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Jaworski won't keep tabs on Soul players in New Orleans
By ED BARKOWITZ
Philadelphia Daily News
barkowe@phillynews.com
Jul 24, 2008
The stakes may not be quite as high, but Ron Jaworski has been here before. And he's determined not to make the same mistake twice. It was January 1981 and Jaworski and the Eagles were playing the Raiders in New Orleans in Super Bowl XV. Though the Super Bowl hadn't become the hype machine it is today, there were still numerous distractions for the competing teams. Especially in the French Quarter, which can be part frat house, part burlesque show.
That's why coach Dick Vermeil and the Eagles headquartered at a Hilton near the airport, far from downtown.
"We had our good times, but we stayed away from the media center and where everybody was," said Jaworski, the starting quarterback. "We treated it more like a business trip."
The upstart Raiders, some of whom were carousing on Bourbon Street the night before the game, jumped on the Eagles and never let up. The Eagles committed four turnovers, six penalties and didn't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter when the bus already was warming up.
"People say the Raiders were [more] loose. It's easy to say that after the game," said Jaworski, who had three interceptions. "We were a different team. We were the guys that were focused and working hard. They were out partying and you could say that worked for them. But that wasn't our style."
Jaworski said the ArenaBowl pregame reins won't be nearly as tight on the Soul as they were for his Eagles. Rather than staying near the airport, the Soul will stay in the center of town. Rather than thinking football 24 hours a day, the Soul players will be allowed to soak in the moment. Philadelphia plays San Jose on Sunday at New Orleans Arena.
"Coach [Bret] Munsey and I, we've discussed that," said Jaworski, the Soul's team president. "We want our guys to enjoy the ArenaBowl experience. We'll put curfew in later in the week, but we'll give the guys a little bit of free time."
The Soul arrived in New Orleans yesterday and while the players will be under a midnight curfew, Munsey said it's up to them to police themselves. They are, after all, supposed to be professionals.
"Ron has mentioned how much there is to do there and what trouble you can get in," Munsey said. "We're going to let them enjoy themselves and on Thursday and Friday we'll tighten it up and Saturday will be just like any other night before a game.
"It's up to these guys. I put it in their hands. It's their teammates that could screw the thing up . . . It's important that we stay together, stay focused." *
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