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 Tony Siragusa recounts hearing the news that the NFL was fining him $10,000 for slamming Rich Gannon to the ground.
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Saturday, January 20
Ravens have last laugh in Beltway battle
By John Clayton
ESPN.com
OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The drive from Ravens headquarters to Redskins Park can take anywhere
between one to two and a half hours, depending on traffic. The
atmosphere between the two places is as if they were on different planets.
|  | | Art Modell and the Ravens are laughing all the way to the Super Bowl. |
Ravens headquarters was constant activity. Overflow parking
placed a long line of cars down Ravens Boulevard., which was renamed Thursday in
honor of the team's AFC championship season. Reporters from all over the
country weaved through the building. Ravens headquarters was the place to
be. Redskins Park wasn't.
The 'Skins' parking lot had very few cars. The fields that bustled during
the summer with fans who paid $10 for all-day passes were empty. Sitting in his
office, which didn't have any pictures or the usual amenities, was new head coach Marty Schottenheimer.
The weird part of this Super Bowl is that destiny
was supposed to smile on the Beltway area, but the owner who reached into
his money belt to the tune of $100 million wasn't the one heading to Tampa.
Ravens owner Art Modell didn't gloat about his great football fortunes compared
to Washington's Daniel Snyder this year. Modell's been on too many losing ends of championship games to laugh at Snyder's monetary folly. Instead, he offered only the advice of a wise, old owner who's been around.
"Those things happen," Modell said of the Redskins' season. "I
have a philosophy of how to build an organization. This organization is
built differently than the Redskins. It's built differently from the Giants.
No one has a monopoly on planning how to build, but $100 million on free
agents is a lot of money. I'd say the same thing to George Steinbrenner in
New York. You can't a buy championship.
"You can fill holes. But developing a team has to come in the
form of clever drafting, selective free-agent signings, and most important
is the development of second- and third-year players."
It's funny seeing Schottenheimer, Modell's longtime coach, under
Snyder's roof. Modell and Schottenheimer endured together the pain and
suffering of being one game or one play away from the Super Bowl three times
in the late 1980s. Snyder loves the quick splash. Schottenheimer prefers the
deliberate approach he and Modell worked so well together during the '80s.
"You know how I am," Schottenheimer said. "There is no short cuts
in anything. I don't ever expect to win the lottery. We're going to roll up
our sleeves and go to work. I think our players understand the importance of
that. I've always believed that the difference in this league -- which is
very narrow -- is that the teams that find the way to win understand the
details of what's going on and apply themselves in that regard."
That's the lesson Snyder might have learned this season. Details in
practice aren't going to draw headlines in the Washington Post. Of course,
the promoter in Snyder caused him to go for the quick strike. Try to trade for
Barry Sanders. Sign Bruce Smith. Go for Keyshawn Johnson or Joey Galloway.
On and on and on. The quick strike left him out of the playoffs and cost
Norv Turner his job.
|
“ |
No
one has a monopoly on planning how to build, but
$100 million on free agents is a lot of money. I'd say the same thing to George
Steinbrenner in New York. You can't a buy championship. ” |
|
|
— Art Modell, Ravens owner |
Trying to buy a championship cost him a trip to the playoffs and
ultimately the defensive coordinator, Ray Rhodes, who turned Snyder's
signings into a top five unit. What Snyder may be beginning to appreciate is
that the Ravens are in the Super Bowl, but the climb took five years and a
bunch of losing seasons.
There might be no more striking difference in the franchise than what
occurred last summer when the Ravens visited the Redskins in FedEx Field for a
scrimmage. Clearly, what was visible was a field loaded with great players.
The Ravens were pumped. Ben Coates made one-handed grabs in the back of the
end zone. Linebacker Cornell Brown flew all over the field on every play. The
Ravens wanted to play. The Redskins, the more veteran of the two teams,
seemed more interested in waiting for a postgame concert.
"I don't know if the Redskins wanted to do much," Ravens defensive
end Michael McCrary said. "Their offensive line was okay, but I don't think
their older guys wanted to do much."
Said halfback Priest Holmes: "The mindset of this team is that
we're always ready to play. We have a passion. We were ready that day, and
we came to play. I think that showed a lot about our team."
As a result, the Ravens had an urgency each week that allowed them
to go 15-4 and survive a five-game drought in which they didn't score an
offensive touchdown. The Redskins dug holes by losing close games that kept
them falling behind the Giants and the Eagles in the division.
"I don't think there is an elitism on this team," Schottenheimer
said. "Certainly when you look at some of the players they brought in
because of their reputation and their history, it was obvious Dan was trying
to assemble a team that would win this year. I'm not sure given the
expectation level that it was something that could be realized. Had they had
more success in the kicking part of it, I might not be sitting here talking
to you today."
Still, the Redskins' problems went beyond bad kicks by Eddie Murray
and a bunch of inaccurate field-goal kickers. Snyder defied opponents to beat them so much that he opened
training camp so that every opponent could scout every play, every strategy.
Schottenheimer won't let that happen. Training camp is expected to be away
from the facility, and scouts can't purchase tickets.
"Sometimes the expectation level can be too high," Schottenheimer
said. "That makes it more difficult. Unlike the New York Giants team that
throughout this season had a sense that they weren't given a great deal of
respect. The no respect card is a very powerful card to play for an athletic
team."
Snyder, in fact, may have to take umbrage in the reality that next
year he will be picked to be third in the NFC East -- and the second-best
team in the Beltway. While some say the Redskins lost fans to the Ravens,
Modell said the Redskins fans will be back. They've been too loyal.
"We're going to roll up our sleeves and go to work because I know
that works," Schottenheimer said. "I know the reason our players did as
well as they did is because they bought into the principle that in even
competition between opponents that are essentially the same, the team that
will do the little things and are technique and fundamentally sound will
ultimately prevail."
Little things versus big dollars. It worked in Baltimore. We'll see
how long it takes Snyder to begin taking baby steps.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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