Don't Tell Dave McGinnis Now,
But He's a Real Live NFL Hero
Posted: Monday January 25, 1999 06:30 PM
Pre-Super Bowl Interlude | Ten Things
I Think I Think
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column.)
Dave McGinnis asked the Chicago Bears if he should wear a suit. You know,
the type of suit you wear when you get the job of your dreams. They said no. And
when you think about it, that's the most incredible thing about the booby hatch
that Mike McCaskey is running over there in
Chicago.
"On Friday morning,'' McGinnis was telling me over the cell phone from
Arizona Saturday night, his dreams dashed, "when I was speaking with
[Chicago VP for personnel] Mark Hatley , I knew things had gone well in
the interview Thursday, and I asked if he wanted me to dress up. He said no,
just wear something casual. I knew if things progressed to the point where they
were going to offer me a job, I'd be able to go back to the hotel and put my
suit
on.''
Logical thinking. When you haven't been offered a job, it's pretty presumptuous
to think you'll be offered one, and more presumptuous to wear your Sunday best
when you're not even sure the employer's going to offer you the position. And so
Arizona defensive coordinator Dave McGinnis got in his rental car in a northern
Chicago suburb a little before 10 a.m. Friday morning, almost pinching himself
because he knew this might be the day that he, at 47, would get his dream
job.
He'd had a terrific time with Bears president McCaskey Thursday, so good that
McCaskey bounded into work at Halas Hall in Lake Forest and confided to some in
the organization that he was about to hire McGinnis, the former linebackers
coach under Mike Ditka , one of the league leaders among assistant coaches
in charisma, always up, always positive, always trying to find a way to win.
Fine. You can think you're going to hire someone. But how on God's gridiron can
you assume that the hiring is done before you ever ask the guy if he'll come,
and before you've begun to draw up the
contract?
And somehow, some way, McCaskey --who blames "an internal foul-up" --
got the message across to his PR people that he wanted to call a press
conference for 1 p.m. that day to introduce McGinnis as his new coach. Before
ever discussing terms of a contract with
him.
And when the PR staff began informing the media outlets in Chicago of this plan,
a radio station bulletined the news on the air, and McGinnis heard it driving to
the
office.
"I was shocked,'' he said. "There is no other word for my emotions.
And so I get into the building, and people I've known for years are hugging me,
congratulating me. And I don't know what to
say.''
At this point McGinnis went into negotiations with McCaskey a little bit angry
and distrustful, and he received a ridiculous offer -- a four-year contract
worth $3.3 million with only two years guaranteed. No coach in the NFL has such
a deal. No coach in the NFL has been similarly insulted by a president or owner
so clearly trying to take advantage of
him.
"The contract,'' McGinnis said, "was
shocking.''
And what could McGinnis think, other than a gut feeling that McCaskey thought
he'd be frothing at the mouth to be the coach of the Bears -- which McGinnis
clearly was -- and that he'd take a lesser offer. "They clearly
underestimated me,'' McGinnis said. "They must have thought I wanted the
job so badly I'd take
anything.''
I have been around McGinnis 20 times over the years, first in Chicago and then
in Arizona. He's an eager beaver. He's one of the real Dale Carnegies of
the sport, and his players know he knows his stuff. I've thought for years I'd
be covering him one day as a head coach. I thought he was the perfect guy for
the Bears -- the guy they could put on billboards, the guy they could send to
the Rotary Club in Evanston and win back disaffected Bears fans, the guy
(eventually) who could schmooze with the politicians the way McCaskey never
could and finally get that damned stadium
built.
But I must say I was surprised he had guts this
size.
By the time McCaskey got around to offering him a market contract (a million a
season for four years), it was too late. "The carryover from Friday was too
much,'' McGinnis told me, "and things just didn't feel right. I have to be
who I am. I have to stand for something. I will not compromise my
values.''
McGinnis still wants to be a head coach in the NFL, and thus will not trash a
member of the Men's Club. But I will translate that last quote for you. It goes
something like this: "I was getting screwed on Friday, and instead of
swallowing my pride and taking a BS offer, I ducked out, knowing if people see
what I stand for, maybe someone will hire me next
year.
Someone
will.
I asked if he could get fired up now to coach the Arizona defense again.
