Sapp's decision earlier this week.

Sapp, 35, was the quintessential "three technique" tackle during his 13-year WARREN SAPP uJL 11 AP photo New England coach Bill Belichick, left, talks to quarterback Tom Brady during the second quarter against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium In East Rutherford, N.J. Belichick tabbed top coach Unbeaten regular season lifts New England coach to honor DAVIE, Fla. Unlike his boss, Bill Parcells didn't need to go to Costa Rica. He stayed right at home and decided Cam Cameron had to go, along with just about everyone else on the Miami Dolphins. A year ago Thursday, Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga embarked on a two-week coaching search that took him as far as Central America to interview at least a dozen candidates.

Now the Dolphins are starting over. Cameron was fired Thursday after winning only one game in his first year as an NFL head coach. The move means Miami will have its fifth coach in five seasons. Such instability has contributed to the Dolphins' decline. This season they lost their first 13 games and finished 1-15, the worst record in franchise history.

Late last month, they brought in Parcells to run the organization. He hired Jeff Ireland as general manager this week, and they fired most of the coaching staif Thursday. Parcells made the decision to fire, Cameron in consultation with Ireland, who spent the last seven years in player personnel with the Dallas Cowboys. Parcells, the Cowboys' coach in 2003-06, might tap the Dallas pipeline again. The early front-runner to replace Cameron is Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano, who is scheduled to interview today for the head coaching vacancy in Atlanta "Tony's an outstanding coach," Dallas head coach Wade Phillips, said this week.

"He's'got all the attributes, I think, to be a head coach. He works well with people. His players play for him; I think that's important And he's a really sharp, sharp guy as far as Xs and Os. And I think he'd work well certainly putting a staff together." One and done The Miami Dolphins fired head coach Cam Cameron after only, one win in his first season. Recent Dolphins head coaches cam i-is NickSaban X)5-06 15-17 JfrrBat2004 3-4 Dave Wannstedt.

00-04 42-31 (Reg. season) 1 -2 in postseason Bottom feeders The Dolphins ranked near or at the bottom of many team statistics. OFFENSE i DEFENSE POINTS 16.7 (t26) 27.3 (30) TOT YDS 287.5 (28) 342:2 (23) PASS 189.4 (24) I 188.7 (4) RUSH 98.1 (23) i 153.5 (32) The perfect Bill Belichick, who led the New England Patriots to an undefeated regular season, was named the Associated Press' NFL Coach of the Year Thursday. choice highlights Led Patriots to become the first team in A ZOQi 4 Nh 2007 NFL history to go 16-0 in the regular season Patriots also set the NFL sinale-season record for points scored (589) COACH TEAM VOTES 29 Mike McCarthy Packers 15 Wade Phillips Cowboys 2 career, lining up between the guard and tackle and splitting that gap. Few did it better than Sapp, who made seven Pro Bowls, won the AP Defensive Player of the Year award in 1999, and was a key cog in Tampa Bay's Super Bowl winning defense in the 2002 seasoa "Every defensive tackle that's drafted in the top five is supposed to be the next (me)," Sapp said earlier this seasoa "All of them have that tag.

I've played the game pretty well, so if I'm the standard by which (they'll) be judged, that's tough, because I'd like to relive that guy, too. He's a bad boy. He's dead now. I give you flashes of him every now and then but nan, that guy was sick." After having 10 sacks in 2006, Sapp wasn't as successful this season when he finished with only two. He was also part of a Raiders defense that struggled against the run, allowing a league-worst 4.8 yards per carry.

Sapp was no longer the every-down menace he was during his younger days in Tampa, but he could still pick, his spots, in his final game against San Diego, Sapp shot through a gap and hit quarterback Rivers' forearm before he could hand the ball off to LaDainian Tomlinson, causing a fumble. "You get a little older, you can see your weaknesses a little bit more and go about 45-50 plays now." Sapp said late in the seasoa "But there's still some good gas in the tank and I'm still able to make die plays." Sapp finished his career with 96 12 sacks, the 28th most since the NFL began keeping track of the statistic in 1982. What made mat even more remarkable is that Sapp played primarily on the inside at tackle, where sacks are traditionally much harder to come by. Sapp was considered a coach on die field by the defensive staff on the Raiders and was viewed as a leader by the young players that surrounded him. "I felt like having him here made me a better football player," Raiders linebacker Kirk Morrison said.

"He was the leader of this defense. They say the middle linebacker is supposed to lead, but the guy has been in the league 13 years and he's seen it all. I leaned on him. There's so much more for me to learn from him I don't want him to leav yet" Jack Del Rio Jaguars 2 Jon Gruden Buccaneers. i SOURCE: i Tony Dungy Colts i NFL By The Associated Press NEW YORK Spygate be damned! Bill Belichick of the unbeaten New England Patriots is The Associated Press 2007 NFL Coach of the Year.

With die Patriots motivated by a spying scandal and owning the deepest talent base in football Belichick guided his team to the first 16-0 regular season in league history. That was enough to offset the major Jblemih, orjqlichickX resumes $500,000 personal fine, $250,000 fine for the team and the loss of a first-round pick in the upcoming draft after the Patriots were caught videotaping New York Jets coaches during the season opener. Spygate didnt stop 29 of the 50 voters on a nationwide panel of media members who cover the NFL from voting for Belichick on Thursday. In a season highlighted by many strong coaching performances, Belichick beat out Green Bay's Mike McCarthy, who received 15 votes for leading the Packers to a 13-3 record and the NFC North title. is definitely a team recognition, but one that I appreciate very much on a personal level," Belichick said in a statement issued by the club.

