Class in Recess for Eagle Fans

It was a day for injuries in the NFL, but the worst happened in Philadelphia, much to the glee of Eagle fans.

Dallas receiver Michael Irvin was taken off the field on a stretcher Sunday after getting hit on the head in the first quarter of a 13-10 loss to the Eagles.

Irvin caught a short pass from Troy Aikman, tried to shake a tackle from Bobby Taylor and was hit on the head by safety Tim Hauck as he hit the ground. As Taylor tackled Irvin, Hauck’s shoulder pad collided with the side of Irvin’s helmet, twisting his head awkwardly as it hit the artificial turf.

Incredibly, many fans at Veterans Stadium cheered when they realized Irvin was down. Players on both sides said they were disgusted.

“That’s ignorance and stupidity,” Deion Sanders said. “We deserve better than that.”

Emmitt Smith said, “It disgusted me to death. This is just a game. Life, paralyzation and death are a reality. Sport is sport.”

Irvin was taken to the spinal unit at Thomas Jefferson Hospital, where an MRI showed swelling in the spinal cord in two places and a herniated disc. He had movement in his feet and hands, team doctor Robert Vandermeer said.

But Vandermeer reacted angrily when asked if Irvin could play next week, then said he didn’t know if the injury was career-threatening.

“I don’t think so, but I don’t know,” Vandermeer said. “We’ll have to evaluate him.”

Team owner Jerry Jones, who rode in the ambulance with Irvin, said it was “way too speculative” to say how serious the injury was. The hospital barred a reporter from entering, and would release no information.

“I felt that he needed me, because I knew his family would want me to be there to give them information,” Jones said.

Irvin’s injury wasn’t the only big one of the day.

* Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe broke his left collarbone late in the third quarter of a 16-13 victory over Oakland, adding to the Broncos’ long list of serious injuries this season.

Sharpe, who has gone to seven consecutive Pro Bowls and is tied for first among NFL tight ends with three 1,000-yard receiving seasons, was hit by two defenders and landed hard on the ground as he attempted to catch a pass from Brian Griese.

* Arizona quarterback Jake Plummer injured his hip in the third quarter of a 14-3 victory over the New York Giants.

Plummer hurt his left hip when he was tackled on the Cardinals’ first possession of the third quarter with Arizona leading 14-0. He went to the locker room for X-rays, which were negative, and returned to the game with 4:05 left and Arizona leading, 14-3.

* Chicago quarterback Shane Matthews pulled his right hamstring in the fourth quarter of a 24-22 victory over Minnesota. He was replaced by rookie Cade McNown.

* New Orleans quarterback Billy Joe Hobert missed most of Sunday’s 20-17 loss to Atlanta after getting a neck stinger on a second-quarter sack, the same injury he suffered last week in Chicago. He was replaced by Billy Joe Tolliver, who was nine for 21 for 135 yards with two interceptions. Hobert returned with 14:01 remaining in the game and the score 17-17. Hobert remained in for the final two plays of a drive that ended with a punt, and did not attempt a pass, then was replaced again by Tolliver with the Saints trailing, 20-17.

PLEASE DON’T HURT ME

Cleveland punter Chris Gardocki accidentally got surrounded by the Ohio State marching band as he warmed up at halftime of Sunday’s game with the Bengals, picking the wrong place to stand as the band spelled out “Ohio” in script. Trapped in the middle of a giant “O” and seeing no opening to leave, he went ahead and got off a punt.

Leave it to a kicker to be too much of a wimp to make his way through a tough marching band defense.

THEY SHOULD TRY HIM AT RUNNING BACK

Although they ended up losing to Cincinnati, the Cleveland Browns were in position to get their first win because of their kicker.

Phil Dawson put Cleveland ahead with a four-yard touchdown run off a fake field goal, forced a fumble that set up another score and added a fourth-quarter field goal for a 17-12 lead.

Dawson not only scored a touchdown, but kicked the extra point afterward. The NFL has no record of when a kicker last accomplished that feat, only that it has been several years.

Dawson scored the Browns’ first rushing touchdown of the season when he took a pitchout from holder Chris Gardocki--yes, that same Chris Gardocki--and skirted the left end for a four-yard touchdown run. His extra point made the score 7-6 early in the second quarter.

“We practiced that play a lot and had a lot of confidence it would work,” Dawson said. “It felt really good at the time. It does not mean quite as much now. That was a play we had in the game plan if the opportunity presented itself, and it did.”

Then, Dawson hit Tremain Mack on the kickoff, forcing a fumble that set up Terry Kirby’s one-yard touchdown run for a 14-6 lead.

THE GOOD TOUCH LEAGUES WERE FULL

Joey Galloway is playing football despite sitting out the NFL season in a contract dispute with the Seattle Seahawks.

He is the most high profile player in the Ohio Valley Flag Football League at Wheeling, W.Va.

Galloway is spending his spare time playing quarterback for the Outlaws, who have a 4-0 record.

“It gives me something to compete at. I always wanted to play a little quarterback and this gives me the chance. I’m not too good at it but I’m having fun,” Galloway told The Intelligencer of Wheeling after Sunday’s game.

And just because he’s playing flag instead of pro football doesn’t mean it’s not competitive.

“Anything I play I want to win,” he said. “It gets competitive out here. These guys are going at it just as hard as we are. When you have that situation, it’s definitely going to be a competitive game.”

NUMBERS KEEP GOING UP

NFL paid attendance through five weeks of the 1999 season has increased by almost 3,000 fans a game compared to this time last year--a season in which an all-time paid-attendance record was set.

Through Week 5 of 1999, games have averaged 66,390 tickets sold. That is 2,849 more a game than the average through five weeks last season.

If the current pace is maintained, the NFL would top the all-time paid attendance record for a season of 64,020 a game that was set last year.

ON FURTHER REVIEW: THEY LIKE IT

The new instant replay system the NFL is using this year seems to be a hit, and coaches are loving it.

‘I think we have been getting what we wanted out of the system,” Viking Coach Dennis Green said. “We are able to overturn the big play that was called wrong. Already, some key plays that were overturned have made a difference in games.”

Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren: “I think it is a good thing. When I was making my case for it on the NFL Competition Committee, I knew it wouldn’t be used a lot. Everyone was concerned with the game-stoppages. It’s not going to be used a lot and we knew that, but it is there. It’s kind of like a fire extinguisher in your house that you’ll probably never have to use, but if there’s a fire, it’s there, and you can put it out. That’s how I kind of looked at it.”

--Compiled by Houston Mitchell

Streak Peek

The Rams ended a 17-game losing streak against the 49ers with a 42-20 victory Sunday. A look at the longest current losing streaks in one series, and when they play each other this season:

18 Washington over Detroit (Dec. 5)

11 Denver over New England (Oct. 24)

10 Green Bay over Chicago (Nov. 7)

9 San Francisco over Cincinnati (Dec. 5)

9 New England over San Diego (Don’t play)

9 Atlanta over New Orleans (Dec. 5)

8 Pittsburgh over Atlanta (Oct. 25)

8 Denver over Cincinnati (Don’t play)

8 Miami over Cincinnati (Don’t play)

8 Dallas over Tampa Bay (Don’t play)

8 Pittsburgh over Indianapolis (Don’t play)