Johnson TD as time expires lifts Chiefs past Raiders

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Dick Vermeil was going to be the biggest fool or the shrewdest gambler in the NFL. --football gambling--

With five seconds left, Kansas City trailed by three and had the ball on the Oakland 1 and Vermeil faced one of the toughest decisions of his long coaching career. Have placekicker Lawrence Tynes -- who's on a 13-for-13 streak -- kick a virtually automatic field goal and force overtime? Or roll the dice and go for the win?--football gambling--

Vermeil went for the TD. Behind center Casey Wiegmann and 10-time Pro Bowl right guard Will Shields, Larry Johnson dived over the pile into the end zone for a 27-23 victory that brought a roar from the sellout crowd and left the emotional head coach in tears. --football gambling--

"Wow! I was scared. I just figured I'm too old to wait," said Vermeil, who recently turned 69. "If we had not made it, then you guys [reporters] would have had a lot of fun with that. It was not an impulsive thing. It was the right thing for us to do." --football gambling--

The sixth straight victory for the Chiefs (5-3) over the Raiders (3-5) kept them one game behind Denver in the AFC West and dealt Oakland a painful loss. "This is about as bitter a defeat as you could have," said Oakland quarterback Kerry Collins, whose two fourth-quarter touchdown passes put the Raiders on top. "It's tough. You fight your way back in a rough game and find a way to get ahead, and then it doesn't work out. That's about as tough as it gets."--football gambling--

Johnson and Trent Green made the sensational finish possible when Green hit the wide-open running back over the middle. He sped 36 yards before Nnamdi Asomugha and Stuart Schweigert ran him down at the 1. --football gambling--

"Down in the red zone, he put the ball in my hands," said Johnson, who has publicly complained that Vermeil does not give him enough carries. "I'm glad they gave me the opportunity."
Randy Moss, who hadn't caught a pass all day, beat Dewayne Washington in the corner of the end zone for a 7-yard reception with 1:45 left that gave the Raiders the lead. --football gambling--

Then Green, playing through the pain of his father's funeral just four days earlier, whipped the Chiefs 72 yards down the field. Before going for it, Vermeil checked with his coaches and players.
"He was asking questions of everybody to see what everybody thought, what everybody's attitude was," said Green. "No matter how that play ended up, that's where you have to send a message on a football team and I think that was great on his part to have the confidence in us."
The Chiefs were missing their best running back (Priest Holmes), best offensive lineman (Willie Roaf) and best cornerback (Patrick Surtain), as well as two of their top backups in the secondary.--football gambling--

The Raiders were without two starters, defensive backs Charles Woodson and Derrick Gibson, and that could have made a difference in Kansas City's final drive. --football gambling--
Johnson, who had 107 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, scored on a 15-yard run for a 20-9 lead with 12:56 left.--football gambling--

But then the Oakland offense, shut down most of the day, came alive. Collins hit Jerry Porter with a 4-yard TD pass and Moss, hobbled most of the week in practice, caught his first pass. A run by LaMont Jordan converted the two-point play and put the Raiders on top 23-20.--football gambling--
"When we made the two-point conversion we went up by three. You thought at worst it would be overtime," said Oakland coach Norv Turner.--football gambling--

Green tossed a 6-yard TD pass to Tony Richardson for a 13-9 lead at the end of third quarter and, two plays later, Greg Wesley intercepted Collins' poorly thrown pass. The Chiefs took over on the Oakland 35.--football gambling--

Johnson broke Schweigert's attempted ankle tackle and went in from the 15. Tynes and Sebastian Janikowski each kicked two field goals through a dull first half, and then Chris Carr's 62-yard kickoff return set up Janikowski for a third 3-pointer, from 48 yards, in the final seconds. --football gambling--

Tynes had made it 6-6 with a 47-yarder with 34 seconds left in the half. Janikowski also had a 49-yarder in the second quarter. --football gambling--

Game notesSix of the last seven Chiefs-Raiders games in Arrowhead have been decided in overtime or the last 25 seconds of regulation. The teams are 3-3 in those six games, but the last three have gone to the Chiefs. ... Shields appeared in his 200th consecutive game, all with the Chiefs and all but one as a starter. Only former kicker Nick Lowery (212 games) and longtime punter Jerrel Wilson (203) had more regular-season appearances for Kansas City. ... After most of the Raiders left the field following Johnson's game-winning touchdown, Collins took the safety position for the Chiefs' conversion kick.--football gambling--

