ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOMOWITCH

We really don’t know who Paul Domowitch is (we probably should, since he somehow has finagled a seat at the Hall of Fame voting table), but he knows who we are. And he reads our site. And we’re glad that he does, even if it means that he periodically rips us. Recently, Domo didn’t like the fact that we were connecting dots between Bucs coach Jon Gruden and the job at Tennessee. (Because Paul put us in our place, we have to date refrained from suggesting in this space that if Notre Dame loses its bowl game and if the Bucs don’t make the playoffs, Gruden could jump into the embrace of Touchdown Jesus.) Domowitch’s latest bitch with us is the rumor linking Dick Vermeil to a front-office position with the Chiefs. Says Domowitch: “If the guy who runs that Web site had been covering football for more than 5 minutes, he’d know that Vermeil and Peterson have been close friends for nearly 40 years, and that even if Vermeil were interested in getting back into football, which he’s not, there’s no way he would step over the body of his friend and take his job.” For starters, Paul, I’ve been covering football for more than eight years, and I’ve been following the sport closely since 1973 (yes, I am old). More importantly, I’ve learned over the last eight years how things really work in the business, and that there’s always a lot more stuff going on behind the scenes that what lands in the local fish wrap. Secondly, the relationship between Vermeil and Peterson doesn’t change the fact that there is a rumor linking Vermeil to the job. Third, we’ve since made it clear that a source whom we trust on this point has told us that the Chiefs will not, under any circumstances, bring Vermeil back. Fourth, Vermeil’s comments from Thursday to the Kansas City Star strongly imply that Vermeil is interested in getting back into football, even if it means “step[ping] over the body of his friend.” Though it’s generally accepted that Vermeil is a saint due in large part to his propensity to sob at the drop of a hat, let’s not forget that he took the Chiefs’ head-coaching job at a time when he was still under contract with the Rams at $2 million annually for four years. The move raised eyebrows in league circles, and raised temperatures in St. Louis. So for the men who make it to the upper echelon of pro sports, loyalty is a great concept whenever it meshes with whatever it is that the person publicly demonstrating loyalty wants to do. But when a mover and/or shaker wants to move and/or shake in a direction that could create the perception of disloyalty, the mover and/or shaker typically takes his chances. (Especially where the mover and/or shaker has developed a strong reputation and/or cultivated enough friendships with influential reporters who consequently won’t call him out for being disloyal.) As we see it, Paul, these are things that should be readily understood by anyone with an appreciation of the way the NFL really works, regardless of whether they’ve been covering the sport for five minutes or for five decades. But thanks for the mention (again) in your publication. Though at the rate the world is changing it’s roughly as valuable as hieroglyphics on the wall of a cave, we always appreciate the extra publicity.