The
Sunday before New Year's, the red-hot Philadelphia Eagles defeated the
spiraling Washington Redskins by a wide margin. Several days later,
the Redskins' head coach Steve Spurrier announced his resignation after
just two seasons in the NFL. Spurrier had enjoyed enormous success
as a head coach at the college level, first with Dook and then with the
University of Florida. Like most Dookies, he was generally perceived
as arrogant and smug, thus earning the nickname "Steve Superior".
During Spurrier's
resignation press conference I noted that face appeared a bit pinker and
puffier than I had remembered. Perhaps it was this bloated pinkishness
that led me to declare "this is Steve Spurrier's head" when, at 2:30am
on New Year's, I borrowed a barbecued pig's head from a buffet table at
the downtown bar where we had spent the evening. Or maybe it was
the fact that the Redskins' most devoted group of fans call themselves
"The Hogettes" and wear pig noses to the games. In any case,
I began parading the pig head through the streets of Old City Philadelphia
and doing just about everything I could to create awareness of the fact
that I was in possession of Steve Spurrier's head.
In many ways,
the story of Steve Spurrier The Pig's Head followed much the same arc as
the story of of Steve Spurrier the Head Coach. View
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