It was a scene right out of Pop Warner football. A player makes a good play, then commits a dumb penalty and the coach summons him to the sideline for an earful.
The
player’s benched. He pouts a little bit. And after the coach has some
time to think, tells the player, “You know what. Why don’t you head on
home. I don’t want you on the field right now.”
Except on Sunday,
this wasn’t Pop Warner football. It was new San Francisco 49ers Head
Coach Mike Singletary putting his stamp on the woeful team he inherited
after coach Mike Nolan was fired.
The moment of clarity for
Singletary happened after 49er tight end Vernon Davis caught a short
pass in a game the 49ers were losing to Seattle. After the play, the
Seahawks defender started chirping and Davis slapped his facemask,
drawing a 15-yard personal foul penalty.
Singletary benched Davis
after the play. According to ESPN.com, Singletary told his oft-troubled
tight end, “I told him that he would do a better job for us right now
taking a shower and coming back and watching the game than going out on
the field. Simple as that.”
You can fine players, even suspend them from playing in games, but maybe benching them mid-game and treating them like they’re 12-years-old might be exactly what coaches need to do.
I don’t know what motivates Davis to play football, but I have to believe being called out by his coach in front of his teammates, and thousands of fans, had to be a bit humbling to him.
Singletary’s action will be all the rage on the sports talk shows this week, and for the sole reason that a head coach actually stood up to a player. And the best part is that it didn’t take a run in with the law (See: Pac Man Jones, Ray Lewis, Chad Johnson, etc.) for a selfish, me first player to be reminded that while there’s no “I” in team, it’s a pretty important part of “S-I-T.” – Ted Taylor
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2008.
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