THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409180166
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
The Falcons aren't missing Deion Sanders as much as some people might have guessed. Sure, there were several players who were depressed over what they perceived as the defection of the All-Pro cornerback to the 49ers. But more than a few - and coach June Jones - couldn't care less that Neon Deion will be riding the cablecar to work.
``To be truthful,'' receiver Andre Rison said, ``Deion going to San Francisco might be one of the best things ever to happen to this team. It will help our defense because before, it was like Deion and the rest of the defense. Now each of those guys knows that they have to depend on each other to get the job done overall. This definitely helps the team in general, because there won't be a red carpet rolled out anymore for just one player.
``It was always like this was Deion's team,'' continued Rison, admitting he felt like he was swallowed in Sanders' shadow along with everybody else. ``People acted as if Deion was our savior. When we were losing before he joined us during the season, it was like we were losing because he wasn't here. But they never pointed out that we also were losing when he was here.''
CHATTING WITH . . . 49ERS COACH GEORGE SEIFERT
Q: You're one person in a very high profile business who doesn't even have a profile. Does that bother you?
SEIFERT: ``It's just not relevant to what we want to get done. It's the players' game. I don't want to sound too full of myself, but that's it. That's what people basically come out to see.''
Q: People say you're in a win - or else - situation. Does that get old?
SEIFERT: ``Sure it does. There's time when it annoys me, but not to the point where I'm preoccupied with it. It usually hits me in the offseason, and only for a few minutes ... you know it's part of the business. But right now, I'm in my element, and that isn't important.''
Q: How do you react when people say last year's defense was lousy?
SEIFERT: ``We had some dismal games, and we weren't where we would have liked to have been statistically, but there were games where we played very well. New Orleans, Houston, the Giants. But because of the way we ended, people think our defense was poor all the time.''
Q: People also say the Cowboys showed you the NFL's new standard of excellence?
SEIFERT: ``That one really ticks me off. We know the standard. We just haven't met it the last couple of seasons.''
IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED . . . When the Vikings were competing with the Lions for quarterback Scott Mitchell in the free-agent market last February, they printed up a snazzy pamphlet titled: ``Why the Minnesota Vikings Want Scott Mitchell.''
They filled it up with statistics and information aimed at persuading Mitchell to sign their $10 million contract offer. Impressive, but apparently not convincing enough for Mitchell, who signed with the Lions (no pamphlet) for $11.1 million.
Undaunted, the Vikings fired up their word processors, wrote in Warren Moon's name wherever they found a reference to Mitchell and reprinted the pamphlet under the title: ``Why the Minnesota Vikings Want Warren Moon.''
Moon liked the pamphlet, and agreed to a trade from Houston.
WHY NOT JUST GIVE HIM A KEY TO THE FRONT DOOR? Strange sight in the Cowboys' camp last week: An Oilers' player given free run of the place. The two teams played each other five days later, but the Cowboys didn't worry about their visitor spying.
Explanation: The player was backup running back Spencer Tillman, who is a backup sportscaster in Houston and played at Oklahoma for Cowboys' coach Barry Switzer. Tillman, a big fan of Switzer, came to Dallas on his day off, to interview him. Afterward, they had lunch in Switzer's office.
``He's one of those guys who can go anywhere he wants around here,'' Switzer said. ``I love him. I think he loves me, too.''
NFC NUGGETS: Talk about embarrassment. When the Giants needed someone to play Redskins receiver Desmond Howard last week in practice, coach Dan ``I never won a Heisman'' Reeves stepped right in and started running patterns. faced: 1. Mike Singletary. 2. Sam Mills. 3. Wes Hopkins-Andre Waters. 4. Dennis Smith. 5. Barney Bussey. ... WHY SOME TEAMS WIN: The 49ers have a practice squad this season, thanks to Jerry Rice. The receiver agreed to forgo up to $170,000 of incentives in his contract to help the 49ers clear enough cap room to sign a five-player practice squad. ... Falcons WR Andre Rison has 26 catches in two games, a pace that would give him 208 in 16 games, almost doubling Sterling Sharpe's record 112 set last year. ... The last time Buddy Ryan put in Jim McMahon in an attempt to spark his offense, it helped get him fired in Philly. That was the 1990 playoff loss to the Redskins when Ryan benched Randall Cunningham for one series. McMahon couldn't save the Eagles then, and his two turnovers on his first two possessions against the Giants didn't help the Cardinals last week. by CNB