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Sunday, December 24, 2000

Compiled by Ed Bouchette

Brian Mitchell left the Redskins in free agency for the Eagles, but he did not leave his heart in Washington.

He's also having a good time at Daniel Snyder's expense.

"You reap what you sow," Mitchell said. "I'm not worried about me, because I can handle mine. But all those other people they got rid of -- the secretaries that had been there for 25 years -- by hurting all of those good people, it came back [to haunt him]. It got him. Karma. I say, anything he gets, he deserves."

Chemistry on the Redskins? Mitchell said it was more like an explosion.

"There were too many guys who wanted the spotlight. It's not like that here. I know there were cliques. There were cliques when I was there. The rich guys would be on one side of the locker room and the guys without money would be on the other side. You'd have the big houses in the suburbs over here, and the ghetto slums on the other side. That pulls your team apart.

"That all starts with the owner. He said that conflict makes people play better. Not in professional athletics. In professional athletics, if your team splits up, with one half liking one quarterback and the other half liking the other quarterback, that breaks the team up."

McNown benched

Cade McNown has joined the same club as Ryan Leaf, and it's not the Quarterback Club.

Many of his fellow teammates can't stand McNown, who was benched this week by the Bears. Next year, Jim Miller will get a chance to compete for the job.

"The quarterback is the centerpiece of your offense and he's got to pick those other guys up, rally them and get them going," Coach Dick Jauron said.

McNown was 1-8 as a starter. Miller and Shane Matthews are a combined 3-3.

If McNown doesn't play in 70 percent of the snaps next year, he will lose $8 million in salaries in 2002 and 2003, provided he's still around.

Fighting mad

The Cowboys aren't winning, but they are still fighting, probably too much.

Five Dallas players have been ejected from games this season. Two players have been flagged on 27 of their 101 penalties -- tackle Erik Williams 15 and defensive end Alonzo Spellman 12.

"I'm Erik Williams. I'm a dirty player. Once you get a label, it's hard to shake it. One day, I'll be able to sit back and tell my kids that I hit people in the face and did whatever I had to do to win. I think I could have played back with Dick Butkus and guys like that. Those guys would bite your face off, bite your nose off, bite your fingers off. That's football."

Quick slants

New Orleans has beaten one team with a winning record, the Rams.

The Falcons are unhappy with line coach Art Shell, once head coach of the Raiders, and may fire him. Despite another poor season, Coach Dan Reeves isn't anticipating its end. "Am I looking forward because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel? No, because there are a lot of things at the end of the tunnel that I'd rather not have to do."

The Rams are the fourth team to allow 400 points and have a winning record. They've allowed 450. Only one of the previous three made the playoffs, the 9-7 Houston Oilers of 1989.

Randy Moss became the fastest receiver to top 4,000 yards. He did it in 47 games. Jerry Rice did it in 48.