Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 42

12D DETROIT FREE PRESS FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1996 Faint praise from Carr on the Rosebowl alliance They re not so wild about the 'Cats this time of the Special to the Free Press "Monday Night Football" TV analyst and former U-M and St. Louis Cardinals star Dan Dierdorf: "Some dreams are too big to dream." Creekmur, Dierdorf among 5 entering football By Steve kornacki Free Press Sports Writer CHICAGO Merging of the Rose Bowl and bowl alliance in 1998 can get pretty confusing. But Big Ten football coaches and athletic directors are glad it happened. With the no- i i table exception 3 -1 of Michigan. 1 1 Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr was the only conference coach not turning mental cartwheels Thursday when asked about the altering of tradition.

"Watching the Rose Bowl and not seeing a Big Ten team participate is going to be a very sad experience," Carr said. Michigan's Joe Roberson was the only athletic director to vote against the change in the 50-year-old format. The Rose Bowl will host the 2002 matchup of the nation's Nos. 1 and 2 teams in an agreement announced this week. The Big Ten and Pac-10 champions will play in Pasadena that year only if they are ranked in those top two spots.

They would otherwise play in the western-most alliance bowl game which presently would be the Fiesta Bowl. The Rose Bowl could host the national championship game in either 1999, 2000 or 2001 if one of its natural teams is No. 1, but would not then get the key 2002 matchup. The Granddaddy of Them All will get only one national title game in the seven-year deal that begins in 1998. "As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the greatest things to ever happen to college football," Iowa coach Hayden Fry said.

One of the reasons Carr opposes the change is his belief it will lead to a full-scale championship playoff. But Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said he will resist any such push. "I think the bowl system is healthier because of this," Delany said, "but all we can do is take it decade by decade and try to better the environment." Northwestern and Southern Cal earned $8.3 million each that was shared with conference members at the 1996 Rose Bowl. The Pasadena payout will rise to $9.5 million this season and $13 million or more by 1998. "The positive thing is that it will generate a lot of money," Carr said, Hall Saturday gan.

Dierdorf was all-pro for five seasons from 1975 to 1978 and again in 1980. He played in six Pro Bowl games, missing only one between 1974-80. "When Jim Hanifan came to St. Louis in 1973, my third year in the league, he pulled me aside in training camp and said, 'Where did you leam to block like this? Your footwork? Your Dierdorf recalled. "I said, 'My line coach in college, Jerry "Well, the day the season was over, Hanifan gets on an airplane, flies to Ann Arbor and spends the better part of a week with Jerry Hanlon.

"I've been very fortunate, because I've been around people who really understand the game." Saturday's induction for Creekmur and Dierdorf will be emotional for both. For Creekmur, it's finally getting the recognition he long sought and had to fight to get. For Dierdorf, it's returning home. He grew up a mile down the road from where the Hall of Fame stands today, on George Halas Drive in Canton. He attended the building's groundbreaking ceremony with his father in 1962 and used to stand across the street and watch it being built, brick by brick.

"To be honored like this, it's not just another day. It's not just another banquet," Dierdorf said. "And I realize, when I stand on those steps, no matter where I turn I'm going to see someone I know a teacher, a high school classmate, someone I went to kindergarten with. I'm trying hard to steel myself for what's going to be something that's staggering. I can honestly say that some dreams are too big to dream." GREGORY SMITHSpecial to the Free Press campaign; he makes it Saturday.

in CHICAGO Northwestern didn't lose a game in the Big Ten last year, but couldn't crack the top three in a media poll predicting the 1996 football championship. Penn State (240 points, 38 first-place), Michigan (213 points, 41 first) and Ohio State (212, 37) finished 1-2-3. The conference on Thursday didn't release finishes below third. "Everybody's got a job to do," Northwestern coach Gary 1 Bamett said, "and mine is not to predict this stuff. That's up to you guys making the big bucks.

