Chris Mortensen, who died over the weekend at age 72, wrote the NFL Report for The Sporting News from July 1991 to February 1994, when he left for ESPN full time.
The League is in mourning.
“Mort,” as friends and coworkers called him and TV viewers came to know him, defined for an era the so-called NFL insider, especially on ESPN’s coverage as the league’s popularity exploded.
MORE: NFL, sports media world mourn loss of Chris Mortensen
As a tribute to our former TSN colleague, here are “three from ’93” from Mort, covering the hot topics around the league: Suggestions of what the Bills should do after their third straight Super Bowl loss (they didn’t listen and lost a fourth in a row), Joe Montana’s impending exit from San Francisco (typical Mort: He mentions the Chiefs among potential landing spots) and Fox’s winning bid to get into carrying the NFL (as the behest of “new-breed” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones).
Hey Bills, don’t let frustration foil judgment
Feb. 22, 1993, issue
Ernie Accorsi has two words of advice for Buffalo this offseason: Don't overreact. Accorsi speaks from experience as the former general manager of the Browns. The Bills have been frustrated in their efforts to win the Super Bowl, but the Browns, under Accorsi, experienced the frustration of never reaching the big game. Before hitting bottom with a 3-13 record in 1990, Cleveland won four AFC Central titles and reached the AFC championship game three times in a five-year period.
"Frankly, we did too much, made too many changes, just trying to shake things up." says. Accorsi, who resigned after the 1991 season. One example Accorsi gave was the trade that sent running back Ernest Byner to Washington in exchange for running back Mike Oliphant. You'd have to have the memory of an elephant to remember Oliphant. Byner has been a big contributor to the Redskins.
Other advice Accorsi has for the Bills is to somehow, some way, put the bitterness of three consecutive Super Bowl defeats behind them.
MORE: ESPN honors late Chris Mortensen: Adam Schefter narrates tribute video
"I remember clearly (in 1990) when Mike Gottfried (the former coach at the University of Pittsburgh) came in here and observed a few days during training camp," Accorsi says. "Finally, Mike pulled us all aside and told us. "You guys are in a dangerous state of mind. There's a real loser mentality here and that's wrong. Mike was absolutely right, but we still couldn't shake it."
Accorsi, who lives in Baltimore and remains tuned in to the NFL, says the Bills have enough talent to win another AFC title. But the team's mental state remains iffy.
Nevertheless ...
Accorsi's advice notwithstanding, the Bills need to do something dramatic to awaken their senses. The firing of general manager Bill Polian was the wrong message. Here's our advice: Trade Jim Kelly or Thurman Thomas, or both.
Now that would be regarded as overreacting under any scenario. Yet it must be done by the Bills.
Kelly's Super Bowl performances. particularly the last two, have a lot of general managers and scouts questioning his commitment to the game.
"I either see a quarterback who isn't that smart or one who doesn't study his craft." one general manager says.
Kelly's preparation for the Cowboys continues to raise questions. He is adamant that it was his best week of practice before a Super Bowl. On the other hand, sources within the organization say Kelly was distracted by the social temptations of Super Bowl week. One organizational source says Kelly's game-day concerns included making sure the equipment managers rotated his baseball caps representing products he endorsed for when he came to the sideline. So. strange as it may sound, the Bills probably can't get tremendous value for Kelly, 33, because these are no secrets among general managers. But with Frank Reich clearly capable of quarterbacking the Bills on a full-time basis, Buffalo should explore the market for Kelly.
But Thomas might be more practical to trade. He makes about $2.5 million less than Kelly, and the Bills know they have a running back in Kenneth Davis who would be productive.
The Packers, who are in need of a versatile back such as Thomas, might be a good fit.
There are at least six teams that would have to look seriously at an offer for Thomas. The Bills could not produce a Herschel Walker-type deal with Thomas, however. Those days are over. Funny, despite the great successes of Thomas and Emmitt Smith, the only back who commands the type of value the Cowboys got in the Walker trade is Detroit's Barry Sanders. And he's not on the market.
It is unlikely that Kelly and Thomas can coexist anymore. One can feel the tension building again between the two stars. The team surely feels it.
So trade one or both. Then get on with business.
Montana wants his freedom
March 15, 1993, issue
A head-on collision is quietly approaching in the Bay Area. The San Francisco 49ers are coming from one direction and Joe Montana from the other.
Right now, Montana is accelerating the pace.
He wants out. Montana told the club last week that he wants to immediately end his career after 13 years with the 49ers. according to a 49ers front-office source. The 49ers are leery of letting their superstar go. They've offered Montana $2.5 million to be Steve Young's backup. Montana previously told the club he would be willing to return if he could compete against Young for the starting job. Coach George Seifert balked, electing to keep a commitment to Young, who was designated as the 49ers' franchise player. Thus, Montana not only informed the 49ers that he wanted out, but he also filed an appeal with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to void the final year of his contract.
