Jim Mcmahon

The stands were full of Jim McMahon look-alikes. The sidelines were full of Jim McMahon look-alikes. But on the playing field, where it counted, there was no Jim McMahon. And if anything has been learned about the Chicago Bears in the last two NFL seasons, it is that they are not the same team when Mr. Outrageous is watching instead of quarterbacking. While the injured McMahon sat on his helmet and looked morose, the Bears were soundly beaten by the host Minnesota Vikings, 23-7, in Minneapolis's Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Football, as everyone knows, is a game of X's and O's. For some time now, many Eagles players have been sporting the popular "X" caps, inspired by promotion of Spike Lee's forthcoming film epic about Malcolm X. So when Eagles backup quarterback Jim McMahon spotted a cap stitched with the letter "O," he jumped for it. At first, it was a sort of in-joke in the Eagles' locker room - McMahon strutting about wearing his "O" cap in a roomful...

An unlikely friendship between two quarterbacks who have almost nothing else in common will be renewed Sunday at Veterans Stadium when the Eagles do battle with the San Francisco 49ers. Assuming that his health is equal to the occasion, the game will allow Eagles quarterback Jim McMahon, 32, a chance to see - and then maybe help beat - Steve Young, 30, his onetime protege at Brigham Young University. Given their diverse attitudes toward BYU, beer, religion, headbands, money, the media, sunglasses and a host of lesser stuff, it may seem odd that Young, the straight-arrow great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, is looking forward to his visit with McMahon, the NFL's answer to Bart Simpson.

The most basic law of economics is that when supply outstrips demand, market value inevitably declines. Somebody had better tell Jim McMahon. The Eagles' backup quarterback is about to hit the free-agent market and vows he will sign only with a club that gives him a chance to start. One problem: Perhaps a half-dozen NFL clubs are seriously looking to replace their first-string quarterbacks. Meanwhile, about twice that many quality passers will become available, either through trades or the free-agent market.

This Great Quarterback Controversy is getting even weirder. Randall Cunningham, who for the last week was alternately bitter and blase about being benched yesterday, now has a new idea. He thinks Jim McMahon should start again next week. And he said this after coach Rich Kotite had repeated for the umpteenth time that Cunningham would start Sunday against Green Bay. Of course, he also said it after McMahon had led the Eagles to a 31-10 victory over the Los Angeles Raiders.

For a guy who had a football-size ice bag wrapped around his aching right groin for the better part of 24 hours, Randall Cunningham said he felt just great. He was walking without a limp yesterday, and he said his comeback from knee surgery had taken only the tiniest of detours. Eagles coach Rich Kotite is taking no chances on another calamity befalling his star quarterback just 10 days before the 1992 season opener, however. So Kotite said yesterday that Cunningham, who pulled his right groin in Sunday's 20-10 preseason loss to the Atlanta Falcons, would sit out Thursday's preseason finale at the Vet against the New York Jets as a precaution.

Highlights, lowlights and a retrospective romp through the dejection, delight and ultimate disappointment that was the Eagles' season of 1991, brought to you once again through the miracle of distant replay. The year that launched the Rich Kotite era in Philadelphia may be remembered as one of the most accomplished and least fortunate in the history of the franchise - a season in which fan expectations changed every three weeks or so, depending on the latest quarterback injury report.

Buckets of flowers splashed some color into a gray day as Jim McMahon strolled by the Flower Express in Bryn Mawr yesterday. Today's forecast offers the chance of showers and flurries.

Jim McMahon and Mike Ditka together again? Don't laugh. It could happen. McMahon, 33, is one of 15 Eagles players who will become unrestricted free agents after the season, according to the terms of the tentative agreement between the owners and players. Yesterday, during the taping of his weekly television show, Ditka said he would be very interested in having McMahon as his quarterback next season if he still is coaching. "It's a very interesting scenerio," Ditka said.

RENO, Nev. - Former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon and two others were injured yesterday when a limousine crashed through a fence south of Reno, the Nevada Highway Patrol said. The Nevada Highway Patrol said the accident happened around 2 p.m. on U.S. 395. The limo was heading north when it left the four-lane highway and crashed through a wire fence, Trooper Mike Edgell said. "Right now he's in a lot of pain," Edgell said later yesterday. He described McMahon's injuries as "non-incapacitating.

THE FIRST NFL quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards was San Diego's Dan Fouts. The year was 1979. Joe Namath had done it for the 1967 New York Jets in the AFL, but this was the first time after the two leagues merged. It was a round, magical, freakish number, but few saw it as the future. In the entire decade of the 1980s, 14 more quarterbacks threw for 4,000 yards. Then, people started to believe. Well, some people. Buddy Ryan was still referring to the wide-open "run-and-shoot" offense back then as the "chuck-and-duck.