Plummer Named AFC Offensive Player Of The Week

AP) DENVER Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer was named the AFC offensive player of the week Wednesday. -NFL Football-

Plummer threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns in the Broncos' 49-to-21 win Sunday over the Philadelphia Eagles. -NFL Football-

Over the last six games, Plummer has thrown 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating has climbed to 91.3 although that's tied for only ninth in the NFL. -NFL Football-

Meanwhile, the Broncos have placed Dwayne Carswell on the non-football injured list. Carswell continues to improve in the hospital from injuries he suffered last week in a car crash in Denver. -NFL Football-

He's expected to be out of the hospital later this week or early next week. -NFL Football-

To take his roster spot, the team signed offensive lineman Taylor Whitley, a third-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2003. -NFL Football-

(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Mexicans Catch Football Fever as NFL Takes Game South of Border

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The San Francisco 49ers football team will play before their biggest crowd this weekend in 14 years -- in Mexico City. -NFL Football-

The National Football League is using the game between the 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals to try to add to its 20 million fans in Mexico, the largest group for any country after the U.S. The NFL says the Oct. 2 game will draw 85,000 to Azteca Stadium for its first-ever regular-season game outside the U.S. -NFL Football-

``We have a great fan base in Mexico and it's been growing dramatically over the last several years,'' said NFL Chief Operating Officer Roger Goodell. -NFL Football-

Football is the second-most popular sport in Mexico, trailing only soccer, said Ricardo Perez, director of sports and special events for Grupo Televisa SA, world's largest Spanish- language media company. Perez said NFL games on Televisa, which is co-sponsoring the 49ers-Cardinals match, draw ratings as much as 40 percent higher than baseball. -NFL Football-

Sales of NFL caps, jackets and other merchandise in Mexico bring in about $15 million a year, according to the league. -NFL Football-

Companies scoop up advertising time during NFL games on Televisa because the audience is made up of ``high-income'' earners, said Perez, 43. He declined to give Televisa's ad prices or revenue from NFL games. -NFL Football-

Those wealthy fans include Fernando Villarreal, a 51-year- old independent business consultant based in Monterrey. Villarreal travels several times a year to the U.S. to watch his favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys. -NFL Football-

`Nightmare'

On his last trip Sept. 19, Villarreal went back and forth to Dallas in the same day to watch the Cowboys play the Washington Redskins. The Cowboys, the most popular team in Mexico, let a 13- 0 lead slip away in the final four minutes of the game and lost 14-13. -NFL Football-

``It was the season opener and it was a beautiful night,'' Villarreal, who attended the Cowboys' three Super Bowl victories in the 1990s, said in a telephone interview from Monterrey. ``And then it turned into a nightmare.'' -NFL Football-

Televisa began airing games in the late 1960s, planting the seeds for the popularity of football in Mexico, Perez said. Games can now be seen on Mexico's television networks as well as cable TV networks ESPN Inc., owned by Walt Disney Co., Fox Sports Networks LLC, owned by News Corp., and Sky Mexico, Televisa's satellite television unit. -NFL Football-

Both ESPN and Fox Sports are part of Empresas Cablevision SA's basic cable package in Mexico, which costs 260 pesos ($24) a month. -NFL Football-

Football or Baseball

Mexicans prefer football over baseball even though more of them play professional baseball than football. Eighteen Mexicans started the 2005 baseball season on Major League teams. Only one Mexican -- 361-pound (164 kilograms) Rolando Cantu -- plays in the NFL. He is an offensive lineman for the Cardinals who never has played in a regular season game. -NFL Football-

``The NFL has done its homework in Mexico,'' Perez said. ``The challenge now is to spread the game to the masses.'' -NFL Football-

The NFL converted Joshua Olivo, a 14-year-old student in Mexico City, from a soccer fan to a football fan by inviting him to join about 100,000 other Mexican kids in a flag football league set up in 1998 by the NFL. Olivo said he knew nothing about football when he joined the league three years ago. -NFL Football-