But I know you don't get hired and fired on how you're predicted to finish. "But we'll always have to face this situation of being looked at as a miracle, Cinderella team. We use that every once in awhile as motivation." Penn State coach Joe Pa-terno was asked about being picked the favorite. "The favorite of what?" Pa-terno cracked. "Today, you pick Penn State.

Tomorrow, you'll pick Michigan. But I think Northwestern's still the team to beat." Wildcats tailback Darnell Autry was the overwhelming pick as preseason Big Ten offensive player of the year, and Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald edged U-M linebacker Jarrett Irons by four votes for the defensive honor. By Steve Kornacki "and there is a great need for money. It's going to solve one problem." Penn State coach Paterno said: "We have an obligation that women have athletic competition they need, and we need to create more revenue." FRED JEWELUAssociated Press Chicago Bears' Sean Harris knocks the ball away from Rams RB Ricky Blake in practice on Thursday. recuperating.

So second-year player Alundis Brice will be one cornerback. But if Smith doesn't make it back for opening day, that means Sanders will have to move back. NOTEBOOK: Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behrlng wants to seal court records in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former employee. His lawyers have asked the court to prevent attorneys on both sides from leaking information about the case. The motion claims Patricia Parker's lawyers leaked privileged information about Behr-ing's life and placed suggestive material in the court record so reporters would have access to it.

he doesn't spend a lot of time thinking or talking about it. Thomas leads by performance, by making a mess of opposing offensive line schemes, by chasing opposing Henry Thomas quarterbacks, by getting to opposing running backs before they can even get the handoff even though he is double-teamed on virtually every play. "He's a blue-collar guy," said defensive line coach John Teerlinck. "You don't see him playing that part. But he brings a lunch bucket to work every day.

He has 67 career sacks, highest of all interior linemen in the league right now. "And he's a nose He's the best BY JO-ANN BARNAS Free Press. Sports Writer he found the list in no time. A click here, a click there, and there it was on her computer screen, the names of all the players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "I'll print it out for you," she told her father.

A minute later, Dan Dierdorf had the.list in his hands 16 pages and 185 names, Hall of Famers from Herb Adderley all the way down to Willie Wood. Dierdorf web-surfing daughter, 14-year-old smiled at the wonder of it all. Linking up to the past was one thing; spotting her father's name already printed on the Hall's roster (between Len Dawson and Mike Ditka) was something else. "It was really exciting," Dana Dierdorf said, from her family's home in St. Louis.

"The more we kept looking at the names, the more we realized how many, aren't on there." Soon, they'll be honoring a few more who are. At 11 a.m. Saturday, five new members Dierdorf, Lou Creekmur, Mel Renfro, Charlie Joiner and Joe Gibbs will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a special ceremony on the building's front steps in Canton, Ohio. They are the Class of 1996, an impressive collection of retired football greats, a group that includes something that hasn't been seen in five years the induction of two offensive linemen together in the same year. In 1991, it was John Hannah and Stan Jones; this year, it's Dierdorf and Creekmur.

These days, everyone knows Dierdorf as an analyst on ABC's Monday Night Football. But before that, he was an outstanding right tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals (1971-83) and a Michigan All-America (1971). Creekmur excelled primarily at left tackle for the Lions (1950-59), back in the days when they won the big games. He was a member of NFL championship teams in 1952, '53 and '57 the last time the Lions won the title.

Although the two share similar positions, Dierdorf and Creekmur only the 34th and 35th offensive linemen to be inducted in the Hall are separated in more ways than an era or generation of football. Dierdorf, 47, is well-known; Creekmur, 69, is not. Creekmur played on three championship teams; Dierdorfs Cardinals never won a playoff game. Dierdorf was elected into the Hall in his eighth year of eligibility; Creekmur, worried his name was slipping intaobscurity, began lobbying for himself several years ago before being player I've ever coached and that includes (Chris) Doleman, (Michael Dean) Perry, Kevin Greene because he's complete. He's a run player; he's a pass player.