The New Orleans Saints began working on identifying an interim head coach on Monday after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell rejected the appeals of head coach Sean Payton and others, and left them facing suspensions stemming from the club's bounty system. The program offered cash bonuses for big hits that knocked targeted opponents out of games or hurt them enough that they required help getting to the sideline. In addition to upholding Payton's suspension - which begins next Monday and runs through the Super Bowl - Goodell also upheld suspensions of eight games for general manager Mickey Loomis and six games for assistant head coach Joe Vitt, along with a $500,000 fine for the franchise and the loss of second-round draft picks this year and next.

EAGLES FANS may have finally met their match. Glenn Timmermann, of Round Lake Beach, Ill., has 126 Bears "autograph" tattoos on his body, including Buddy Ryan's. Ryan, who was the Bears defensive coordinator before coaching the Eagles, is expected to be in at the Linc when the Eagles host the Bears Monday night. Timmermann gets players and coaches to sign his body and then hustles over to the tattoo parlor where the artist traces the signature in permanent ink. He's even got a website - thebiggestbearfan.com - that includes photos of his tats.

Tony Romo is still sleeping in a recliner, still not practicing, and still not certain whether he'll be able to play against the Redskins on Monday night. While tests show his punctured lung has healed, his broken rib hurts plenty, especially when he moves the wrong way. Romo has been fitted for a protective vest, but Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall already has said that he and his teammates see a bull's-eye on Romo's ribs. "That's part of playing football," Romo said.

RENO, Nev. - Former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon and two others were injured yesterday when a limousine crashed through a fence south of Reno, the Nevada Highway Patrol said. The Nevada Highway Patrol said the accident happened around 2 p.m. on U.S. 395. The limo was heading north when it left the four-lane highway and crashed through a wire fence, Trooper Mike Edgell said. "Right now he's in a lot of pain," Edgell said later yesterday. He described McMahon's injuries as "non-incapacitating.

Former Eagles quarterback Jim McMahon and two others were injured Monday when their limousine crashed through a fence south of Reno, the Nevada Highway Patrol said. The Nevada Highway Patrol said the accident happened around 2 p.m. on U.S. 395. The limo, owned by Bell Limousine of Reno, was heading north when it left the four-lane highway, crashed through a wire fence, over a culvert and into a pasture, Trooper Mike Edgell said. "Right now he's in a lot of pain," Edgell said later Monday.

JAMES HARRISON, Quintin Mikell and all the other defensive players in the NFL have legitimate gripes. There is confusion over what is excessive and what is acceptable. Players aren't sure. Refs aren't sure. The call on Kurt Coleman against the Colts was ridiculous. But there is a reason the NFL has stepped up its enforcement of dangerous hits and why guys keep getting letters from the league's disciplinary department that include fines and suspensions. Former Bears and Eagles quarterback Jim McMahon played from 1982-96.

PERHAPS THE only good thing about Kenny Albert, Moose Johnston and Tony Siragusa calling last week's Eagles-Titans game was that Siragusa was absent. Siragusa actually isn't horrible as CBS' sideline reporter. He'll just always be the guy whose cheapshot knocked Oakland quarterback (and SJ Prep alum) Rich Gannon out of the 2000 AFC Championship Game. This is a long way of saying that, even with the Eagles on a bye, there are still NFL games on the tube this weekend. Fortunately, Siragusa again will not have to be endured: Jacksonville at Dallas, 1 p.m., CBS3: David Garrard vs. Jon Kitna.

IF KEVIN KOLB learns nothing else from the Donovan McNabb era, he should learn that his first task is to gather his team around him. No, not that team. The Eagles have already embraced the new starter. But if he wants to succeed in this town, he'd better gather a team of media-savvy image consultants to start constructing his narrative. He could throw more touchdowns, gain more yards, win more regular-season and postseason games than any quarterback in franchise history and still end up getting bum-rushed out of town.

Their top running back transferred to a nearby rival, but don't feel sorry for the West Deptford Eagles. Clyde Folsom's squad is ready to make a run at another Colonial Conference Liberty Division title. West Deptford captured the crown outright last season and has won or shared the last six division crowns. The Eagles will be led by senior Mike Carbone, an Inquirer all-South Jersey offensive lineman in 2006, and speedy running back Jimmy Owens, arguably the most explosive sophomore around.