THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512240119
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
Cowboys radio analyst Dale Hansen, who has had a rocky relationship with owner Jerry Jones and coach Barry Switzer since the start of the 1994 season, said last week he believes he will be fired when this season ends.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram quoted sources who said Hansen has angered Jones with comments made the past two games. Jones reportedly is unhappy because Hansen ripped Switzer for his infamous fourth-and-one decision against Philadelphia, then said the Giants were ``robbed'' last week when a late fourth-quarter touchdown was called back by a penalty.
``This time, he may have gone too far,'' a source said.
Jones says only that Hansen is ``doing a good job'' and called Hansen's removal after this season ``news to me.''
Hansen, who is working under a one-year agreement, said that he would like to return in 1996 for a 12th season, but he isn't optimistic.
``I have been hearing that (he will be dismissed) for awhile now, but nobody has said anything directly to me,'' Hansen said. ``I love doing the Cowboys' broadcast, but if I'm not wanted there anymore, I will still go to (the Dallas TV station that employs him) and pick up a pretty nice paycheck.
``I'm not a Cowboys cheerleader. I've grown a little weary of all of the talk about my status. I find myself from time to time wrestling with this thing. It's frustrating because I'm dealing with a whole group of people who don't like me, and that wears me down.''
Hansen's original broadcast partner, Brad Sham, quit after last season.
WOEFUL WHEATLEY: Although not his fault, the touchdown run Giants' rookie Tyrone Wheatley had called back last week (teammate Charles Way, holding) cost his team a victory over the Cowboys and symbolized what has been anything but a rousing season for him.
After a summer-long holdout, Wheatley has carried only 66 times for 223 yards and two touchdowns, has missed three games with injuries and has made the Giants see veteran Rodney Hampton in a better light.
Wheatley hasn't exactly helped himself by falling asleep in meetings, failing to report for treatment of injuries and exhibiting a lackadaisical attitude that - according to one source - might have cost him as much as $10,000 in fines.
``This is one of the toughest situations I've faced,'' Wheatley said.
It had been assumed the Giants would let Hampton leave as a free agent at the end of this season. But he has rushed for 935 yards and nine TDs, and the Giants aren't saying what their plans are for him.
ROWDY RAIDERS: Agent Leigh Steinberg finagled 50-yard line seats at the Steelers-Raiders game a couple of weeks ago at Oakland, where the fans have a well-earned reputation for rowdiness.
Steinberg, seated with the family of Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell, had nearly convinced the group that Raiders fans weren't as nasty as their reputation.
``Just as the words got out of my mouth, a large body comes flying over us and lands on his back, smack in front of us,'' Steinberg said. ``Then another drunk came running over to him and they started fighting. Others joined in. People were flying over the top of each other. Mrs. O'Donnell looked at me like I was crazy.''
SPINDLER AND THE JETSsssss: Players are happy when they play. Period. End of story. Take the case of Marc Spindler, once of the Detroit Lions, now with the lowly Jets.
Spindler, the national high school defensive player of the year almost a decade ago, was drafted on the third round by the Lions and played five years for them as the starting nose tackle.
``But this year,'' Spindler said, ``they were switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 and I knew I wasn't going to be there. I'm 6-5 and 290. They wanted a quicker guy to rush downfield and I'm more of a smash-mouth tackle.''
So in April, he signed with the Buccaneers as an unrestricted free agent. When he got there, he realized he was in the wrong place.
``They didn't want me for me,'' he said. ``Their message was to light a fire under their guys. That's exactly what they told me. I didn't like it there. The day I got there, I told my wife, `Don't come down because I'm not going to be on this team.' They had 14 defensive linemen, eight of them tackles. They probably got me for the wrong reason.''
Six days before the season opener, the Bucs traded wide receiver Charles Wilson and Spindler to the Jets for a fourth-round draft choice. Spindler was ecstatic, going to a (lousy) team with a defensive scheme he liked and a need for a healthy player.
