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Sunday, December 01, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Some NFL rookies no doubt were caught up in the old Thanksgiving Turkey trick pulled on them by veterans. The Steelers don't do it anymore, but Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy remembers when they did.

"I got caught my first year in Pittsburgh," Dungy said. "And I had read a book and knew what was going on, and they still caught me. So, I had a little soft spot my rookie year.

"They started on me early, about September. Franco Harris says, 'You know, you're going to get a turkey for Thanksgiving and you probably don't know what to do with it. I can't imagine you'd want a whole turkey. I've got a family and everything.'

"So I said, 'Yeah, if I get a turkey, I'll give it to you.' Five weeks later, Mel Blount says 'You're going to get a turkey.' And I said, 'Yeah, I heard. I'm giving it to Franco.' Blount says, 'Franco does this every year. He always hogs all the turkeys. Tell you what. You take your turkey, give it to me, my wife will cook it and we'll have all the defensive backs over.'

"I said, 'Boy, that sounds like a better idea.' So I go back to Franco and say, 'You know, Mel says we're gonna ...' 'Aw, he can't do that.'

"This is still like three weeks before Thanksgiving. So the day before, I'm all set. I go and they tell me they're down somewhere, and a guy says, 'Oh no, Mr. Rooney's got them.'

"So I go into Dan's office and say, 'I'm here to pick up my turkey.' And they say, 'We've had a terrible mistake. We must have miscounted. I passed them all out and I gave Coach Noll the last one. But I'm sure if you go to him and tell him we miscounted, he'll give it to you.'

"I said, 'I'm not going into Coach Noll's office for the last turkey.' So I come back and say, 'Mel, they gave our turkey away.' The whole locker room just fell over laughing. And then the next day, Chuck, of course, says, 'Well, the only people that get fooled on this are people looking for something for nothing.'"

Historic losses

Next week, the Steelers play the expansion Houston Texans at home. The Texans have beaten three teams -- Dallas, Jacksonville and now the Giants -- and each loser came away thinking what one New York columnist wrote the past week: It was the worst loss in franchise history.

"It kind of comes with the territory," Houston Coach Dom Capers said. "If you're an opponent playing the Houston Texans, the worst thing that could happen to you is to lose to the Houston Texans. Anytime we've beaten somebody, it's been the worst loss in their history, so that doesn't say a whole lot for us. Hopefully, we can keep battling and find a way to do that a few more times."

Sharp-dressed man

San Diego defensive end Marcellus Wiley collects throwback football jerseys but one sticks out over the others.

"I have a Johnny Unitas one, an all-white one. Oh, man, that's crucial. That's big time. That's when you're at the party. I want to wear that at a black-tie function, a place where athletes are exceptions, and I'll walk in with that.

"Oh, my goodness. With a white headband on? People wouldn't even talk to me; it would kill them."

Wiley never got that kind of attention when he played football at Columbia University.

"If we were on TV, we were on ESPN3 with our game score running across that ticker across the bottom of the screen."

Quick slants

Cleveland rookie running back William Green has come alive. After 161 yards in his first nine games, he has run for 96 and 114 in the past two.

The amazing thing wasn't so much the Colts went 15 of 21 on third downs last week, but that it came against the Broncos' defense and not the Steelers'.

Corey Dillon, held to 60 yards by the Steelers last week, needs 52 to reach his sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season. He'd become only the fourth back to do so in his first six seasons.

Cheer up, you could be a Cincinnati fan: The Bengals are 54-133 since the end of the 1990 season, the last time they made the playoffs.

The Browns won at Cincinnati and New Orleans the past two weeks, the first time they've won consecutive games on the road since Nov. 5-12, 1989.

The Bills have just five interceptions this season, including four in one game against Ray Lucas and Miami. The record low for a 16-game season is six.

Last season, all teams that scored 30 points lost just eight times. The Chiefs alone have lost four this season in which they scored 30.