Mike Groll, Associated Press Tom Modrak, left, with Buffalo GM and boss Tom Donahoe. With Butch Davis, far left, out in Cleveland, Modrak could help fill the void. That would be good news for the Browns and bad news for the Steelers. Click photo for larger image. More NFL coverage Five things to look for today: 12/5/04 Onside kicks: 12/5/04 By the numbers: 12/5/04

Is it any wonder Bill Cowher said nice things about Butch Davis after the Cleveland coach resigned this week?

Davis was Cowher's best friend -- on the football field. Cowher's Steelers beat Davis' Browns eight times in nine games. Cowher and his team have only themselves to blame for helping push Davis out of the Browns' locker room.

Now they have to hope that Cleveland owner Randy Lerner does not do the right thing and hire a competent general manager to find a competent coach and get the Browns going in the right direction again.

They must hope Cleveland does not hire someone such as Tom Modrak.

Modrak, a former Steelers college scouting director with two Super Bowl rings, is assistant general manager of the Buffalo Bills. The Philadelphia Eagles hired him as their general manager away from the Steelers in 1999, and he helped turn them from Beagles to annual Super Bowl contenders.

The Eagles were 3-13 in 1998. His first duty was to resist the howls from fans and some pressure within the organization to draft Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams. He passed on Williams and drafted quarterback Donovan McNabb. He cleaned house, worked hard for new practice facilities and rid the Eagles of a losing culture. After going 5-11 in Modrak's first season, Philadelphia finished 11-5 and went two games into the playoffs in 2000. The Eagles won the NFC East in 2001 and lost in the NFC championship game.

And then, Modrak lost an intra-office power play and he was out. Since then, he has been a finalist for general managers' jobs in Jacksonville and Miami while serving as the Bills' assistant under Tom Donahoe.

Modrak, a Pittsburgh native who worked 20 years in the Steelers' personnel department, would be a perfect fit for Cleveland. It appears the Browns will go in a different direction. New England personnel director Scott Pioli has rebuffed the Browns' overtures and they might turn to Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome or his assistant Phil Savage.

If the Steelers are lucky, Cleveland won't take a look at Modrak.

Through the looking glass

While he decides on his future -- and others help decide it for him -- Dave Wannstedt is getting a taste of the TV life. He has agreed to do color on the Fox broadcast of the Arizona at San Francisco game next Sunday.

"It'll give me a chance to see if I like it and give them a chance to evaluate me," said Wannstedt, who was on Fox's pregame show two weeks ago after he resigned as coach of the Miami Dolphins. "It'll get me through the season and help me stay on top of the league."

Wannstedt wants to coach again but, if there's an offer from television, he also could follow the Jimmy Johnson-Bill Parcells-Joe Gibbs-Mike Dikta-Marty Schottenheimer-Dick Vermeil path and do some work on the tube before he jumps back into coaching. However, if the Pitt job opens up, that would alter the terrain.

The hot seat

Things aren't going well for another Pittsburgh native who could follow Baldwin's Wannstedt and become the second NFL coach without a job.

Jim Haslett sits on the NFL's hottest coaching seat in New Orleans.

"I'm really not worried about it," Haslett said. "I just want our football team to play as well as they can down the stretch. I'm going to coach the same way I have since I've been here. We'll continue to work hard. All I can promise is this: I will do everything in my power to do the best possible job to get our football team to win the next five games."

Haslett is 38-37 in New Orleans, the second-best record with the Saints after Jim Mora, the elder. Perhaps if Saints owner Tom Benson would not have fired Randy Mueller as general manager in 2002, one year after he was named NFL Executive of the Year, Haslett might have some players to help him win.

New man Mickey Loomis is a Benson pal who knows little about football and a lot about saving money -- the Saints are $8 million under the cap, money that might have provided Haslett with several players to help him win.

Proven right

The toughest of the Steelers' remaining five games could very well be the last one, Jan. 2 in Buffalo.