Montana has argued to the commissioner that the last year is not valid because it is an incomplete contract. Under the line of "salary," it reads, "To Be Negotiated." The 49ers have argued to the league that the contract means the club has the option to renew Montana for another season.
If Montana can get out of the deal, he probably would seek discussions with the Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins.
The 49ers believe they are in a Catch-22, because Young is not under contract. The club offered him $4 million a year, but Young's agent, Leigh Steinberg, is seeking more perhaps even a lifetime deal. Young can't negotiate with other clubs, but he is under no obligation to sign a deal with the 49ers until he is satisfied.
If Montana were released, it would give Young even more leverage in contract negotiations.
And everyone understands there is no way Young is going to allow Montana to reposition for the 49ers' quarterback job. There also is a question of loyalty. But whose loyalty? Do the 49ers honor the request of their greatest star, who brought them four Super Bowl titles, and release him to make his own deal?
Or should Montana be thankful for the club's support during the past two years after he underwent elbow surgery?
The bottom line is, it isn't going to work anymore.
Loyalty is weeded out in the NFL’s greenhouse
Dec. 27, 1993, issue
Really, the deal is staggering. Just ask CBS, which was blindsided last week when the NFL awarded its NFC package for the next four years to the Fox Television Network. CBS never saw it coming.
Fox was a player, sure. Everybody knew that. Only nobody knew it would win the game. At first, the news leaked that Fox had offered $100 million more than CBS for the NFC package. That was impressive. Then it became evident that it was $100 million more per year.
The NFL grabbed Rupert Murdoch's money and ran. Waved bye-bye to CBS. Loyalty has its limits, obviously.
If CBS felt blindsided by Fox, it was because network officials were led to believe that if they just raised their previous bid by a few dollars, everything would be fine. CBS did that, adding $38 million to its previous $1.06 billion commitment. CBS felt secure. It was not.
We should have expected no less in 1993. Dallas Owner Jerry Jones, a member of the NFL broadcast committee who personally courted Murdoch, paid $140 million for his franchise in 1989, not the $4 million to $8 million that some of the more established owners paid for their clubs.
The new-breed owner of the NFL is interested only in the bottom line. The bottom line: The league that generated a whopping $3.65-billion TV package four years ago just did the unthinkable by raising the ante to an estimated $4.5 billion for the next four years.
Just don't let NFL owners cry about player loyalty when the free-agent signing period begins March 1. Then again, don't expect the players to do anything but laugh on the way to the bank. They are guaranteed 66 percent of owner revenues under next year's salary сар.
CBS broadcaster Pat Summerall was in Detroit, preparing for his network's telecast of the Detroit-San Francisco game, when the word game down about Fox. His eyes were opened.
"I have been doing the NFL on CBS since 1962, (and) I guess you take things for granted,” Summerall says. "This morning at the 49ers' practice, I told some of the players some broadcasters might be out of a job, but all they said was their salary cap now would go up."
CBS and the NFL had been close partners through the years, starting in 1956. It was CBS's telecast of the 1958 NFL championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants that was considered the league's breakthrough game on a national level. The fan got hooked on the NFL that day.
The NFC was a valuable property because the major markets belonged to it ... the New York Giants, Chicago Bears. Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles. Even the sentimental favorite. Green Bay, was an NFC market.
And despite losing $150 million over four years on the contract that expires this season, CBS continued to use the NFC/NFL audience as a vehicle to promote its prime-time programs. The network's biggest show, "60 Minutes," has used the NFL as a lead-in.
As for Fox, we can only wait and see. Obviously, projections of a $500 million loss don't impress the deep pockets of Mr. Murdoch. Just as CBS used the NFL to promote its prime-time programming, so will Fox. The football deal also will allow Fox to expand its market penetration from about 94 percent of the nation to 99 percent.
(It may not surprise you to hear that Fox may have gotten the rights to televise late Sunday games at 5 p.m. ET, which could have a negative impact on CBS's "60 Minutes,” which airs at 7 p.m. ET. This is commonly known as adding insult to injury.)
The NFL took the Fox deal because of the money. Any other explanation seems ludicrous, but Fox made a tremendous commitment to promote the league on a year-round basis. In the beginning, ratings may dip slightly, but the NFL is hoping to expand its audience to include the elusive 18-to-34 age bracket that all advertisers target. Fox has those youthful viewers, you know.
Youthful but not innocent. But then, in 1993, few things are innocent in the world of professional sports business. Just ask CBS.