Thursday, January 2, 1997

Panthers taking different approach to discipline

By Scott Fowler / Knight-Ridder Newspapers (Jan. 2, 1997)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (KRT) - On Tuesday, Carolina coach Dom Capers suspended a player without pay for the rest of the season because he was late for too many meetings.

On Wednesday, Dallas coach Barry Switzer said two of his stars would play Sunday against the Panthers - despite the fact that a 23-year-old woman has accused them both of sexual assault.

It was a vivid reminder of the tolerance - or lack of it - that some NFL franchises have for their players' transgressions.

Panthers cornerback Toi Cook said Wednesday he believed Dallas owner Jerry Jones and Carolina owner Jerry Richardson were "diametrically opposed" from a "morality standpoint."

"That's not saying Jerry Jones doesn't have morals," Cook added. "I just think Jerry Richardson is striving to put together a team you could take home to Mom."

The suspension of Panthers reserve defensive end Shawn King angered some teammates - not because of Capers' rules, but because of the fact that King knew them and broke them anyway.

The Panthers have resigned themselves to playing football under a tight leash, and in many ways have grown to like it.

"You see what happened to poor Shawn," Panthers offensive lineman Greg Skrepenak said. "I don't think he really did anything that was superly, overly bad.

"But he didn't do what coach Capers asked of him, and now he's got to suffer the consequences."

In Dallas, Irvin and Williams, meanwhile, have each been in major trouble the past two years.

Irvin pleaded no contest to cocaine possession earlier this year and missed the first five games.

Williams reached an out-of-court settlement in 1995 with a 17-year-old topless dancer who had accused him of assaulting her and just came off probation for a drunken-driving charge.

Switzer, when confronted with questions about his team's "tarnished-star" image Wednesday: "I quit worrying about that stuff 30 years ago."

Switzer added that a head coach couldn't be held responsible for the bad choices any of his own players make.

When questioned about his own leadership, Switzer responded heatedly, saying that anyone who thinks that the Cowboys' problems come from "the top on down, then they are full of s--."

"I've made a thousand 'do-good' talks through the years," Switzer said. "Some kids listen, some don't."

Panthers coach Dom Capers answered carefully when told of Switzer's comments.

"When a guy leaves (the stadium), I can't control what he does," Capers said. "But I certainly talk about when he's here what we want to do and what our philosophy is. ... We want to be a class team."

The Cowboys have had such a litany of problems this year that former Secretary of Education William Bennett suggested that the team was "hurting this country's morale."

The Cowboys sailed along through workouts Wednesday and then filed through minicams and satellite trucks to their parked cars.

Running back Emmitt Smith labeled the mood in the locker room "wonderful."

"I really don't think these things bother our football team," Switzer said. " ... It's just another day around the block with these guys."

Panthers backup quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who played the 1991 and 1992 seasons in Dallas, warned that a wounded Cowboys team always plays fiercely.

"It's just one of their qualities - to produce and play at that high level despite all that is happening around them," Beuerlein said. "The basic heart of that team has a lot of pride and a lot of ability to dig down deep and play their best when it means the most."

Capers cautioned against painting this game purely in a broad brushstroke of renegade Cowboys vs. altar-boy Panthers. When asked if the spate of scandals in Dallas at some point could be duplicated in Charlotte, Capers said: "You can never say never."

Staff writer Charles Chandler contributed to this article.

(c) 1997, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).

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