"Darn right I can,'' he said. "I've already talked to Vince
[Tobin] and he said: 'Let's go back to work.' I'm ready. I have to
be.''
In the wrong
place.
Pre-Super Bowl
Interlude
It's not that I have problems with the teams in the Super Bowl. Oh, I dread
thinking of the forests that will be leveled to print the hundreds of
ultra-repetitive stories about the Elway-Reeves feud, with the numerous Shanahan
sidebars. I dread this because who really cares, and because we're not going to
get the truth out of these guys
anyway.
Enough of my pet peeve before I even get to Miami. What I was going to say is
that I have no problem with these teams being in the game because there's some
interesting angles (that we'll manage to beat to death anyway) about both
teams.
But the one thing I miss about this game already is that Keyshawn Johnson won't
be in
it.
I have had dinner with Johnson, the very interesting Jets wide receiver, twice
in the last couple of weeks, the first at a steak place on Long Island before
the AFC divisional playoff game against Jacksonville and the second in Denver,
joined by fellow wideout Dedric Ward two nights before the AFC title game, at a
pretty weak Italian place near the Jets' hotel. (Terrible bruschetta. That
poisoned me to the place.) In between the ceaseless cell-phone calls and the
occasional pagings, I found Johnson to be one of the most intriguing guys I've
met in this business in recent
years.
I was ready to dislike him. I'm not a big fan of ripping someone on your own
team or magazine or whatever business you're in, and the fact that Johnson did
it to teammates Wayne Chrebet and Neil O'Donnell in a book after his rookie
season was, I thought,
pathetic.
But I'll tell you why I liked him in the four hours we spent together, and I'll
tell you why the 2,600 media folk in south Florida would have had a swell time
with him this week. He's honest. He really wants to be good. He works hard. He's
a good story. He's not politically
correct.
In our first meeting, I told him: "You know, I'm not sure I can identify
with the athlete of today the way I used to. You're so different from some of
the guys I've covered. You're so ... out
there.''
Johnson sat up in his seat and leaned toward
me.
"Let me ask you a question,'' he said. "Did Lawrence Taylor speak his
mind when he
played?''
"Yup.''
"Did Dick
Butkus?''
"Yup.''
"In 1983, did John Elway say he wouldn't play for the
Colts?''
"Yup.''
"Last year, did Ryan Leaf say the same
thing?''
"Yup.''
"So we're not different,'' Johnson said. "We're all athletes trying
our best to win, and just because we might listen to different music or dress
different, it doesn't mean we're different than
you.''
See what fun we would have had if Johnson were playing in Miami this
week?
Now for my 10 Things I Think I
Think:
1. I think the best part of the McGinnis debacle is the fact the Bears
changed Dave Wannstedt 's private line to ring into Dave McGinnis' private
line Friday, and by Sunday night the message on the phone after five rings was:
"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Dick
Jauron is not available. If you would like to leave a message, wait for the
tone.''
2. I think the Bears should get into the free-agent bidding battle for
Trent Green. Yesterday. That's right. They can't bid until Feb. 12. Well, at
12:01 p.m. Feb. 12, they'd better call
Green.
3. I think Mike Holmgren isn't finished raiding Green Bay's front
office. He wants Ron Wolf 's right-hand man, Mike Reinfelt , and I
hear he's going to get
him.
4. I think Chris Chandler is the story of the week. I don't know about
you, but I'm stunned that he's quarterbacking a Super Bowl
team.
5. I think if you'd like to read a great story, read Rick Reilly 's
piece in Sports Illustrated this week on Shannon Sharpe. It's a
gem.
6. I think if I'm Warren Moon right now, I call Bobby Beathard and
say: "I've always wanted to play for the
Chargers.''
7. I think the Giants should take UCLA quarterback Cade McNown
with the 19th pick in April's
draft.
8. I think I am about to go pretty far afield, but as a parent of
seventh- and 10th-graders in the Montclair, N.J., public-school system, I
disagree with the Time magazine story on how American schoolkids have too
much homework. My wife and I have had to ask for more homework for our daughters
in the middle-school years. I'm sure there are scattered burbs where the
homework load is crushing, but my kids hang around enough and do nothing enough
for my
taste.
9. I think you didn't click on this site to read my opinion about
homework in
America.
10. I think Miami
beckons.
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