Despite trudging into the sunset more times than John Wayne, Bill Parcells keeps coming back for more. More power, more attention, more wins.
Parcells has 149 coaching wins in 15 NFL seasons. His Hall of Fame credentials are impeccable with two Super Bowl victories in three Super Bowl appearances. No question he can coach. That's not what should worry Jerry Jones if he hires Parcells to reinvigorate the Dallas Cowboys.
What should worry the Cowboys owner is the infighting and backbiting that inevitably accompany a Parcells regime. His track record speaks louder than any of his critics.
Parcells won two Super Bowls in eight years with the New York Giants, yet walked out on them after each title. Or tried to. The league blocked him back when he attempted to flee to Atlanta for the 1987 season. He finally quit the team for good in 1991 - on the awkward date of May 15.
Next stop was New England, where Parcells turned the Patriots into a Super Bowl team. But that 1996 Super Bowl season was marred by the ugly divorce Parcells was forging with Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
It took the intervention of commissioner Paul Tagliabue and four draft picks to allow Parcells to join the New York Jets in 1997. When he abdicated his coaching position two years later, top assistant Bill Belichick took the job for a day and then lateraled it to Al Groh. Hardly standard procedure.
Last year, for the second time in 10 years, Parcells led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to believe he would coach for them. For the second time, he stood them up. Afterward, he said he was finished coaching. "There aren't going to be any more rumors about me coaching," he said.
Well, until this year, anyway. According to reports, Parcells asked Chris Mortensen, one of his ESPN co-workers, to give his phone number to Jones (Mortensen denies it). A five-hour meeting ensued, the story grew and when Dave Campo is formally fired, probably tomorrow, Jones and Parcells likely will talk again.
That's how all this started. It will probably end one of two ways. Parcells will back away from the table when he realizes what he's getting into. Or, taking the job, he will harrumph away into the night two or three years from now, saying the Cowboys didn't live up to their promises.
Knocking Griese
Oakland linebacker Bill Romanowski added insult to injury last week after the Raiders swept the Denver Broncos for the first time since 1994 with a 28-16 win. Romanowski knocked quarterback Brian Griese out of the game on a blitz, then suggested his career in Denver was effectively over.
"Biggest game of his career, and he's not even there," Romanowski, a former Broncos teammate, said of Griese's two-interception performance. "I have a very good friend that was in [Denver coach] Mike Shanahan's office last week and [Shanahan] said, 'This is a make-or-break game for Brian Griese. This will either make his career or break his career.' "
Romanowski might be right. Even though Griese is able to play, Shanahan will replace him today with Steve Beuerlein, who might not even return to the Broncos next season.
Warrior's mentality
Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes does not begrudge the fact he missed yesterday's game against Oakland and a shot at three NFL records. Because of a hip injury, Holmes finished the regular season with 2,287 yards from scrimmage to rank fourth in NFL history. He also has 21 rushing touchdowns and 24 total touchdowns, both of which rank third.
"The point is, I left everything I had on the field," Holmes said. "I can't regret anything. I can't say, 'I wish I had worked harder,' or, 'I wish I had caught more passes in practice.' I gave my all. The running back is a warrior position. I think I was a warrior."
Final bow
Lost in the uproar over Parcells is the fact that today's game in Washington might be running back Emmitt Smith's last for the Cowboys. He is due $7 million in base salary next year, when he'll be 34, and will carry a prohibitive $9.8 million salary cap number.
Smith, the NFL's all-time rushing leader, needs 38 yards to extend his league record for consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to 12.
Scattershooting
The Raiders never got close to getting retired cornerback Deion Sanders. Five teams - San Diego, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Tennessee - put in claims for Sanders when the Redskins placed him on waivers. The Chiefs were awarded his rights, which means he'll remain retired. ... Receiver Reggie Wayne, a first-round pick a year ago, appears ready to move ahead of Qadry Ismail in the Indianapolis Colts' starting lineup. Wayne has 46 catches for 687 yards, compared with Ismail's 44 for 462, despite Ismail getting 13 more passes thrown to him. ... Tampa Bay's 0-20 record in games when the temperature at kickoff is below 40 degrees might not get tested tonight in Champaign, Ill., against the Chicago Bears after all. The forecast in Chicago is 46 with a low of 36, so kickoff could be above 40. ... Wide receiver Javon Walker, a first-round pick with the Green Bay Packers this year, lost his job as No. 3 receiver to Robert Ferguson last week. Walker has 20 catches in 15 games with eight drops.
The Miami Dolphins, who visit New England with a playoff berth on the line, have lost at least two games in December seven straight years. ... Cincinnati's 20-13 home upset of New Orleans last week should not have been a surprise, surprisingly enough. The Bengals are 18-3 in their past 21 home finales, including 3-0 at Paul Brown Stadium. ... In his first eight games, Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe had a passer rating of 98.3. In his last seven, he's 68.5. ... Last week, Carolina promoted rookie Randy Fasani to backup quarterback behind Rodney Peete, ahead of second-year man Chris Weinke. ... Minnesota owner Red McCombs was less than effusive in confirming that coach Mike Tice will return next season for a second year. "I think Tice has done a good job," said McCombs, who is attempting to sell the team. "I really thought he would have done a better job than what he has, but he's done a good job. He's never backed up with all the setbacks that we've had."
Compiled from interviews, wire services and reports from other newspapers.