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Sunday, September 10, 2000

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Art Modell may be the most optimistic owner in pro sports. He has put his teams in the Super Bowl more times than the Steelers, only his Browns and Ravens have never actually gotten there.

So, it's not surprising what the Baltimore Ravens owner said the week after his team beat the Steelers, 16-0.

"This may be the best team in my 40 years," Modell said.

Does that mean, he was asked, it is better than his 1964 NFL champions with Jim Brown in Cleveland?

"Jim Brown didn't have the supporting cast that we have here," Modell said. "We had Frank Ryan as quarterback. Steady, but not a world beater. We had a good receiver in Gary Collins and a great one in Paul Warfield. Leroy Kelly was a Hall of Famer backing up Brown. But we had slow DBs."

Modell feels ths club is better than the five teams he had in Cleveland that reached the AFC championship game, only to lose.

"By hanging around for 40 years, you can do that by osmosis. You can sense good athletes. I feel strongly about this team. I'm very, very upbeat."

Suit him up

Atlanta Coach Dan Reeves said any good running back could duplicate the statistics of Terrell Davis and Orlandis Gary behind Denver's offensive line.

"I'm not saying I could come out and gain 100 yards, but...," said Reeves, 56, the Cowboys' leading rusher in 1966 with 757 yards.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, Reeves' former boss, challenged him.

"Then maybe Dan should suit up and come out and play Sunday."

Stai starting

The Steelers' starting right guard last season now starts in Jacksonville, and the Jaguars' starting right guard last season now starts here.

Rich Tylski is here and Brenden Stai is there. The Jaguars picked up Stai after training camp ended, after he was cut by Kansas City, after he was cut by the Steelers. He became a starter because of injuries.

"He's been thrown into a situation where he has to play right now," said Rick Reiprish, the Jaguars' director of player personnel. "He did not have the benefit of training camp with people on the offensive line. He's not been able to sit and play with the guy next to him."

Stai went against old teammate Orpheus Roye, now a defensive tackle in Cleveland, in the opener.

"He did fine," Reiprish said. "He won some and lost some. For us, the situation we're in, all the injuries we have, he came in and did a great job."

Putting Peyton in his place

One Raider isn't ready to send Peyton Manning's bust to Canton quite yet.

Defensive tackle Darrell Russell prefers his bust on a stick.

"You can get into Manning's head," Russell said. "Although a lot of people pump him up and he's looked at as one of the premiere quarterbacks, if you look at his track record, he can't really win the big game.

"He never won the SEC. He didn't win too many bowl games. He never came close to winning a national championship. He never won the big game in college and he hasn't done it now."

Change for the better

If it weren't for Manning, Todd Helton might never be pursuing .400 or, as is the case now, .390.

Helton, a junior, was the backup quarterback at the University of Tennessee when Manning was a freshman. When starter Jerry Colquitt was hurt in the first game, Helton replaced him. But he, too, was injured early. That thrust Manning into the starting job and, after seeing him play, Helton devoted all his time to baseball.

"He had the one year at Tennessee and I got to be friends with him," Manning said. "I'm not surprised by how well he's doing because I know he's a hard worker. I'd see him back in Knoxville during the off-season his first couple of years. The way he lifts weights and takes extra batting practice, I doubt he's that surprised, either, because he's a good player."

Quick slants

Can he have a do-over? Last December, quarterback Jon Kitna declined the Seahawks' contract offer of $13 million over four years. After last Sunday's shutout loss to the Dolphins, Kitna's on shaky ground. In his past eight games, Kitna has thrown 16 interceptions, eight touchdown passes and the Seahawks are 1-7. ... Kevin Dyson caught nine passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns in the opener for Tennessee last season. Last Sunday he caught nothing but flak. "I lined up wrong a few times," Dyson said. "I don't know what it was, maybe not hearing as well in the huddle, I guess, or not paying attention as well."