He’ll Pass on a Remake of the Longest Yard

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —  The rewind button is always on in Jevon Kearse’s mind, the image playing over and over.

“I still see it every day,” the Philadelphia Eagle defensive lineman said.

It was a play millions saw live and millions more see time and again in Super Bowl highlights.

The date was Jan. 30, 2000. The place: the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The occasion: Super Bowl XXXIV, the St. Louis Rams against the Tennessee Titans.

In the closing seconds, the Rams were holding on to a 23-16 lead. With the Titans at the Ram 10-yard line, and out of timeouts with six seconds to play, Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair fired a quick slant pass to Kevin Dyson, who caught it in stride at the three.

Ahead lay the end zone and a chance to tie the score. Ahead also was defender Mike Jones, who wrapped his arms around Dyson and brought him down just outside the one-yard line.

As the final second disappeared from the clock, Dyson was still straining, stretching with one arm, ball in hand, toward the goal line.

But Jones would not budge.

Kearse was a rookie for the Titans that day. Nicknamed “The Freak” because of his rare -- even for the NFL -- combination of size (6 feet 4, 265 pounds), speed and power, Kearse figured he’d get them in his next Super Bowl.

“We were there. We had a chance and we came up that short,” he said, holding his hands a foot apart. “I became determined, that, the next time, I would make the most of my opportunities.”

He figured the next time might even be the next year.

When it didn’t happen, and when the magnitude of what had been lost that day finally sunk in, Kearse began to watch film from that game. Again and again. With old teammates and alone.

What if he had stopped a Ram runner one yard sooner? What if a Titan receiver had fallen forward instead of backward on a reception? What if a holding penalty had been called one yard deeper in the end zone?

Rather than continuing to look backward, Kearse decided to turn his agony into productive energy. He became almost obsessed with the small stuff.

After five seasons with the Titans, Kearse signed with the Eagles for this season -- and brought with him a philosophy.

“I have tried to motivate my teammates to do the small things,” he said, “because you never know when some small things you overlook can come up and bite you. I push guys to run one extra play in practice, to do one extra [weightlifting or running] rep, to watch one extra play on film.

“I want to know that when this Super Bowl is over I did everything I could possibly do, that I have no regrets. And I want my teammates to know that too.

“That one-yard thing, you just can’t get over that.”