Time to Check Out the Realignment

The NFL will consider two realignment plans at its owners meeting this month.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Sunday separate realignment strategies for the 1999 season, when the Cleveland Browns begin play, will be presented to the owners.

“There are two different ideas we’re going to discuss,” Tagliabue said. “One will be that Cleveland will be in a division in the AFC Central with six teams. The other idea set forth is that we’ll have four divisions in the AFC with four teams each.”

Tagliabue said the NFL is more likely to remain with the three-division alignment in both conferences, at least for the immediate future.

“It would be my guess that we’ll stay with the three divisions in the AFC and that the AFC Central would have a sixth team,” he said. “We have a scheduling formula that works on that basis. The concept of going to four divisions of four teams each in the AFC, I think that would be a precursor to going to 32 teams overall, so you would have four divisions in each conference, eventually.”

With 31 teams next season, at least one team will be off every week.

WHO LET ALL THESE JACKRABBITS OUT HERE?

Long Beach Poly has sent more players to the National Football League than any other high school in league history.

Poly, ranked second in USA Today’s “Super 25” list of top high school football programs, has sent 38 of its graduates to the NFL over the years, most of any high school in league history.

“Our athletic facilities are the worst,” said Joe Carlson, Long Beach Poly’s men’s athletic director. “But we have a strong tradition of sending kids to college and the pros and we have a pretty strong group of coaches and alumni.”

The current players who have come from Poly are New England defensive end Willie McGinest, San Francisco cornerback Marquez Pope, Carolina defensive end Don Sasa, Detroit safety Mark Carrier, Dallas safety Omar Stoutmire and Philadelphia defensive tackle Brandon Whiting.

“When you step on the field, you take on a sense of history,” McGinest said. “A lot of good athletes have come through those doors before you, and I think it gives the kids a purpose and a goal.”

The school doesn’t even have its own football field. It rents Veterans Stadium from Long Beach City College.

“It’s in the ‘hood,” said McGinest. “A long time ago, they had problems at night and now they play in the day. But it’s competitive and the coaching is very, very good.”

California has more current players in the NFL than any other state with 202, followed by Texas with 158 and Florida with 136.

The city of Houston has the most players in the NFL with 25, followed by Miami with 23, Dallas with 21 and San Diego with 18.

SWITCHING GEARS TO A REAL HEAVY SUBJECT

For the second time in three years, the Minnesota Vikings have the NFL’s heaviest player. Right tackle Korey Stringer tips the scales at 359 pounds. Filling out, and we do mean filling out, the right side of Minnesota’s offensive line is the league’s heaviest player in 1996 and this year’s runner-up, 357-pound guard David Dixon.

In the event Stringer cannot fulfill his duties as the league’s heaviest man, Dixon will take over.

Is the league getting heavier? Absolutely. There are 250 players who weigh at least 300 pounds this year. In 1988, there were 20.

EITHER WAY, HE’D BE ON A BAD TEAM

Dana Stubblefield wanted to play for Ray Rhodes in Philadelphia. So why didn’t he sign with the Eagles?

Two words: The Vet.

“When I went to Philly, me and Ray sat and talked in the airport,” said Stubblefield, who signed with the Redskins instead. “We talked about everything. He knew, because we had been at San Francisco together, that the facilities weren’t a good thing.

“He said, ‘Now Stubby, you can’t fall in love with the facilities. You’ve got to fall in love with the people.’ ”

Despite his fondness for Rhodes, Stubblefield decided he didn’t want to play eight games a year on Philadelphia’s rock-hard turf.

“Everybody knows that Philadelphia doesn’t have good facilities for players, especially an older player,” Stubblefield said. “My visit to Philly was mainly because of my relationship with Ray Rhodes.

During the off-season, the Redskins committed $57 million to Stubblefield and Dan Wilkinson, both defensive tackles. Stubblefield’s decision provided an interesting subplot to the matchup of 0-5 teams and endangered coaches on Sunday at Veterans Stadium. Sunday’s game proved that the $57-million could have been better spent elsewhere.

Between them, Stubblefield and Wilkinson combined for one sack in Washington’s 17-12 loss.

The Redskins are 0-6 for the first time since 1961, when they finished 1-12-1.

THINGS YOU SHOULD REMEMBER ABOUT SUNDAY

1. Buffalo posted back-to-back victories for the first time since, Sept. 21 and Oct. 5, 1997 against Indianapolis and Detroit.

2. Dallas running back Emmitt Smith has back-to-back 100-yard games for the first time since 1995.

3. The game between Philadelphia and Washington was the NFL’s sixth matchup of teams with at least 0-5 records and first since Cincinnati played Houston in 1984.

4. Cincinnati, which had an open date before defeating Pittsburgh on Sunday, is 3-7 coming off open dates in the 1990s. All three wins are against Pittsburgh.

5. New England’s streak of three games returning an interception for a touchdown ended. The only team with a longer streak was the 1973 Washington Redskins, who had four.

6. Ram quarterback Tony Banks, who had 15 fumbles last year and an NFL-record 21 his rookie year, fumbled for the first time this season against the Jets.

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Compiled by Houston Mitchell

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE PLAYMAKERS

PASSING

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Player, Team Att Cmp Yds TD STEVE YOUNG, 49ers 40 21 309 3 NEIL O’DONNELL, Bengals 26 20 298 3 JASON GARRETT, Cowboys 22 14 287 2 S. BEUERLEIN, Panthers 31 22 286 3 CHRIS CHANDLER, Falcons 27 14 266 2 ERIC ZEIER, Ravens 45 25 249 0 ERIK KRAMER, Bears 28 16 247 1 PEYTON MANNING, Colts 41 20 235 2 DREW BLEDSOE, Patriots 26 17 226 3 DOUG FLUTIE, Bills 28 23 213 2 STEVE McNAIR, Oilers 29 17 207 0 JOHN ELWAY, Broncos 27 13 185 2

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RUSHING

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Player, Team No Yds TD TERRELL DAVIS, Broncos 30 208 1 ANTOWAIN SMITH, Bills 31 130 2 EDDIE GEORGE, Oilers 30 123 0 ROBERT EDWARDS, Patriots 23 104 2

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RECEIVING

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Player, Team No Yds TD CARL PICKENS, Bengals 13 204 1 MICHAEL IRVIN, Cowboys 6 146 0 BOBBY ENGRAM, Bears 5 142 1 ROD SMITH, Broncos 8 136 1 RAGHIB ISMAIL, Panthers 6 117 2

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