Maybe it's something in the pancake makeup. Perhaps those hot lights are good for you after all.
How else can you explain how four of the most creative drafts in the NFL over the weekend belonged to coaches who recently returned to the coaching ranks after stints in the broadcast booth?
Lights. Camera. Plenty of action throughout all seven rounds for Jimmy Johnson (ex-Fox/HBO), Bill Parcells (ex-NBC), Mike Ditka (ex-NBC) and Dick Vermeil (ex-CBS/ABC).
There's a trend here. I think it's just that their days as TV analysts have given J.J., Tuna, Iron Mike and Vermeil a fresher perspective, a broader view, maybe even a less onerous approach to the whole two-day, 240-pick affair.
COMPARED TO SOME OTHERS SUCH AS Ray Rhodes (Philadelphia) and Tom Coughlin (Jacksonville), whose faces may crack the next time they slip up and smile in front of the camera, this quartet of former talking heads actually seemed to be having some fun Saturday and Sunday.
It was refreshing. Nary a one of them treated the draft process as brain surgery.
Johnson parlayed 10 picks into 14 picks as he tries to make the NFL's youngest starting 22 even younger. Parcells traded out of the No. 1 spot and ended up with 11 selections in all. Vermeil traded up to the No. 1 spot, then three rounds later drafted Ryan Tucker -- a TCU center with a police record.
Tucker was arrested for assault in a barroom brawl. "He didn't start the fight; he ended it," Vermeil said proudly.
Ditka? Thought you'd never ask. Ditka showed that he still has ... uh, nerve ... drafting Danny Wuerffel less than 15 minutes into the fourth round -- No. 99 overall.
Few thought the Heisman-winning quarterback from Florida would even be drafted, let alone drafted in the top 100. I mean, less air goes under the Goodyear blimp than Wuerffel puts under some of his passes.
But I like the fact Ditka made the pick, then didn't apologize for it. The draft is anything but an exact science. So Ditka rolled the dice on Danny Wuerffel. So what? Maybe now people have a reason again to watch the Saints.
"I would rather take a chance on Danny Wuerffel than a lot of other guys in this draft," Ditka said of his prayerful QB choice with the choir-boy face. "We don't have to defend that (pick) to anybody."
He's right. Although Ditka spent most of the weekend raising eyebrows with all his "reaches."
BUT SOME GUYS JUST FIT, i.e. Miami drafted Miami Hurricane WR Yatil Green with the 15th pick overall, Arizona picked Arizona State QB Jake "The Snake" Plummer in the second round and Chicago took Northwestern RB Darnell Autry in the fourth round.
So, with the No. 10 pick overall, Ditka selected Colorado guard Chris Naeole. Who? Naeole can be best described as Mike Ditka Jr. -- a certifiably nut.
Ohio State safety Rob Kelly was considered a mild reach at No. 33 overall, but Ditka later explained that the kid reminded him too much of his Super Bowl XX free safety Gary Fencik with the Chicago Bears. Ditka then used a third-round pick on Iowa State RB Troy Davis, a.k.a., "too-short" Heisman Trophy runner-up. Davis merely had unprecedented back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons before leaving school as a junior.
Parcells was in the broadcast booth for the 1991-92 seasons. Since then, he has gone from coaching the New England Patriots to trying to resurrect the New York Jets. The other three, however, had to contend with learning the NFL's salary cap/free agency rules upon re-entering the work force as coach.
Vermeil was away 15 years -- leaving Philadelphia because of "burnout" in '82, before being hired by the St. Louis Rams this past off-season. Ditka was away five years -- fed up in Chicago -- before getting the Saints job. Johnson begins his second season with the Dolphins after an ugly breakup with Jerry Jones in Dallas after the '93 season.
Johnson is a draft day juggler. Last year, he parlayed four trades into a dozen picks. Eight of those players made the team -- five as starters (DE Daryl Gardener, RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar (1,000-yard rusher), FB Stanley Pritchett (33 catches), RB Jerris McPhail (fastest player on team) and ILB Zach Thomas (180 tackles)). Pritchett, McPhail and Thomas were second-day picks.
This year, he parlayed two trades (St. Louis and Oakland) into 14 picks. Trading down nine spots in Sunday's fourth round, Johnson took Northeastern OT Jerome Daniels, a 355-pounder whom J.J. had considered taking Saturday. With the Rams' two sixth-round picks, he acquired S Brian Manning from Texas A&M-Kingsville and TE Ed Perry from James Madison.
IN THE OAKLAND DEAL, HE GAVE A fourth-round pick, earlier acquired from San Francisco for RB Terry Kirby, in exchange for the Raiders' fifth- (DE Nick Lopez of Texas Southern), sixth- (ILB John Fiala of Washington) and seventh-round picks (CB Hudhaifa Ismaeli of Northwestern).
Parcells is doing this year what Johnson began doing last year -- bringing in young, hungry players to compete for jobs. Next step: purge the tired, old, underachieving attitudes that both men inherited with their current jobs.
What Johnson looks for on draft day are players with smarts, speed and the ability to over-achieve. That last qualification may explain why only 20 players remain from the last Don Shula team two seasons ago.
Among this year's Miami draft class, remember the name John Fiala. Johnson has had him targeted since Day 1 of the team's very extensive draft breakdown. Fiala plays the same position -- inside linebacker -- as Zach Thomas, last year's second-day draft "find" out of Texas Tech.
Although, "I don't know if we can get that fortunate to get another Zach Thomas," Johnson said.
But he gives himself plenty of chances, that's the point. Few NFL coaches or GMs make the draft process work for them better than Jimmy Johnson.
Johnson also is flexible. He planned to trade down in the first round (San Francisco was willing to trade up with him to get Cal TE Tony Gonzalez), but changed his mind when Yatil Green was still on the board.
A discussion with Green's college coach, Butch Davis (a former Johnson assistant with the Dallas Cowboys), about an hour before Miami went on the clock, convinced J.J. that Green -- a burner with size in the mold of Michael Irvin -- couldn't be passed up.
"He's actually faster and bigger than Michael," said Johnson. "We had to take him. He'll help (Miami holdover receivers) Fred Barnett and O.J. McDuffie ... and, of course, Dan Marino."
Spoken like a true TV analyst.
Ray Buck is CBS SportsLine's national columnist.
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