``I liked soccer more,'' said Olivo as he threw a football to his teammates at his school's practice field this week. ``When they invited me to play, I got interested and now I like football better.'' -NFL Football-

First Fans

Olivo said he plans to be one of the first of the 85,000 people to file into Azteca Stadium for the Sunday night game. -NFL Football-

While the crowd would be the biggest the 49ers have drawn in 14 years, it would be smaller than the crowd of 112,376 that packed into Azteca to watch the Cowboys play a pre-season game in 1994. -NFL Football-

Pre-season games in Mexico City in 1997 and 1998 also drew over 100,000. NFL and Televisa officials said they removed the lowest 10 rows of seats from the stadium for this weekend's game so that spectators can see over the players standing on the sidelines. -NFL Football-

The 49ers and Cardinals have a combined record this year of one win and five losses. The 49ers, which won five Super Bowls from 1981 to 1995, had the worst record in the NFL last year with two wins and 14 losses. -NFL Football-

The Cardinals, which will be considered the home team for the game at Azteca, haven't had a winning season since 1998. -NFL Football-

``If this game fills Azteca Stadium with these two teams, then it's a true measure that people indeed love NFL football in Mexico,'' said Jose Manuel Basave, who writes a football sports column for El Norte newspaper in Monterrey. -NFL Football-

To contact the reporter on this story:
Thomas Black in Mexico City at  tblack@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 30, 2005 00:10 EDT

MIAMI -- Hurricane Wilma slowed down Thursday, prompting the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs to start moving quickly. --- nfl ---
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Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas apologetically skipped his normal interview availability, saying he needed to cram two days of film study into a few hours. The Chiefs scrambled to revise travel plans, and league officials worked on new television arrangements and other details. --- nfl ---
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When Wilma makes its expected arrival in Florida sometime Sunday, the Chiefs will be long gone. Their visit to Miami was switched to Friday night because of the looming Category 4 hurricane -- which would be the eighth to affect the Sunshine State in the past 15 months. --- nfl ---
--- nfl ---The game originally scheduled for Sunday will now be played at 7 p.m. Friday. --- nfl ---
"As in the past, we recognize unusual circumstances and will address them appropriately on a case-by-case basis," said Dolphins Enterprises CEO Joe Bailey.--- nfl ---
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"This is only about the fifth one of those we've had this year," said Dolphins coach Nick Saban, who learned of the schedule switch during Thursday's practice. "So it's not our first rodeo when it comes to these things, and we know how unpredictable they can be, and we know how dangerous they can be."
The game will be televised by CBS affiliates in primary secondary markets in South Florida and Kansas City. But there will be no national telecast. --- nfl ---
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"We are not extending the telecast to more markets because we want to adhere as closely as possible to the spirit of our longstanding policy not to conflict with high school and college football during their seasons [which means Friday night and Saturday]," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. --- nfl ---
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It's the third time since the start of the 2004 season that a Miami home game was rescheduled because of a hurricane. The Dolphins lost to Tennessee in last year's home opener pushed up a day by Hurricane Ivan, then were beaten by Pittsburgh in a deluge -- remnants of Hurricane Jeanne -- two weeks later.
--- nfl ---
"They couldn't have picked a better team to send down there and play well," said Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil, whose team will fly to South Florida on Friday morning. "That's the way we're approaching it. We'll go down there and play our best football game of the year. --- nfl ---
The guys are in a good frame of mind. They accept it. We would have liked it to be a different way but we have no choice." --- nfl ---
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A celebration of the team's 40th anniversary and Dan Marino's induction into the Hall of Fame has also been rescheduled, the Miami Herald reported.
Marino will now receive his Hall of Fame ring at halftime of the Nov. 6 game against the Atlanta Falcons, the Herald reported. --- nfl ---
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Moving the game would seem to put Jason Taylor's streak of 87 straight starts in jeopardy. The Dolphins' standout defensive end hasn't practiced this week because of a foot injury, and linebacker Junior Seau is still bothered by an injured calf. --- nfl ---
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Clearly, the Dolphins would have liked the extra time to get those two players ready to face a Kansas City rushing attack that's averaging more than 127 yards per game. --- nfl ---
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"We've got to play sometime," said Miami's David Bowens, who may start in Taylor's place. "It gives us a chance to show how we react to an adverse situation. ... It has been 11 years since I played on Friday night -- high school. It definitely takes me back." --- nfl ---
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Vermeil lobbied for the game to be played in Kansas City, and the prospects of a long plane ride followed only hours later by a game didn't exactly overjoy the Chiefs. --- nfl ---
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"Everyone's concern is the safety of the players and the coaches and the fans. And that's what most paramount," Chiefs president and general manager Carl Peterson said. "Obviously, I've never watched the Weather Channel as I have in the last 24, 48 hours." --- nfl ---
--- nfl ---
The teams have two co--- nfl ---
mmon opponents. Kansas City (3-2) beat the Jets 27-7 in the season-opener; one week later, the Dolphins lost to the Jets 17-7. And the Chiefs were beaten 30-10 by Denver in Week 3; Miami downed the Broncos 34-10 in Week 1, Denver's only loss so far. --- nfl ---
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"Look at that game and Denver doesn't look like the same team because Miami didn't allow them to be," Vermeil said. --- nfl ---
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The Chiefs will face a two-runner attack by Miami, with Ricky Williams set to make his home regular-season, post-suspension debut alongside rookie Ronnie Brown, the No. 2 overall draft pick who's rushed for 343 yards in his first five games. --- nfl ---
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"Both those guys are great backs, and they can do different things," said Chiefs safety Patrick Surtain, who spent seven years in Miami before being traded after last season. "We're going to have to be on our P's and Q's because both those guys can hurt us at any time. That's the key to the game -- stopping those guys." --- nfl ---
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Surtain said he was pleased Williams is back with Miami, saying he hopes the 2002 NFL rushing champion "regains the form he had a couple of years ago."
For this game, though, Surtain would prefer Williams have the last weekend's form. Williams had five rushes for 8 yards and six catches for 22 more yards last week in Miami's loss to Tampa Bay, his first game since the end of the 2003 season. --- nfl ---
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"Once we get through the mental part and get on the field, it will be fun," Williams said of the schedule switch. "We don't have any Monday night or Sunday night games this year, so it's a chance to take advantage of the national attention and make a name for ourselves." --- nfl ---
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All, of course, before Wilma becomes the only name on the minds of most Floridians.
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"It's inconvenient, no question," said Joe Bailey, the CEO of Dolphins Enterprises. "But it's also an adventure."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.--- nfl ---
--- nfl ---

