SUPER BOWL NOTES MIAMI – The Falcons have come this far for many reasons, none of which takes a back seat to their effectiveness running the ball with Jamal Anderson and their ability to keep Chris Chandler healthy. Neither could have been accomplished if not for some surprisingly solid work from rookie right tackle Ephraim Salaam.
As a seventh-round draft pick out of San Diego State, simply making the roster was an achievement for Salaam, a gifted athlete who at 6-foot-7 and 290 pounds also played for the Aztec basketball team and was rugged enough to be called “The Shaq of the WAC.” Salaam, though, was labeled an underachiever who did not get the most out of his physical talent.
“You can see the talent when you watch him on game film, good feet, long arms,” Falcons offensive line coach Art Shell said. “After we drafted him we talked and I asked him, ‘Why were you drafted in the seventh round?’ He told me exactly why; he felt it was deserving because he did not put forth the effort to become a good player in college. He’s done very well, responded to coaching. The things you heard about him college, that he was lazy, that has not been evident with us.”
Salaam turned up his game and as a rookie has started every game this season, although there were some rough spots. “You go out the first game in Carolina and give up a couple sacks to Kevin Greene and he doesn’t get rattled, that’s a hell of an accomplishment,” left tackle Bob Whitfield said. “If he didn’t have the heart to do it, he wouldn’t be sitting here.”
The Super Bowl presents yet another challenge for Salaam, who goes up against defensive ends Harald Hasselbach and Neil Smith, a rookie taking on a pair of veterans. Even if Salaam and the offensive line struggle early, expect the Falcons and Dan Reeves to stick with the game plan and continue to pound away with Anderson.
“In every game this year we feel that’s our goal, dominate on the run,” Whitfield said. “You can win a game just by running the ball. Knowing that, we got to take the heart out of the defense by smashing them. If you watch our games, it’s not all great successful runs. That’s the good thing about Dan, he works with us and he’s patient. That just pounds out a team. If Jamal gets 200 yards or 75 yards, that team is going to feel it.” *Broncos LB Bill Romanowski has a reputation as a hard-nosed competitor who sometimes goes over the line and irritates opponents. Some of the Falcons don’t mind his antics. “I think he’s awesome,” Anderson said. “He plays the game the way you want to play the game, and I’m talking about the dirty stuff too. I’m sorry if some of the things he does or says offends people, but that’s football. *Broncos officials have changed their minds about a victory parade in Denver. The team announced players will participate in both a parade and rally this afternoon if they win Super Bowl XXXIII. Earlier, the team said the players did not have time for a parade because so many Broncos (nine) will fly to Hawaii tomorrow for next week’s Pro Bowl … A record 175 international media organizations were granted credentials for the Super Bowl, topping the previous record of 174 that attended last year’s game in San Diego. Mexico leads the international contingent with 37 media outlets, followed by Germany and Japan with 24 each … Reeves headed into yesterday’s game with an 0-3 record in the Super Bowl and never came close in all three losses. The most common reason given for the failures when Reeves was in charge of the Broncos was that Denver did not have a potent running game. If Reeves ever had someone like Terrell Davis, the thinking goes, he’d be a multiple Super Bowl winner. Reeves, though, isn’t so sure. “Very few people have a Terrell Davis,” Reeves said. “I do not think we lost the Super Bowl because we didn’t have one. That says we got there without a running back, and I thought Sammy Winder was a good running back, as was Bobby Humphrey.” *Of course, the Falcons have never before reached the Super Bowl, leaving behind a luckless group. The only franchises that have never made it to the big game are the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens, St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. … You can teach an old dog new tricks. Steve DeBerg, the Falcons’ 45-year-old backup quarterback and former quarterback coach, said playing behind Chris Chandler has been an education. “I learned more about throwing a football from Chris Chandler than any individual I’ve been with,” DeBerg said. “More advanced techniques. He is an incredible passer.”
