Shanahan not letting Broncos run wild
Posted: Thursday January 28, 1999 01:17 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King
spoke with CNN/SI anchor Vince Cellini in Miami about the Super Bowl and other NFL news.
Vince Cellini: Peter, it's one thing to prepare on the field during Super Bowl week, but
there are a myriad of outside distractions. Which organization is doing the better job dealing with the outside stuff?
Peter King: I am going to give you a good example right now, Vince, why Mike Shanahan is one of the best -- if not the best -- coaches in football today. He thinks of the little things. One thing Shanahan, as any coach would be worried about before the Super Bowl, is how are your players handling the nightlife. The Denver Broncos are staying 28 miles from South Beach, which is the hotbed of entertainment here, where
the players want to go. So what Shanahan did is he set up a little bit of South Beach at the team hotel. He put a pop-a-shot game in, he put a video arcade in, he put in ping-pong tables and he put in a pool table and he told the players, "Listen, two free Spectravision movies in your room every night if you don't want to go out." What he's trying to do is he is say, "Hey, you guys stay in, you can have just as good of a time
here," and that way he doesn't have to worry about whether his players are going to make curfew.
VC: You're always looking ahead -- tell me who you think will be a very attractive free agent in the NFL very soon after this game?
PK: One of the biggest guys is one of the guys America probably hasn't heard of much, Washington quarterback Trent Green. Green is almost certainly going to get an offer from the St. Louis Rams if he declares himself a free agent. He's a St. Louis kid, he's got a St. Louis-based agent, Jim Steiner, and he is going to make in excess of $4.5 million a year. So I think Trent Green is going to be a guy who America is
probably going to start hearing a lot about a
week after the Super Bowl.
VC: Speaking of quarterback contracts,
did Vinny Testaverde cross the t's on his new deal, is that thing ready?
PK: I talked to Vinny Wednesday here in
Miami and I asked him how close he was to signing his new contract extension through 2002 with the Jets. He says it's very close, he looks to have it signed by the middle of the month. I think what is probably going to happen with Vinny is that he is not only going to finish his career as a starter but also I think he is going to play his last football with the New York Jets.
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