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New York firefighters
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Another NFL season, another boatload of surprises.
Who could have predicted the Bears and Patriots would win their respective divisions?
Who could have believed Garrison Hearst would rush for 1,000 yards? Who could have guessed
this would be the year Kordell Stewart returned to form?
But what made the 2001 season different from others was the tragedy that accompanied
the triumph. The year will always be remembered for Korey Stringer’s death in
training camp and for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that put the games on hold for a
week.
It was a season like no other. Thus, selecting only 10 stories to represent it became a
painstaking task. But Pro Football Weekly came through. What follows are the top 10
stories of the 2001 NFL season, as voted on by the PFW staff.
Compared to the rest of the world, the effect the terrorist attacks had on the NFL was
trivial. Nevertheless, commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s decision to postpone the games
of Week Two drew nationwide attention. It marked the first time in league history that
such a move had been made. The games were tacked on after what was originally the final
week of the regular season. Tagliabue was contrasted with late commissioner Pete Rozelle,
who opted to play on following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Tagliabue’s decision pushed the season back a week, necessitating the Super Bowl,
held in New Orleans, to be moved from Jan. 27 to Feb. 3. It took the help of the National
Auto Dealers Association to finalize the move. NADA had its convention scheduled the same
day in the same city. So the NFL negotiated a $7.5 million agreement for NADA to change
its plans.
Wow. That’s the first word that comes to mind when thinking about the most
stunning turnaround of the season. The Patriots went from 5-11 in 2000 to Super Bowl
champions in 2001, upsetting the heavily favored Rams. Just as stunning was how they did
it. Terry Glenn, once the team’s top wide receiver, played in only four games. Drew
Bledsoe, once the team’s top quarterback, was knocked out in Week Two with a severe
chest injury. In Glenn’s place, Troy Brown vaulted into the spotlight and became a
playmaker. In Bledsoe’s place, Tom Brady stepped up and became a steadying presence.
It was that steadiness that helped New England win the Lombardi Trophy, as Brady led his
troops on the Super Bowl-winning scoring drive, thus earning game MVP honors.
Papa Bear would have been proud. His Bears returned to prominence this season with an
NFC Central-winning 13-3 record, the club’s best mark since the 1986 season. Though
the Bears were knocked out by Philadelphia in the divisional playoffs, they left some
lasting memories. At the forefront were miraculous overtime wins over the 49ers and Browns
— in consecutive weeks. In both games, the Bears trailed late in the fourth quarter,
sent the game into overtime and won on Mike Brown interception returns of tipped passes.
Dick Jauron, who was believed to be coaching for his job, won Coach of the Year honors,
and RB Anthony Thomas won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Brian Urlacher led a
defense that allowed the fewest points in the league. It was a storybook ending to
venerable Soldier Field, which is undergoing extensive renovation starting this offseason.
Temperatures were in the 90s and the humidity was stifling on July 31, the second day
of Vikings training camp. The combination proved fatal for ORT Korey Stringer, who died
early the following morning of multiple-organ failure as a result of heatstroke. He was
27. Stringer’s death sent shockwaves through the league, but it was the Vikings who
were devastated. "Korey had a lot of gifts," then-OL coach Mike Tice said at
Stringer’s memorial service, standing behind a large purple and yellow wreath that
featured Stringer’s No. 77. "But one special gift was he had time to give …
and he had the gift of making you feel good about yourself, making you smile. I’ve
got a hole inside of me that I don’t think I can ever fill. I’ve got a scar on
my heart." It was a somber beginning for what became a troubling season for the
Vikings, who fell from an 11-5 division-winner to a 5-11 fourth-place finisher.
| 5. Stewart, Steelers return to form |
Kordell Stewart was mired in a three-year slump. After exciting the football world in
1997, when he threw for 21 touchdowns and ran for 11, Stewart hit the skids. But something
clicked this season, something so grand that Stewart earned a Pro Bowl berth and
consideration for MVP honors. With the help of new offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and
new QB coach Tom Clements, Stewart set a franchise record for completion percentage and
had a career-best 81.7 passer rating. He caught the nation’s attention in an
eye-popping performance at Baltimore, throwing for 333 yards and two touchdowns. Stewart
helped guide the Steelers to an AFC-best 13-3 record, despite playing the last five games
of the regular season without star RB Jerome Bettis. It was Pittsburgh’s best mark
since the 1978 season. Though the Steelers were knocked off by New England in the
conference championship game, they opened their new playground, Heinz Field, in grand
fashion.
