Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Game can’t be beat for Pagano brothers

Series -- Raiders lead, 21-13-2.

Last time -- The Raiders won, 30-10, in the second round of the 2002 playoffs in Oakland.

Notable -- The 35th anniversary of the "Heidi Game." (That actual date is Nov. 17.) Including that stirring 43-32 comeback by the Raiders, the ending of which was so rudely missed by a television audience when NBC cut to the start of the movie of that sweet little Swiss girl, the Jets are 1-7 in that quaint, peaceful, civil stadium in Oakland ... this one will show just how far the rusty, barking Raiders have fallen ... how bad are the Silver and Black? An Oakland columnist called them a "steamy cowpie."

Prediction (5-4) -- Jets 27, Raiders 9.

-- Tennessee rookie WR Tyrone Calico, upon discovering that his Nashville-area apartment had been ransacked Monday, during practice, by an intruder.

Sam Pagano implored his two sons not to attempt careers in the brutal business of football, in which highs and lows are marked by the crazy bounces of that funny-looking ball.

Neither listened.

"He tried to tell us both, 'It's something you don't want to do,' " said Cleveland Browns defensive backs coach Chuck Pagano, 43. "He tried to talk us out of it. He said he didn't recommend us going into coaching, that it was no life to lead.

"But it was a natural. It was the only thing either of us wanted to do."

The Browns are 3-5 and San Diego, for whom 36-year-old John Pagano is a defensive assistant in charge of quality control, is 1-7.

Sam Pagano is famous in Boulder, Colo., where he coached Fairview High for more than 30 years and won multiple state titles. Chuck played defensive back for his father, and John was a linebacker.

The Pagano brothers coached together at UNLV in 1990 and '91, during the revolving-door reign of Jim Strong, and they were involved in a landmark game in Cleveland on Oct. 19.

It was the first time, at any level, that Chuck and John coached against each other. The Chargers won, 26-20, thanks to running back LaDainian Tomlinson's 200 yards.

Both brothers suffered through consecutive 4-7 seasons with the Rebels, during the first half of a Strong tenure that was marked by constant turnover. Chuck Pagano figured three dozen or so assistants came and went during that stretch.

However, Pagano said he owes Strong, a Lou Holtz disciple now in the private sector in the Midwest, a great deal of gratitude for giving him a chance to be a defensive coordinator.

Moreover, Pagano adores Las Vegas and remains tight with many friends here. His first child, daughter Taylor, was born in 1990, just before the tipoff of the national championship basketball game that the Rebels won against Duke.

After UNLV, John Pagano toyed with a career outside football. In 1994, though, he returned to the game at Louisiana Tech. After a season at Ole Miss, he landed with the New Orleans Saints in 1996.

Chuck Pagano spent three seasons at East Carolina before rejoining Butch Davis at the University of Miami in 1995. Pagano had coached with Davis at Miami in '86.

When Davis was named the Browns' coach in 2001, he quickly placed a call to Pagano, who accepted the invitation to work in the NFL.

"I knew what I was getting into," said Chuck Pagano. "It wasn't like I would have been working for someone I didn't know. But like anything else, you have to produce and win."

He has turned 26 receptions into first downs, tops among his peers. And none of them comes within 10 of his 45 catches. Curiously, this city's favorite adopted son has been quite quiet.

That's not a bad thing. The Kid is getting focused. The Giants can win their third game in a row Sunday, at home against Atlanta. Then it's two on the road, in Philly and then a Monday nighter in Tampa.

Monday night? Tampa? You thinking what we're thinking? Yep, that gives The Kid ample time and space to get out here for the shenanigans Friday night, Nov. 21, and through that Saturday night, too.

Division hits

NFC: West -- Nine yards on eight carries last week? St. Louis had a long way to go, though, to come close to the record for fewest rushing yards in a game (minus-53), set by Detroit in 1934. South -- Saints RB owns an NFL-best six consecutive games of tallying at least 100 yards. North -- Keep an eye on Detroit rookie LB Boss Bailey, Redskins CB Champ's "little" brother. East -- RB Dorsey Levens, 33, has given the Giants' ground game a boost.

AFC: West -- The Chiefs, who gave up 399 points a year ago, are on track to yield a paltry 260 this season. South -- Texans shoot for their first two-game winning streak. After victories, they are 0-6 (getting outscored 173-55) in their two seasons. North -- Locals are predicting 2-6 Pittsburgh's worst season since 1969, when the Steelers went 1-13. East -- Buffalo RB Travis Henry can become the first Bill in nine years to gain triple-digit yardage in three consecutive games Sunday in Dallas.

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