From: jmd@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (joseph.m.dakes)
Subject: Re: Randall benched for WEEK TEN
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 18:18:57 GMT

In article <1dbfajINNtm@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, rjk@dino.qci.bioch.bcm.tmc.edu (Raymond K) writes:
> I'm no Randall Cunningham fan, but I think the guy should be in there.

Hey, Ray, we finally agreed on something.  Guess Randall was right about
the end being near, huh:-)?

> Kotite is
> putting his coaching future in Philly on the line with this move and I
> respect him for following through with his beliefs.

I'll say he's putting his neck on the line.  Not only with Randall's
ego, but with Braman's wallet.  McMahon's contract has alot of insentives
in it.  If he has a big game(s) Braman will be paying McMahon a fortune
and he'll be paying Randall an even bigger fortune to sit on the bench.
I haven't heard any comments from Braman about Kotite's decision, have
you?

> The second reason
> I respect his decision is the "unknown information" factor.  None of the
> fans know the backroom facts that went into this decision.  Some implica-
> tions have oozed out throught the media this week that bear mentioning.
> One is the notion that Cunninham has (apparently) accidentally erred in
> reading the plays that are signalled in from the sideline and then calling
> the same play.  He's thought the called the right play, but he hasn't.
> He's also messed up the calls on blocking schemes, receivers routes, etc,
> sometimes putting things together that completely are not in the playbook.

I really find this hard to believe.  Randall has been an NFL QB for 7-years
now.  If he has misread the signals from the sidelines don't you think that
the coaches would have worked on it with him during practices?  And if he
was calling the wrong blocking schemes or pass routes on certain plays, don't
you think one of the other players in the huddle would have noticed?

> Another rumor is that Cunninghma is "impaired" in some form, maybe his
> knee is causing him more problems than he's letting on.  One member of
> the radio media, who himself is a recovering drug addict, even went so
> far as to suggest that Cunningham is acting like a man with a substance
> abuse problem.  After being warned by his radio partner that this was a
> pretty heavy charge to level, he stated that it was his opinion only,
> based on his own drug experiences of how people act in that state.

I can buy the knee causing some problems, but the comment about the abuse
problem I can't.  Which WIP announcer made the substance abuse comment?

> There is also the notion that
> many members of the team aren't crazy about Randall and this might have
> affected the team's attitude.  Cunningham also spends a lot of time off
> the field working on his "image" - his candy bar, his gold tipped shoelaces,
> his mouthpiece with the gold tooth in it, rather than studying the playbook.

His candy bar is already being distributed.  His gold tipped shoelaces,
and gold-tooth mouthpiece has already been purchased.  How much time do
you think he's spending with these things, Ray?  You have absolutely no
idea how much time Randall is putting into the playbook.  As far as the
other players go, I've heard no comments from anybody stating that they
were happy Randall is on the bench.  Everybody, including the team's voice,
Reggie White, says that if they are to reach their goal (the SuperBowl)
Randall will have to be the QB.

> Kotite might know something that the fans don't know about Randall and this
> situation, and he has refrained from badmouthing his QB in the press.  He
> could take a lot of heat off himself by suggesting there's a "problem" of
> some sort, but instead he's passed it off as just a slump that Randall will
> have to get through by "backing off".

He might.  Then again, he might not.  As you said, it's his decision and
we're just going to have to wait and see how it turns out.


E-A-G-L-E-S

Joe Dakes
AT&T Microelectronics
555 Union Boulevard
Allentown, PA  18103
alux1!jmd

Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro,rec.sport.football.college