What a difference a year makes. In 2000, the Rams ranked 23rd in the league in defense
and allowed a league-worst 471 points. After a massive overhaul, the team finished 2001
ranked third in the league in defense with 273 points allowed — a 198-point
improvement. It helped the Rams post a league-best 14-2 record in the regular season and
advance to their second Super Bowl in three years. At the heart of the matter were general
manager Charley Armey, president of football operations Jay Zygmunt and head coach Mike
Martz, all of whom orchestrated the about-face. First, they hired Buccaneers assistant
Lovie Smith to bring Tampa Bay’s scheme to St. Louis. Then they focused on adding
defensive standouts in the draft, such as SS Adam Archuleta, DT Damione Lewis and LB Tommy
Polley. But perhaps the most pivotal move was trading for Cardinals CB Aeneas Williams,
who many say has done for the Rams’ defense what RB Marshall Faulk has done for the
offense. Said Armey: "We sat down at the end of (the 2000 season), and the first
thing Mike wanted to do was attack the defense with a vengeance." They did just that.
| 7. Strahan sets sack record |
The record-breaking sack was a bit fishy to most, but it was a record-breaker
nonetheless. In the regular season’s final week, Giants DE Michael Strahan sacked
Brett Favre for sack No. 22½, a new NFL single-season record. It eclipsed Mark
Gastineau’s record of 21½ set in 1984. Strahan, who earned league Defensive MVP
honors, was a model of consistency. Over the final 14 games of the season, he failed to
register at least a half-sack in just one game. He was particularly dominating in a
three-sack performance against the Saints and a four-sack performance against the Rams.
Said Strahan: "I don’t try to make every play perfect, I just try to make sure
every play counts, because you never know which plays are going to count in a game."
| 8. Hearst's miraculous comeback |
He hadn’t played in a game of consequence since Jan. 9, 1999, a playoff game
against the Falcons. That day, 49ers RB Garrison Hearst broke his lower left leg just
above the ankle, an injury that, combined with subsequent complications, sidelined him for
more than two years. But in 2001, Hearst participated in minicamps and training camp, and
he looked good doing so. Soon after, he was looking like his old self again. Hearst
finished the season with 1,206 rushing yards and a 4.8-yard average per carry. His efforts
earned him Comeback Player of the Year honors. "I keep saying," 49ers C Jeremy
Newberry said, "people are going to have to quit talking about what an amazing
recovery he has made and start talking about what an amazing back he is."
| 9. Another record for Faulk |
In the 2000 season, Rams RB Marshall Faulk set an NFL record, scoring 26 total
touchdowns. Faulk added to his mantle this season, gaining 2,000 yards from scrimmage for
an NFL-record fourth consecutive season. Faulk gained 1,382 yards on the ground and 765
through the air, earning league MVP honors in the process. "He does some things in
games that, when it happens and he comes off the field, you go, ‘I can’t believe
you just did that!’ " Rams offensive coordinator/RB coach Bobby Jackson said.
"It’s something different a lot of the time and something that just jumps out at
you." Faulk led all running backs with 83 receptions and led the league in scoring
with 128 points. All this despite missing two games with a knee injury.
Starting a season 0-5 isn’t the way a head coach would want to begin a new job,
but that’s what happened to Marty Schottenheimer in Washington. The Redskins were
outscored 144-32 in those five games, including a 37-0 shutout on the "Monday Night
Football" stage. But a funny thing happened after that fifth loss: The Redskins won
… and won … and won … and won. After its Week 11 win over the Eagles,
Washington was 5-5 and just one game behind first-place Philadelphia in the NFC East.
"Nobody thought we could do it, but we did," RB Stephen Davis said. However, the
Redskins lost three of their next four games to fall out of playoff contention. It was
quite a run, though, as well as a testament to Schottenheimer’s coaching. But that
mattered little after the season, when owner Dan Snyder fired Schottenheimer and replaced
him with Steve Spurrier.
For complete coverage of the season in review, purchase a copy of the Feb. 18 issue of
Pro Football Weekly (Issue No. 31), on sale at newsstands and bookstores across the
country. Or you can subscribe
online to PFW's print edition, or subscribe by calling 1-800-FOOTBALL (366-8225) and
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