The Nfl

The thing that makes 1999 different in pro football is that it's the year of the young quarterback. And for the NFL's numerous new young leaders, the learning curve has been a league-wide happening. In one conspicuous case Sunday, the new Miami quarterback, Damon Huard, grew up on national television. In the first half against New England, he couldn't make a first down in the first quarter but caught the hang of it in the second quarter and drove the Dolphins into a 10-10 halftime tie. Learning some more in the third quarter, Huard drove the Dolphins in front with two touchdowns that made it 24-10, a lead that stood up through the rest of the NFL's game of the week, though Huard left with a broken nose.

Chuck Muncie, a star running back with the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers who overcame a cocaine habit that ended his career and then devoted his later life to helping others avoid drug abuse, has died. He was 60. Muncie died Monday of a heart attack at his Los Angeles-area home, his family announced. After a stellar career at UC Berkeley, Muncie played in the National Football League from 1976 to 1984 and was selected to play in three Pro Bowls. He spent more than four years with the Saints before joining the Chargers in the middle of the 1980 season.

Most end-of-the millennium voters have been making what I think of as a couple of wrong calls. Contemplating the most recent 100 years: • Babe Ruth was the athlete of the century, I'd say, not Muhammad Ali. • O.J. Simpson was the football player of the century, I'm quite sure, not Jim Brown. • The negative--if that's the right word--on front-runners Ali and Brown is that, like Michael Jordan, they were specialists. Great athletes are by definition not specialists.

UCLA needs 1,700 from a running back. Not on the SATs. On the ground. It doesn't take a Stanford degree to work this equation. Johnathan Franklin is gone. So too are his cuts, jukes and flat-out sprints that made quarterback Brett Hundley's life so much safer. Franklin gained a UCLA record 1,700 yards last season. The first phase of finding his replacement ended Saturday with the Bruins' scaled-back spring game in the Rose Bowl. "There was a calmness on the field that we had," Hundley said.

Occasionally in an NFL game, the team that plays the better football loses. In a strange 24-21 game Sunday, for example, the winners were the 6-1 Tennessee Titans, who led in the first quarter, 21-0, but scored only three additional points. I'd say the losers, the 6-1 St. Louis Rams, were the better team. In the end, after three touchdown passes by quarterback Kurt Warner, the Rams got to within a missed 38-yard field goal of overtime. For Warner, it was all a learning experience.

To win two of the biggest games of 1999, the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams both played similarly aggressive first-half football Sunday, repeatedly interspersing first-down passes with passing-down runs. Proving that offense-minded teams can win that way that early--in an NFL game's first 30 minutes--Indianapolis got ahead of Miami by 14 points in the second quarter, when St. Louis opened a 21-point lead on Carolina. The Rams needed a big fourth-quarter defensive play--an interception-touchdown--to hang on, 34-21, and win the NFC West title.

We're at the point where any San Diego Chargers victory can be summarized in two words. This goes back to Nov. 19, when between updates I saw a 24-7 San Diego deficit against Denver turn into a 35-27 Chargers victory and I text-messaged a friend to ask what happened. My buddy's reply: "LT happened." Flash-forward to Sunday, when the Chargers had to deal with a strong Oakland Raiders defensive effort, a shaky performance by quarterback Philip Rivers and a 14-7 Raiders lead in the fourth quarter.

Chuck Muncie, a star running back with the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers who overcame a cocaine habit that ended his career and then devoted his later life to helping others avoid drug abuse, has died. He was 60. Muncie died Monday of a heart attack at his Los Angeles-area home, his family announced. After a stellar career at UC Berkeley, Muncie played in the National Football League from 1976 to 1984 and was selected to play in three Pro Bowls. He spent more than four years with the Saints before joining the Chargers in the middle of the 1980 season.

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I've used deer antler spray for two days now, and I've rarely felt better, though I do find myself with an overwhelming urge to grind my itchy noggin against big birch trees, and last night, as someone pulled into the driveway, I just suddenly froze in the high beams. Does deer antler spray really work? Obviously. Or it could be the latest take on snake oil. To find out, I'm testing the legal product personally. So far, there are no signs of aggression, a reported side effect of these so-called IGF-1 supplements.

