OPINION: Sideline Slants

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY JOE KLEINSASSER
Dear Dick,

Congratulations on winning your first Super Bowl. You?re also wise in announcing your retirement. What more do you have to prove?

By now everyone in civilization knows that at age 63 you are the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl. Your story has been well chronicled.

After losing the Super Bowl as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, you decided to try something else. No one accused you of quitting. People said you were burned out.

You became a television analyst for college football games. Then your desire to coach returned. You got the opportunity, and I use the term loosely, to become the head coach of the hapless St. Louis Rams.

The rest is history. You took a team that was in a sorry state?no slam on Missouri intended?and in a few short years led them to the pinnacle of professional football.

On the surface, you look like a genius. Beneath the surface, high school and college coaches must be trembling. As a result of this fairy tale story, parents everywhere will think their son or daughter could be a star like Kurt Warner if only the coach would give them a chance.

It?s a given that coaches are better and more qualified than anyone to judge the skills and abilities of their players. If that?s true, explain why Kurt Warner wasn?t your starting quarterback at the beginning of the season?

He wasn?t the starter because that job was Trent Green?s. Only an injury to Green gave Warner a chance.

Did you have any idea Kurt Warner was so talented? Probably not. The Rams were so high on Warner that he was given an entire page in the media guide between punter Rick Tuten (who got two and one-quarter pages) and kicker Jeff Wilkins (who received two).

If Green hadn?t broken his leg, Warner wouldn?t have thrown for 41 touchdown passes. He wouldn’t have had a 109 quarterback rating, the fifth best in history. He wouldn?t have led the team to 526 points, third best in NFL history.

Did you know that your backup quarterback, a guy who was stocking shelves at an IGA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after he was initially cut by the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena League, had what it takes to become the Most Valuable Player of the NFL and the Super Bowl?

If so, I?ve got some ocean front property in western Kansas I?d like to sell you.

You have demonstrated that you can coach circles around most people. You know your Xs and Os. Still, I can?t help but think you were as surprised as anyone to have a sideline pass to this year?s Super Bowl when your starting quarterback went down.

There?s no need to apologize. How many teams could have signed Warner before he joined the Rams? Coaches and scouts spend countless hours watching athletes practice and play. Their every move is dissected on tape.

Maybe that?s what makes sports fun. Try as you might, there?s no way you can perfectly predict which players will excel.

The coach of the Israelites didn?t think David had a chance against Goliath. I doubt you really felt your chances were all that super with Kurt Warner as your quarterback in August.

Now that you?ve retired, maybe you?ll have a little more time on your hands. If you care about the future of the Rams, come to Marion County.

Check out the talented people who work in our grocery stores, appliance stores, furniture stores, restaurants and business offices.

You may find another diamond in the rough if you give us a chance.

All the best,

Joe

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