Racial Facial

Could you imagine if Herm Edwards had the type of clock-management issues that Andy Reid suffered through yesterday?

I find it very curious that this is a sidebar issue, at best. But when it happens to Herm, it's the lede. Most coaches screw up the clock. But only a handfull are effectively pilloried for it and no one in the NFL has suffered more slings and arrows for outrageous clock management fortune than Edwards. He's deserved a fair portion of this criticism, to be sure. But it's been so disporportional that you have to ask the obvious question.

Are clock management criticisms used as a cover for criticizing his intelligence, which otherwise would seem too racially charged. Now again, these clock management criticisms are not without merit; but sit back and objectively assess the degree and volume compared to what we've gotten yesterday and today with Andy Reid.

Reid's first-half blunder was worthy of a sidebar but was barely noted anywhere. (Reid walked into the locker room with two timeouts and the ball in the Patriots side of the field. That's not good.)

But the end-game stuff was the stuff of which clock-mismagement legends are made. Taking 30 or 40 seconds off the clock when you're down two scores and there's four and then three and then two mintues left? That's off the charts. Herm was absolutely killed for taking those chunks of time off the clock when he was down three points, kicked the tying field goal anyway and would have gotten all of his plays off if a timeout wasn't burned when the play didn't get on the field. (That's another coaching error, to be sure, but not one as delicious as being able to say with a clear conscience that this coach can't tell time as well as all the other coaches.)

As for T.O., you have to give the man credit for saying straight out what needed to be said. Brett Favre, the people's champion (by that, I mean the media's champion) in a league that's 75 percent black, would have been officially enshrined in Canton last night if he played as Owens did under similar circumstances. Look how Curt Schilling was glorified at every pitch and compare what Owens did with an injury that didn't even receive medical clearance and with 200- and 300-pound men riding him to the ground a dozen times. But any credit that Owens received yesterday was grudging and it came after two weeks of accusastions that he was being selfish and grandstanding becasue he needed the spotlight so bad. Yes, Owens was really a distraction yesterday.

I know that you can point to articles today and comments yesterday to the contrary; but it wasn't forced down our throats as it would have been with Favre and was with Schilling. Also note that Fox was quick to show Owens yelling at McNabb after his second interception (though they noted that he was saying "relax" when the thousand-word picture suggested a brewing mutiny).

Is it because Owens is black? Is it because Owens is a loudmouth? Not necessarily. Is it because Owens is a black loudmouth? Now, you know the answer to that. END.