Head coach Martz back at Rams practice

ST. LOUIS (Oct. 7, 2005) -- Mike Martz returned to the practice field Oct. 7, ready to put the attention back on the St. Louis Rams ' next game instead of his heart condition.

Martz, 54, missed two days while undergoing tests for a bacterial infection of a heart valve. He said earlier this week that team doctors believe he has endocarditis. - NFL Football -

"I appreciate everybody's concern and I'm not trying to minimize this, I'm really not, but everything's fine," Martz said. "Now it's time to focus on this team and winning a game. Really, I'm not trying to minimize it or be a John Wayne or anything else like that, it just is what it is."

Martz has undergone a series of blood cultures to confirm the diagnosis, but had nothing to add on that front, repeatedly telling reporters to ask him about "Seattle stuff."

"It just takes a while to treat and get over it," Martz said. "It's so early now that there won't be any issues from it. I'm very pleased about that." - NFL Football -

The Rams (2-2) play the Seattle Seahawks (2-2) on Oct. 9 in a game for first place in the NFC West.

He appeared to be his old, feisty self during practice, yelling at rookies.

"It was nice to hear his voice out there," said defensive end Leonard Little, who is glad he's not a rookie. - NFL Football -

Martz felt well enough to joke about the team getting accustomed to his absence, saying assistant head coach Joe Vitt had taken over his office with his feet up on the desk and clicking the channel changer when he came in every morning for an abbreviated work day.

Vitt, also the linebackers coach, directed practice Oct. 5 and 6. - NFL Football -

"The family pictures were still there," Martz said. "The name had been changed on the door to Joe Vitt."

Martz was hospitalized late last week with what doctors believed to be a sinus infection, but he coached the Rams in a 44-24 loss to the New York Giants.

