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Pastimes : Football Forum (NFL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Annette who wrote (15723)	9/25/2002 8:58:52 AM
From: Lost1	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 45639

got bail? Moss faces felony for allegedly pushing traffic control agent with car By ANDRES YBARRA Associated Press Writer September 25, 2002 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Randy Moss spent the night in jail facing a possible felony charge after being arrested for allegedly pushing a traffic agent a half-block with his car. ADVERTISEMENT The arrest could keep the Minnesota Vikings' star receiver out of the team's game Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. The 27-year-old agent stepped in front of Moss' car to stop him from making an illegal turn in downtown Minneapolis, and Moss used his car to slowly push the officer along the street, stopping when she fell to the ground, police spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington said Tuesday. Barrington said Amy Zaccardi is a city employee but not a police officer and was not seriously hurt. Witnesses called the situation ``surreal'' but said it was clear Moss did not intend to hurt Zaccardi. Police arrested Moss on suspicion of assault with a dangerous weapon, a felony. He was being held in Hennepin County Jail early Wednesday. Barrington said the county attorney would consider charges. ``He's going to be treated like anybody else,'' Barrington said. Vikings coach Mike Tice declined comment Tuesday, but the Star Tribune reported Wednesday that a person with knowledge of the situation told the newspaper that it is highly unlikely Moss will play Sunday. Moss' agent, Dante DiTrapano, had been in contact with the player Tuesday but declined comment. Jerry Hullerman said he saw the event while parked near the intersection. ``I saw a really decked-out Lexus pushing the traffic person along,'' said Hullerman, who was also interviewed by police. ``It was really surreal.'' He said Zaccardi was facing forward while sitting on the front of the car with one hand on the hood and the other hand on her radio as the car pushed her along. After a few seconds, Hullerman said, the man in the car tapped the accelerator and knocked her down. ``She fell flat on her face,'' Hullerman said, adding that the driver didn't get out of his car. Hullerman said squad cars arrived seconds later and officers took Moss into custody. ''(Moss) was going really slow,'' said Robert Nelson, another witness. ``Apparently, he didn't want to hurt her. I think he was just trying to frighten her into moving.'' Moss has been in trouble before on and off the field throughout his career. He squirted a referee with a water bottle in 1999 -- which resulted in a $25,000 fine from the NFL -- and abused corporate sponsors on the team bus in 2001. The last infraction resulted in the team fining him $15,000 and forcing him to attend anger management classes. He had a scholarship revoked by Notre Dame in 1995 after being charged with beating up a high school classmate in Rand, W.Va. Moss pleaded guilty to battery and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. He was allowed to defer most of the sentence until after his freshman year in college. He went to Florida State, where he redshirted his freshman season but was kicked off the team for violating probation by smoking marijuana. That got him a one-year jail sentence, which was reduced to about one month of time served. Virtually out of chances, Moss walked on at Marshall and quickly became a star. The 25-year-old Moss is in his fifth year with the Vikings and is the team's highest-paid player. He signed an eight-year, $75 million contract last year. He set an NFL record with 5,396 yards receiving in his first four seasons as a pro and is the only wide receiver with more than 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first four seasons. Moss has scored more touchdowns since his 1998 debut than anyone except St. Louis running back Marshall Faulk. The Vikings are off to an 0-3 start, their worst since 1967, and Moss caught just four passes for 16 yards in Sunday's loss to Carolina.

To: Annette who wrote (15723)	9/25/2002 12:07:55 PM
From: George Papadopoulos	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45639

