Troubled Waters For Dennis Green And Vikings

This is a story about a coach who never really minded trouble. In fact, Dennis Green rather liked the problems that perplexed so many other men in pro and college football.

Green chose to take on a wide receiver named Cris Carter, who brought along a legacy of cocaine and a bungled departure from college.

He knew to overlook the ordeal running back Robert Smith created when he told his coaches at Ohio State that he would not skip classes for football.

He saw a light inside receiver Randy Moss that frankly almost no one else in the NFL, wielding microscopes, could find.

Yes, Dennis Green believed in every one of them. He knew they had something so few others possessed - talent. The other things? The problems? Well, he'd make it all work out. He promised. Just wait and see, everything would be fine.

And his reward was this: Carter grew up and turned into one of the best receivers in the game. Smith started sprinting to 1,000-yard seasons. And Moss, well, we all know what he did for the Vikings. He took them to within a field goal of the Super Bowl last winter.

So, no, trouble never much bothered Green. Perhaps this was the problem. You can't beat trouble forever. If you keep taking it on, eventually it will tear everything apart.

That's what happened on draft day this year, when he came face to face with Dimitrius Underwood.

Oh, you could smell the turmoil on Underwood right through the television set. He was a talented player as a true freshman at Michigan State. But by his senior year, he seemed weary of playing; he didn't like pain, he sat out a lot. He missed all of last season with an ankle sprain. Strangely, the doctors believed the sprain was healed, yet he kept insisting it still bothered him.

He could have taken a redshirt and returned next fall, but Dimitrius didn't seem too interested in another year of college. Instead, he flunked so many classes he was declared academically ineligible.

In February, he didn't work out at the NFL's scouting combine. He hardly even showed a bit of interest in the draft.

Nonetheless, Underwood was a defensive end. A good one, too. And Dennis Green was desperate for a good defensive end. So the Vikings used their No. 1 pick on a player from Michigan State who did everything he could to miss his senior season.

And here's where Dennis Green learned that no coach is ever bigger than his worst bit of trouble. Dimitrius Underwood came to town, shook the Minnesota officials' hands and almost immediately began to lie. He told them his class graduated late, precluding him - by NFL rules - from attending a late minicamp for rookies. The class graduated early. Even after that sham, he told them he really, really wanted to play football for the Vikings and signed a five-year, $5.3 million contract, $1.7 million of which was handed to him immediately as a signing bonus.

Training camp started the next morning, and he attended all of one practice. Sometime before the second one, Underwood packed his bags and drove away.

Days later, he was found by a newspaper reporter. He was at a Marriott Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, he had $8 in his pocket and was clutching a Bible. He said he wanted to be a minister and couldn't deal with the brutal world of professional football.

Only he tried to do a very non-Christian thing first. He went to the bank to pull out all his bonus money for work he had never done. Unfortunately for him, the Vikings suspected he might try such a thing and had the account frozen.

Discovered, he was brought back to Minnesota where Green essentially kicked him off the team. Of course, Underwood got to hold on to a chunk of his signing bonus. A few days later, the Miami Dolphins called, offering a job. After thinking things over for a while, Underwood agreed to a contract that pays him $395,000 and wouldn't require him to play in a game for several weeks if at all this season.

"We can always make room for another talented player," Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson said.

Underwood insists he will come play for the Dolphins. We'll see if he actually does.

As for Dennis Green, the coach who never worried about taking on trouble?

Well, he's down a defensive end. That could be a problem for Minnesota, one of the favored teams in the NFC. Underwood was an awfully good player. The Vikings had big plans for him, the way they did for Carter, Smith and Moss.

Only this time the trouble was a little too much for Dennis Green to handle. And it might cost Minnesota its season.