The Bills are rounding into shape after a tough beginning and riding the legs of Willis McGahee. Tom Donahoe no longer has to defend that draft pick. McGahee has five 100-yard games in six starts and the Bills (5-6) have won four of their past five. He has 726 yards and seven touchdowns even though he did not play much in their first four games.

Step aside, Bubby

Donovan McNabb has thrown only five interceptions in 350 pass attempts this season and has thrown more than one interception in a game just three times in his past 36 regular-season games.

If he maintains his pace of one interception every 70 attempts, he will break the Eagles' club record for lowest interception percentage in a season (1.6) set by that famous former Bird, Bubby Brister.

TD wonderland

Peyton Manning's six touchdown passes against Detroit on Thanksgiving Day give him 19 touchdown passes and one interception in four games against the NFC North this season -- Packers 5, Vikings 4 and Bears 4. The Colts won all four games.

A Lions quarterback has thrown more than 19 touchdown passes only once in an entire season since 1963. Scott Mitchell had 32 in 1995 and 19 in 1997, and Earl Morrall threw 24 for Detroit in 1963.

Hawaiian reunion?

If Antwaan Randle El of the Steelers is right, it could be an all-Big Ten Pro Bowl day for return men.

"That's my goal; I'll be in the Pro Bowl this year," Randle El promised. "I'm still looking for some big returns and some big touchdowns."

Over in the NFC, Detroit's Eddie Drummond, an East Liberty native who played at Penn State, would seem to have a lock on the Pro Bowl as a return man. He was NFC special teams player for the months of September and November. He has four touchdowns on two kickoff and two punt returns.

Drummonds has a broken left shoulder blade but remains on the active list so, as long as he's healed by the end of January, he's eligible for the Pro Bowl. He leads in the fan voting.

Trade value?

Trading one of the league's best running backs was easy for the Denver Broncos this year when they shipped Clinton Portis to the Redskins for cornerback Champ Bailey. In Denver, they plug backs into the lineup the way the Rockettes pop in another dancer, and the show goes on.

Reuben Droughns, Portis' replacement in Denver, has 946 yards rushing, one more than Portis, who ran only six times for 17 yards Sunday in Heinz Field.

Besides Bailey, the Redskins shipped a second-round draft pick to Denver, then turned around and paid Portis $13 million in bonuses this year as part of an eight-year, $50.5 million contract. And to think Jerome Bettis had to take a pay cut down to $1 million!

You are what you eat

It wasn't quite Dwight White-ish, but Jason Taylor's feat for Miami in San Francisco last week comes close.

Taylor, who had 4.5 sacks in his first 10 games, ate some bad steak and crab cakes and developed food poisoning. He was in bed from 1:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Saturday and lost 12 pounds.

But like White, who climbed out of a hospital bed with the flu to have a great game for the Steelers in Super Bowl IX, Taylor played Sunday. He sacked the quarterback three times and forced a fumble that led to a touchdown and earned him AFC defensive player of the week.

"I think Jason needs to get sick more often," Dolphins cornerback Sam Madison said.

Quotes

Herman Edwards on the faulty communications system at Arizona's Sun Devil Stadium: "I was a Boy Scout, so I know my Morse Code signals. I could have used a cell phone, but my wife had it. I don't know if I would have had enough minutes left, anyway."

Sam Madison, Dolphins defensive back, after he and teammates took a trip to the Napa Valley wine country during their week in San Francisco between games in Seattle and against the 49ers: "[Everyone else] went to drink the wine. I went to the spa, got a massage, pedicure and got pampered while you all go out to get drunk."

Heather Mitts, U.S. women's soccer star, after watching boyfriend A.J. Feeley get back and buttocks injuries playing quarterback for the Dolphins last week: "Did you see his butt? It looks like Barney."

Haslett, on the number of games the Saints will win: "If I knew I'd probably do a Pete Rose and bet on them."