Players were happy to have him back. - NFL Football -

"He had a little twinkle in his eye," defensive lineman Tyoka Jackson said. "I didn't know what that was all about, but he looks better, sounds better, so I think he's ready to roll on Sunday.

"We need to go out there and make sure he didn't fight to get out of the hospital for nothing."

Martz said the only difference this week for him was he wasn't on the field for those two days. He has watched practice tape and also was present for meetings.

"I was very proud of the way they practiced," Martz said. "They didn't skip a beat. There's good news and bad news in that, I guess." - NFL Football -

On the injury front, wide receiver Isaac Bruce (turf toe) is doubtful and likely will be sidelined for a second straight week.

© 2005, NFL Enterprises LLC.

Girls and boys take part in football competition

By KAREN MADDEN
Daily Tribune
PITTSVILLE - Future quarterbacks, linemen and kickers gathered at the high school football field to compete in the Pittsville Mayheart Knights of Columbus Punt, Pass & Kick competition.

Girls and boys between the ages of 8 and 12 were eligible, and winners of the Saturday competition advanced to a regional event to try for a place in the state competition in Green Bay.

While many of the competitors dream of a future in the NFL, 11-year-old Emily Ginter of Vesper wants to be a wildlife biologist. However, she did enjoy competing.
"I like sports," she said. "I like fishing, too." - NFL Football -
Her favorite teams are the Packers and the Vikings. Emily also likes playing basketball and participating in karate.

Emily, a sixth-grader at Pittsville Elementary School, believes girls can compete with boys when it comes to football. - NFL Football -

"The girls play better than the boys at our school," she said.

Fourth-grader Dillon Outes, 9, of Pittsville would disagree. Dillon took second place in last year's Punt, Pass and Kick competition, which didn't include his favoritefootball skill - tackling.

Dillon has dreams of playing quarterback for the Packers. He also likes riding his bicycle. His favorite class is physical education, although his parents seem to favor math class.

Olie Voight, 10, competed for the third time at Punt, Pass and Kick. His favorite part of the competition is passing. However, when it comes to playing the game, he enjoys getting physical.

"I mostly like defense and all the tackling," Olie said. - NFL Football -

He'd also like to join the NFL, but not as a Green Bay Packer.

"I'd probably be a Buccaneer," he said.

Tampa Bay was Olie's favorite team, even before the Buccaneers defeated the Packers on Sunday.

© Daily Tribune

NFL Injuries Contributed to Long Death
By JOE MANDAK Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH Sep 13, 2005 — Former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Terry Long died from a brain inflammation that resulted, in part, from repeated head injuries suffered while playing football.

Long, 45, died at UPMC Passavant Hospital on June 7, a few hours after paramedics found him unconscious at his home. An autopsy was inconclusive, but subsequent tests on tissues and fluids taken from Long's body yielded the findings released Tuesday.

Long died of an inflammation of the lining of the brain, said Joseph Dominick, chief deputy coroner in Allegheny County. A contributing factor was "chronic traumatic encephalopathy" also known as dementia pugilistica a condition most often seen among career boxers.

"He wasn't a boxer, but that's a general term that we would use to denote changes in the brain of a degenerative nature," coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht said. "They can be from one intensely traumatic injury, or they can be from repetitive and cumulative injuries, which is what we believe happened here."

Wecht's autopsy report said Long's brain suffered "repeated mild traumatic injury while playing football." Those repeated injuries made Long's brain more susceptible to meningitis, which can sometimes also be caused by an infection, but Wecht said that wasn't the case with Long.

"We now have partial closure on Terry's tragic death and demise," Mark Rush, his former business attorney and friend, said of the autopsy findings. "It certainly saddened me to learn that football, a sport Terry loved, possibly contributed to his death."

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett declined comment on the findings, which come two years after at least three manufacturers introduced new helmets in the NFL and college football designed to guard against concussions. The new helmets came in response to published studies showing players who had one concussion were more susceptible to others.

Wecht has done research in that area, and has jointly published a case study of Mike Webster, a former Steelers center and Hall of Famer who was diagnosed with football-induced dementia before he died in September 2002 at age 50.