>The Ford family wants you to think of your next car.. the Escape. LOL Ford Jr. locked up Millen for the bargain price of $20 million for five years....Record 2-19...why do I bother I don't know anymore:-) Ford Sr. calls the shots Mornhinweg, Millen still have backing, blessing of owner By Mike O'Hara / The Detroit News ALLEN PARK -- William Clay Ford Sr. is still calling the shots on major decisions concerning the football team he has owned for 38 years. That is the overriding message from Ford's meeting with the coaching staff and players Monday, during which he expressed his support of Marty Mornhinweg and said Mornhinweg will be coach for a long time. If anyone doesn't like it -- players or anybody in the organization -- they can tell it to Ford. Ford has taken Mornhinweg off the firing line, at least for a while, with his strong stand. He will not react to outside pressure from fans and media, who have speculated that Mornhinweg's dismissal could be imminent -- perhaps after Sunday's game with New Orleans, if the Lions lose and their record falls to 0-4. Ford called the players and staff into the team auditorium to tell them about Mornhinweg's status. "He reiterated his support of Marty to the players and coaches, and he expects Marty to be with them for a long time," Lions vice president Bill Keenist said Tuesday. Mornhinweg's contract runs through 2003, but there are options that extend it through 2005. It should not be surprising that Ford would back the coach. He has seldom buckled to outside interests in his tenure as owner. He has stood behind coaches longer than most owners would, considering his team has never played in the Super Bowl since he became sole owner in 1964. What makes the current situation different is the widely held belief that Ford has ceded full authority in the franchise to his son, Bill Ford Jr., who has taken a more active and public role since being named vice chairman of the franchise in 1995. In fact, it is still the elder Ford's team, and he is making the major decisions. Bill Ford Jr. has his hands full as chairman of Ford Motor Co. He has made infrequent visits to the team headquarters and practice facility -- less than a mile from the auto company's world headquarters -- since it opened in April. But the elder Ford clearly is in command. He has met regularly with Mornhinweg and team president Matt Millen on Monday evenings and has done so quietly -- out of sight of the media. Ford's comings and goings were visible to the media amid the configuration of offices and parking spaces at the Silverdome. That is not the case at the new facility. Ford is able to park out of sight, at the rear of the complex. There are solid reasons for Ford to express support of Mornhinweg, even with the team playing poorly and no indication of an immediate turnaround. The Lions have an odd mix of young players and veterans. Quarterback Joey Harrington is the most visible rookie on the team, but there are other young players with little experience -- offensive linemen Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Stockar McDougle, defensive backs Chris Cash and Andre Goodman, tight end John Owens and wide receiver Scotty Anderson, to name a few. With the statement that Mornhinweg's job is not in immediate jeopardy, the veterans -- such as defensive linemen Robert Porcher and Luther Elliss and offensive linemen Ray Brown and Tony Semple -- know they will be accountable to the coach for the long haul. Young players will follow the lead of the veterans, who know they have to play for Mornhinweg, and that a change is not imminent. The question, then, is obvious: Why is Ford riding it out with Mornhinweg? Part of the answer could be the decision to draft Harrington and make him the starter after two games. The Lions are developing a player who can be a cornerstone for the franchise, but it does not give them immediate help in terms of winning and losing. Ford cannot be happy with the direction his franchise has taken since he hired Millen as president after the 2000 season. Millen tore apart the front office and coaching staff. Frankly, he has not shown a flair for front-office leadership. Millen is a bright man with a broad range of friends in the NFL. He is genuinely liked by people with whom he came into contact during 12 years as a player and nine in the broadcast booth. Strictly as a business enterprise -- and Millen carries the titles of president and CEO -- it is hard to pinpoint an area where the Lions are better and more efficient since his arrival. Millen's weekly trips home to Pennsylvania, where his family lives, do not go unnoticed by others. As a practical matter, there isn't much for Millen to do on Friday and Saturday morning during the season. He remains in touch with Mornhinweg and the rest of the front office. But it doesn't send a good message, either. It is understandable that after firing so many people in the front office, and canceling the employees' 2001 Christmas bonuses, in his first months as president, those left behind who saw friends put out of work would wonder about Millen's level of commitment. That's particularly true, given that the product on the field has deteriorated instead of getting better. It was Bill Ford Jr. who pushed for the hiring of Millen after the 1998 season. His father backed out on the deal at the last minute, but the bug was in his ear. After the disappointing finish in 2000, when a final-game loss to the Chicago Bears dropped the Lions out of the playoffs, William Clay Ford revived talks with Millen immediately. In fact, Ford was so certain he wanted to hire Millen that a representative of former NFL coach Bill Parcells, who inquired if the Lions were interested in talking to him, was told that they'd already made up their minds to go in another direction. That turned out to be toward Millen, who hired Mornhinweg. Ford is now telling his coach, players and people in the organization that he's sticking with his plan. If they didn't know already, he's still in charge.