He knows what's going on on the field. And he's tough." According to NFL statistics, Thomas has the second-highest sack total (66.5) among active interior linemen. Ray Childress, a tackle who has played 10 seasons with Houston and is a free agent, has 75.5. Numbers aside, there is no doubt that Thomas does everything for the Lions defensive line that coach Wayne Fontes had in mind when he lured him away from the Vikings as an unrestricted free agent last year. He puts relentless pressure up the middle in the Lions' attacking-style 4-3 defense, though he is double-teamed nearly 100 percent of the time and triple-teamed sometimes.

He achieved a career-high 10Vz sacks last year with elected last January in his 32nd year of eligibility a record wait. "I kept falling through the cracks," Creekmur said from his home in Plantation, Fla. Finally a few years back, I said, 'I'm sick and tired of So I started writing to board members, started sending my stuff I think it got to the point where they got sick and tired of hearing it, so they put me in the Hall." Creekmur, the Lions' second-round pick out of William Mary in the 1950 draft, was the player quar-, terback Bobby Layne and halfback Doak Walker, both Hall of Famers, largely credited for their success during those great Lions years. "I'm flabbergasted that the guy wasn't selected 25 years ago," Dierdorf said of Creekmur, the 11th member of the Lions to be elected into the Hall. "I'm thrilled for Lou." As for why Creekmur was overlooked for so long, Dierdorf said: "The only thing I can think of is that an offensive lineman's play is totally subjective.

It's word of mouth. It's reputation. It's what other coaches have to say about you. It's the only position you don't have statistics for." But Creekmur had the credentials. He was an all-NFL pick six times, as a guard in 1951 and '52 and as a tackle in 1953, '54, '56 and '57, missing all-league honors in '55, in part because he moved to fill a defensive void.

Here's something else: Creekmur played in every exhibition, regular season and post-season game during his first nine years with the Lions more than 150 straight games through 1958. He also played in eight straight Pro Bowls and missed a ninth only because the boss at the truck company where he worked in the offseason wouldn't let him play. He retired after the 1958 season, but returned four games into the 1959 season at the urging of Lions coach George Wilson. That season became the most important of his career, Creekmur said, because it enabled him to qualify for an NFL Players pension. "Lucky Louie," Creekmur said.

"I've been lucky my whole life." Creekmur also undoubtedly holds the Lions' record for the quickest contract signing. Never a holdout, there was one season in the mid-1950s when Creekmur negotiated and signed a contract in 17 seconds. "Back then, football was a stepping-stone," Creekmur said. "And that's what I was using it for. Leon Hart, Charley Ane, Darris McCord a lot of us would come to practice in a suit and tie.

And when practice was over, we'd go and make sales calls. Nowadays, these guys would never think of working after practice. But back then, that was the reason we were playing football to get our minimal help up front. To Teerlinck, it was a major slight that Thomas didn't get Pro Bowl recognition. To Thomas, who played in the 1991 and 1992 Pro Bowls, it was a disappointment but one he doesn't like to dwell on.

"I care, but I was accustomed to it," Thomas said. "It happened at Minnesota two years in a row (1993 and 1 994) because they didn't want to send both John Randle and myself. There were no other two who were better than he and but two years there it happened. Guys with lesser numbers went. "So last year, I had grown accustomed to it.

But what's the sense of fussing about it? When it happens, it happens. You let that get in your head and it'll get to you, and it'll mess up a good season. I try to stay away from that." Teerlinck is hoping the position name in front of the people so that when you made a call, you'd be let in. And it worked very well. There were many days when I'd make a call on a Monday morning after a football game with a black eye or a bloody nose or a cut across my forehead.

For some reason, I was always let in to see the boss first." Dierdorf isn't that much younger than Creekmur that he can't remember the days when offensive lineman weren't allowed to use their hands. That's the biggest difference they see in their position between then and now. "When we played, the part of your body that first touched an opponent was your helmet," Dierdorf said. "When you came out to block someone, you hit him with your hairline, as we'd say, first. Now, in today's era, the first part of your body that touches the opponent are your hands.

