Sunday, September 07, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Football never was a one-man sport, but try telling that to the people in Atlanta -- especially those who work for the Falcons. Michael Vick's broken leg turned the Falcons from Super Bowl contenders to ordinary in the flash of a preseason tackle.

Atlanta, with Doug Johnson at quarterback, can't even scare up enough money to land as favorites today against the Dallas Cowboys, who have three consecutive 5-11 seasons behind them and don't have much at quarterback themselves.

You'd think Vick's injury would put Atlanta management strongly behind the voices wailing to cut back on the preseason, especially since the Falcons went winless for the second time in their 38-year history. But it hasn't.

"It's a necessary evil," said Ron Hill, the Falcons' vice president of football operations.

Hill believes in the preseason, even if Vick and perhaps a playoff run was ripped out of his hands in the second preseason game.

"We have to have it for evaluation purposes," said Hill as he drove across Texas the past week to search for the next talent to evaluate. "We wouldn't know who to cut. We have to see them perform in games. We've had players look great catching balls in their shorts, and in games they drop passes, drop punts. Game pressure changes a player. Who can perform under pressure? It's an important part of our evaluation."

The call for the NFL to curtail the preseason echoed across the country after Vick and Jets quarterback Chad Pennington were injured during an exhibition game. They amounted to the same lame idea: Cut back to two preseason games and play 18 regular-season games, as if that would protect players more.

It actually would force their starters to play longer, exposing them to more injuries. Coaches would want to use their starters more in the two preseason games to get them ready, and, of course, they would use them virtually the entire way for the extra two regular-season games.

What does it matter if Vick is injured in the second preseason game or the first regular-season game? Chuck Noll once asked a reporter in a similar circumstance, "How do you prefer to die?" Noll's point was, you're still dead, so forget the circumstances that led to it. Is a NASCAR driver better off if he dies during a practice run or competing on the final lap of the Daytona 500? Maybe it's more romantic to his fans, but it doesn't change his bottom line.

Injuries are part of football and they always will be part of it. They come with the sport Teddy Roosevelt once threatened to ban because of the high mortality rate in the college game a century ago. Through modern medicine, better equipment, better playing conditions and rules changes, some injuries have been reduced and players are protected more. But injuries will never be eliminated.

As long as the game is played, players have to play it and they cannot be afraid to play it. Would spring training games be eliminated in baseball if a tendon in Pedro Martinez's elbow snapped while pitching against the Devil Rays' B squad? What if a disc in Mario Lemieux's back popped out in a September skate against the Capitals?

Believe it or not, athletes in team sports need time to prepare for the season by actually playing games. For those who mention the lack of college football exhibition games, refer to Penn State's opener against Temple.

Football is a game of hitting and timing and teamwork, and players just can't get that in practice.

"You have to have time for coaches to put in their offense and defense," Hill said. "Most clubs have pretty good off-season programs, players come in in pretty good physical shape. But there's physical shape and football shape. You have to establish that before the regular season games or have more injuries."

The Steelers lost Chad Scott for a full season one May when he was in shorts. He jumped up for a ball, landed on his feet and his ACL was torn.

If those injuries to Vick and Pennington had occurred to quarterbacks Charlie Batch and Chris Redman, the shorter preseason never would have become an issue.

"Do we miss Mike?" Hill asked. "Yes, we miss him on the field, his leadership and everything else, but life goes on."

As should the four-game NFL preseason.

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