He also won the award in 2003. "If anyone is deserving of such an award it really is Bill," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "I know the energy and effort and planning and time (he puts in). He's had his foot on the pedal, all year, just working so hard and always doing everything he can to put the team in a position to win first" Does Kraft think this award will silence the critics? "What I've tried to say is the only way that'll go away is if we just keep on win- seemed somewhat joyless as the Patriots followed the lead of their detached coach, there was no denying Belichick's ability to motivate. His players used Spygate as a rallying point cultivating an us-against-them mentality that clearly worked Belichick is involved in all personnel decisions, meaning the additions of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte' Stallworth to the receiving corps had his touch.

Plus, Belichick is a master at game-planning. Add that skill to the deepest offense in the league (a record 589 points, including an NFL mark of 75 TDs) and a stingy defense that yielded 274 points, fifth in the league, and there's, well, perfection. "There are three things that get better with age: good cigars, red wine and to me it looks like coaches who have the ability," Kraft said. "He's really hit his sweet spot and I'm really happy for him personally." ning, and winning convincingly, and I think he did it," Kraft said. "He did it and I think the fact that he got this award speaks to that" The first coach since Don Shula in 1972 to lead his team through a spotless regular season, Belichick won the award for the second time in four years.

In 2003, 1 the Patriots went 14-2 and won their final 12 games. This time, Belichick's team rampaged through the first part of the schedule, then won a handful of close games on the way to 16-0. "You know, I think back to sitting in the stands," Kraft said of his days as a fan before he owned the team, "when we went 1-15 and 2-14. And, you know, I saw the '72 Dolphins, and to see this team perform the way it did this year, and in the end, he is the conductor. And he's got some great players, but he's the conductor and I just think the job he did was superb." While the perfect journey this season to AP SOURCE: NFL CURRENT EVENTS TECHNOLOGY COMICS SPORTS i mm mm mm I I 1 I I and This is a rematch of a Dec.

9 game in Nashville won 23-17 in overtime by San Diego, which trailed 17-3 in the fourth quarter. There was a lot of chippy stuff in that one, including a personal foul on LaDainian Tomlinson and fines levied by the league against two Titans and one Charger for dirty play "We're going to try to stay focused this week and not get caught up in the locker room trash talk and just focus on ourselves," says Tennessee center Kevin Mawae, one of those fined. One, question for the Titans is the health of Vince Young, who left Sunday night's playoff-clinching game in Indianapolis after reinjuring his right, quadriceps muscle. Kerry Collins replaced him and led the Titans to three field goals that gave Tennessee a 16-10 win over a team resting alifiost all its key players. This would be Young's first playoff start.

Collins has far more postseason experience: 3-3 in six starts, including the 2001 Super Bowl when he was with' the Giants. found ways to overcome it" the Steeers' rookie coach says, "We don't dwell on that It's as much a part of the game as blocking and tackling. The healthy guys play and the standard of expectation doesn't change." New York Giants (10-6) at Tampa Bay (9-7) Like the Washington-Seattle game, this involves one team with momentum and one without it The Giants, who could have rested players, instead played them in an effort to keep New England from finishing unbeaten. They lost 38-35 after leading by 12 points in the third quarter and getting three starters hurt: CB Sam Shaun O'Hara and LB Kawika Mitchell. But they think they gained more than they lost and are encouraged by their 7-1 road record this season.

The Giants, along with the Seahawks. Colts and Patriots, are the only four teams to make the playoffs three straight seasons, but they are 0-2, as is QB Eli Manning. One of those losses was in Philadelphia last season, where the winning QB was Jeff Garcia, whom the Giants now face in Tampa. Garcia also beat New York in a memorable 2003 playoff game in San Francisco, rallying the 49ers from a 38-14 deficit to a 39-38 win. The Bucs rested players in their last two games after clinching the NFC South with two weeks remaining and are portraying themselves as huge underdogs.

"We are in a single-elimination tournament We've all seen Vil-lanova. We all remember Rollie Massimino," coach Jon Gruden said this week. "The underdogs do flourish sometimes. I'm sure we'll be a heavy underdog in this tournament, but we'll see what we get" Tennessee (10-6) at San Diego (11-5) The Chargers lost three more games this season than last But they are favored to in this playoff game, something tliey didn't do last seasoa one of the reasons Marty Schotttenheimer was fired despite a 1 4-2 regular season. PLAYOFFS Continued fmm IB Jacksonville (11-5) at Pittsburgh (10-6) The Jaguars have been designated as the AFC's "scary" team for a while now.

Until they rested starters in the final game, they won six of seven and the one loss was 28-25 in Indianapolis, when they put a scare into the Colts but were hurt by two replay reversals. The Jaguars won 29-22 in Pittsburgh on Dec. 16, another reason why bettors turned them from 1 -point underdogs into 2-point favorites entering this game. Pittsburgh is without Willie Parker, who was leading the NFL in rushing when he broke his leg in St Louis two weeks ago. QB Ben Roethlisberger has a sore ankle, star safety Troy Polamalu has been hurting all season, and the Steelers are thin at other positions.

No excuse, according to Mike Tomlin. "Whoever hoists that Lombardi Trophy in a month or so will have had injury issues and will have to subscribe pDEX-JOlRVU.