NEW YORK - There's no Andrew Luck, no Robert Griffin III, no headline-grabbing talent who unquestionably belongs at the top of this year's NFL draft. This year, the most likely scenario at Radio City Music Hall involves the Kansas City Chiefs using their No. 1 overall pick on one of two offensive tackles, the guys who are having a good game if their name isn't mentioned. Could this be the least sexy draft on record? "I think that's the best way to put it," Central Michigan tackle Eric Fisher said Wednesday with a laugh.

Writers from around the Tribune Co. offer their sleeper picks for Thursday's first round of the NFL draft. Let us know yours in the comment section. Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times If Utah defensive tackle Star Lotuleilei were to slip into the teens, he'd be a steal. He's worthy of being the No. 1 overall pick if his heart checks out, and his agent says doctors have fully cleared him after a heart scare at the scouting combine in February. He's a Haloti Ngata-type disruptive force in the middle, the kind of guy who can blow up a play on his own. There are enough quality offensive tackles in this draft for the Chiefs to get one in the second round.

NEW YORK - It could average 400 pounds from tackle to tackle, and still the offensive line Johnathan Franklin runs behind in the NFL won't be as daunting as the line he had at UCLA. His line in college was a queue of seven running backs, and Franklin was at the bottom of the depth chart as a freshman. He typically got to touch the ball once per practice. "If I didn't do something with my one rep, I'd walk away mad," said Franklin, who this week will become the first Bruins running back drafted since Maurice Jones-Drew in 2006.

Most people thought he was the typical Plan B. Turns out, quarterback Russell Wilson was Exhibit A. Wilson, selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of last year's NFL draft, looked to be a guy destined to hold a clipboard behind presumed starter Matt Flynn. But Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll opened the door to a fair competition, Wilson won the job, then assembled a first season worthy of rookie-of-the-year consideration. Now, he's the prime example of what every NFL team wants to do, regardless of position: find an overlooked diamond who has somehow slipped through the draft cracks.

Peyton Manning back in Indianapolis - in a Broncos uniform. Peyton vs. younger brother Eli Manning in another Manning Bowl. Andy Reid returning to Philadelphia: Let the booing begin now? The NFL schedule, released Thursday, is filled with return visits and intriguing matchups, beginning with a road game for the defending Super Bowl champions. And Peyton Manning will be part of that too, as the Baltimore Ravens travel to Denver for the now-traditional Thursday night opener on Sept.

The Green Bay Packers locked up star linebacker Clay Matthews with a long-term extension Wednesday as the team took care of one of its top two stars in need of new deals. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is also in negotiations for an extension. Matthews posted a picture of himself on Twitter signing the deal, saying, "Trivial amongst the recent tragic news, but happy to continue my career in Green Bay!" The Packers did not announce terms of the extension, but NFL.com's Albert Breer reported the deal as a five-year extension worth $66 million.

Dallas Willard Influential Christian philosopher taught at USC for 47 years Dallas Willard, 77, an influential Christian philosopher who taught at USC for 47 years and chaired the philosophy department in the early 1980s, died Wednesday in Woodland Hills, the university said. He had cancer. In "The Great Omission," "Renovation of the Heart," "The Divine Conspiracy" and other books, Willard wrote about spiritual formation and Christian discipleship for the general reader, often giving practical advice for living a Christian life in a secular world.

So Manti T'eo goes in the first round, but USC's Matt Barkley doesn't? With less than three weeks to go before the NFL draft, that's a distinct possibility. The Times projects four safeties, two guards and the controversial Notre Dame linebacker to go in the opening round, but only one quarterback. A look at how the first round could unfold: 1. CHIEFS - Luke Joeckel, T, Texas A&M: If they don't sign Branden Albert to a long-term deal, the Chiefs need a capable blind-side bodyguard for newly acquired quarterback Alex Smith.