Falcons work to turn down Metrodome noise


Atlanta at Minnesota

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- On the day Michael Jordan left the NBA with a gaping hole atop its superstar hierarchy, Randy Moss was asked to ponder his own future in MJ-sized proportions.

	Vikings receiver Randy Moss says he needs time to grow into the role of sports megastar.

Does Moss believe, as some do, that he might have a similar impact on his sport?

"Man, that's hard to say," Moss said Wednesday as a pack of nearly 100 media members descended on Minnesota Vikings headquarters in anticipation of this weekend's NFC title game against Atlanta. "Basketball and football are different sports.

"Michael's his own man. Very talented. And with me being in that category, I don't think I'm ready to accept that now. I'm just a rookie, but later on in life I might accept that."

The toughest part to accept, Moss said, would be the avalanche of attention, something he has struggled to cope with during his rookie season even though it's been nowhere near Jordanesque proportions.

"All the notoriety, stuff like that," he said. "I think that I'll grow into it throughout the years. But right now I think I'm too young to try and let all that dwell in my head right now."

Still, it's all pretty heady stuff for a guy who less than a year ago was passed over by more than half the teams in the league because of a reputation for trouble. Since the Vikings drafted him last April, Moss has been as trouble-free off the field as he has been troublesome for defenses on it.

"Before the draft they talked about me negatively," Moss said. "Now that I'm up there they want to 'jock' me. So I let them hang onto my jock right now."

That brash, confident side of Moss, part of what makes him so tough to stop as a receiver, has started to come out more as the season has progressed. He gave another glimpse of that when asked how he got to be so good so soon.

"I think God flew me down on a cloud with a little halo around me," he said, smiling as he twirled a finger around his head. "I really don't know. I think it was a lot of hard work and practice that I had to prepare for this type of situation."

Words of advice
As he prepares for his first NFC title game this weekend, Randall Cunningham got an encouraging call from Doug Williams, the MVP of Super Bowl XXII.

"He just encouraged me and told me it was great to see me getting this opportunity and to take the best of it," said Cunningham. "I said, 'Can you give me any keys?' He said, 'Just go out and have fun with the game.' "

Williams, now the coach at Grambling, led the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 win over Denver after the 1987 season. He was the first black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, and Cunningham will be the second if the Vikings beat Atlanta.

Quiet down
Taking a tip from some friends with the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta coach Dan Reeves has asked the NFL to make sure the Vikings don't step over the line in trying to pump up the volume in the Metrodome on Sunday.

Like the Green Bay Packers in November, the Cardinals complained about sideline speakers near the visitor's bench.

"There were speakers right behind their bench that they felt didn't need to be there," Reeves said. "So we were checking with the league as far as what is legal and what is illegal."

The league's response?

"All the league said was they were going to make sure that everything that was done, was done by the rules," Reeves said.

The Falcons have tried to prepare for the dome din by piping loud noise into their practices this week.

"You really cannot prepare for that atmosphere," running back Jamal Anderson said. "You can try practicing different things or making different adjustments, but you have to go out and play and try to be patient and focused and concentrate."

Injuries
Trouble might have been avoided for the Vikings once again in the medical department.

All-Pro defensive lineman John Randle (knee) and free safety Orlando Thomas (hamstring) were listed Wednesday as probable for Sunday's game. Receiver Jake Reed (hamstring) was the only other player listed, and he was questionable.

"Injury-wise, we feel good," coach Dennis Green said, sounding a familiar refrain. "A lot of our guys have been able to come back in the last two weeks. Some were not quite ready to play coming off the bye week. Some were able to benefit from the bye week a great deal."

Offense rules
Legalized explosiveness. That's one way to look at Brian Billick's take on the growing theory that offense wins championships in the NFL these days.

"Clearly the league for a long time now has been pushing this game towards more of an offensive game," said Billick, offensive coordinator on a team that set an NFL mark with 556 points during the regular season. "Every rule that comes down the pike, defensive guys are squealing about it, and probably rightfully so.

"I'm biased, clearly, but I don't think with the cost of the tickets today, when you're talking $60, $70, $80 a pop, I don't think people want to pay that and sit and watch a 10-7 football game. And the league knows that."

Top of their field
Dennis Green and Randall Cunningham have been recognized by the Maxwell Football Club as the NFL's top coach and player for the 1998 season.

Green won the club's 10th Coach of the Year Award and will receive the Greasy Neale Trophy, named for the late coach who led the Philadelphia Eagles to NFL championships in 1948-49. After finishing second to Dan Reeves in Coach of the Year balloting by The Associated Press, Green outdistanced Reeves 339-315 for the Maxwell award.

Cunningham won the club's 40th Player of the Year Award, commemorated with the Bert Bell Trophy. Cunningham previously won the award in 1988 and 1990 and joins Johnny Unitas (1959, 1964, 1967) as the only three-time winners.

Like Green, Cunningham reversed the order of his 1-2 finish in The Associated Press voting. Terrell Davis won MVP honors from the AP, but finished second to Cunningham (417-364) for the Maxwell award.

Dirty bird
Count Randy Moss among the Vikings who won't be too offended if any of the Atlanta Falcons do their "Dirty Bird" dance after a touchdown Sunday.

"That's their trademark. I like it," Moss said. "If we could make up something like that, then I think the team would like it. That's their little thing."