There's a great deal more pushing and shoving, and a lot more upper-body wrestling involved then when we played." Walker will be Creekmur's presenter Saturday, filling in for Aldo Forte, the Lions' offensive line coach in the 1950s. Forte turned down Creekmur's request because his wife is ill. For Dierdorf, Jim Hanifan will get the honors. But it wasn't an easy decision because he's so close to Bo Schembechler, the former Michigan coach. Dierdorf elected to go with Hani-fan because he was his offensive line coach in St.

Louis for six years and his head coach for four. But he plans to honor Schembechler in his induction speech, and Schembechler is planning to be there. So is Jerry Hanlon, Dierdorfs offensive line coach at Michi A Lou Creekmur started his own Hall switch of Robert Porcher and Luther Elliss Porcher moving to left end and Elliss going to defensive tackle will make Thomas even more effective and help the Lions improve on last year's No. 23 overall defensive rating. Thomas says the switch seems to fit Porcher and Elliss nicely, and he's expecting a better performance from the defense.

"Our defense is definitely going to be different," he said. "We definitely plan to be higher up in the rankings than we were last year. And whatever happens from here on in if I make the Pro Bowl again, or if I don't our main goal is getting ready to go to the Super Bowl. If we go to the Super Bowl, our whole defense would probably make the Pro Bowl." NOTEBOOK: Rookie wide receiver Miles Macik, a free agent from Pennsylvania, continues to impress coaches. 13 do the Sanders will fill receiver void, for now Free Press Wire Reports AUSTIN, Texas With the Dallas Cowboys, there's always a superstar lurking.

So Deion Sanders will replace Michael Irvin at wide receiver for the first five games. But who replaces Deion? Irvin's loss for al- I 3 most one-third of the season weakens the Cowboys at two posi 4i tions, wide receiver and cornerback. Sure, they still have Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, but Irvin hasn't missed a game since the start of the 1991 season. Sanders has been brilliant as a spot receiver of his 13 career receptions, four have been for touchdowns. But he's never played the position on a regular basis, and even an athlete as extraordinary as he is can't necessarily become a full-time pass catcher in one preseason.

Moreover, Sanders leaves a secondary already hurt by the defection of Larry Brown, the Super Bowl MVP who left as a free agent for Oakland, and by the' Achilles tendon tear from which Kevin Smith is still Lions nose tackle lets his actions talking Macik, who lives in Rochester Hills, credits former Lions quarterback Gary Danielson with helping his development. "He put me through a good workout, a bunch of drills and made me notice a lot of things I wasn't aware of," Macik said. "It was kind of a friend of a friend thing and he was nice enough to say, 'Let me come out and throw to him a little Offensive linemen Jeff Jones (shoulder) and Ryan Grig-son (back), linebacker Michael Brooks (knee), wide receiver Herman Moore (back spasms) and cornerback Ryan McNeil (groin) missed practice Thursday with minor injuries. Quarterback Scott Mitchell and his agent, Tony Agnone of Baltimore, met with Lions officials to talk about a contract extension but no progress was 4 reported Fontes lectured his team Thursday after several fights during practice. The Lions wil hold their first major scrimmage 40 plays Saturday afternoon.

By Curt Sylvester Free Press Sports Writer Whatever you do, don't ask Henry Thomas about that leadership thing. His eyes will get wide, he'll look mad even if he isn't, he'll talk louder than usual and maybe even say a couple of tilings you don't want the kids to hear on their way to Sunday school class. "What's the big deal, 'You gotta be a Thomas said Thursday. 'Do what I do' that's the only way I know how to lead. "I don't know how to grab the guys, 'You gotta do this, you gotta do I'm not a cheering kind of guy; that's not what I do.

So for the rest of the reporters, don't ask me about being a (bleep-bleep) leader." Thomas, a former Minnesota Viking beginning his second season as the Lions' nose tackle, doesn't lead with words, posturing or back-slapping. And.