``The Jets said, `How long do you need to get here?' '' he said. ``I said, `My stuff has been packed for three days.' ''
At 3-12, the Jets have not exactly been heaven, but Spindler says they have been good for him.
``I'd rather be playing for the Jets now, with all these guys pulling hard to win,'' he said, ``than be playing for Tampa Bay and have (had) a shot at the playoffs.''
THE MEGGETT MISTAKE: Coach Bill Parcells' free-agent signing of Dave Meggett last offseason has hurt both the Giants, who lost Meggett, and the Patriots. Meggett hasn't done with the Patriots what he did with New York, and the Giants haven't found anyone to replace him as a punt returner and third-down receiver.
In six season in the Meadowlands, Meggett carried 271 times for 1,228 yards (a 4.5 average), caught 231 passes for 2,194 yards, returned 202 punts for 2,230 yards (11.0 average), and returned 146 kickoffs for 2,989 yards (a 20.5 average). All of those averages are down this season with the Pats. The only place he's up this year is on kickoffs, where he's averaging 25 yards a return.
Worse, his signing put the Patriots in a salary-cap bind and may have cost them Michael Timpson, who had 73 catches last year, and Kevin Turner, the fullback who was Drew Bledsoe's outlet man. So they've gone from 10-6 to 6-9.
BOOMER'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason recently told the story of driving home after a loss to the Dolphins last season. He had to stop his car because of an accident in front of him.
He got out of his car and asked a woman in the car in front of him if she were all right. Her car window was broken, and she was in tears.
``She looked at me,'' Esiason said, ``and said, `Boomer?' I said, `Yes.'
``She said, `You guys really (stink), how'd you lose that game today?' ''
BLUE DARTS: The Rev. John Parlow of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Green Bay understands why Packers fans might be torn between attending tonight's Christmas Eve church services and the regular-season finale against the Steelers. But he's hoping they make the right choice. ``I'm quite certain that it's not (quarterback) Brett Favre and (running back) Edgar Bennett who will determine what happens to their eternal soul,'' he said. ... So what did defensive end Burt Grossman do after being cut by the San Diego Chargers in August? ``I've been watching talk shows,'' said Grossman, who re-signed with the Chargers earlier this month before failing his physical. ``What time is it? Four o'clock? It's Ricki Lake time.'' He said he got his exercise by ``getting up and changing the channels.'' ... John Madden, the lead NFL analyst for Fox Sports, said recently that the time is right to start a new football league. ``With all the teams moving, now is the time to do it,'' Madden said before a screening of ``Rebels with a Cause: The Story of the American Football League.'' When CBS lost its NFC package to Fox two years ago, Madden said he favored launching a rival league. ``But we couldn't get anyone to do it quickly,'' Madden said. ... Howie Long says Oakland's Steve Wisniewski is ``the most hated offensive lineman in the league'' and calls the Steelers' Greg Lloyd ``the angriest man in the NFL.'' ... He Said It: Lions coach Wayne Fontes, on his streaking team - ``Right now, we're running like Secretariat. The trick is not to finish like Mr. Ed.'' ... It went unnoticed, but Lions tight end Rodney Holman set a record for games played in by someone at his position last Sunday, 211. That's one more than Jackie Smith. ... If the Panthers win today, it becomes the first expansion team in any sport to finish at .500. The closest call previously was in the NHL when the 1993-94 Florida Panthers finished one game under .500. ... Basing his opinion on their current level of play, AP's Dave Goldberg lists the Cowboys as the league's 25th-best team.
BRAIN TEASER: Only one team has had four different players with 100-yard receiving games this season. (Hints: not San Francisco - only Jerry Rice has done it; not Dallas - only Michael Irvin; not Detroit or Minnesota, which have had three different players do it: Herman Moore, Brett Perriman and Johnnie Morton for the Lions; Cris Carter, Jake Reed and Qadry Ismail for the Vikings.)
Answer: Cleveland (Andre Rison, Michael Jackson, Rico Smith and Keenan McCardell). by CNB