Lewis joins a three-ring circus

The circus will be in the nation's capital Monday night when Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder and his NFC version of the Oakland Raiders has its dysfunction dissected as the country watches on prime-time television.

Before the show starts, let's identify the clown.

It's Little Dan Snyder, the egomaniac who created this fiasco. Not Sherm Lewis, the unfortunate gentleman who's heading for a three-hour pratfall, sans the floppy shoes and rubber nose, because he agreed against sound advice from none other than close friend Tony Dungy to play the lead role in this made-for-TV bloopers event.

Lewis, the Vikings' offensive coordinator in 2000-01, was given coach Jim Zorn's offensive play-calling duties this week despite the fact he had only been with the team for two weeks as a consultant.

"I don't think it's an ideal situation," backup quarterback Todd Collins told reporters this week. "Generally, you have some play-callers work with a quarterback for years and years. ... But it seems like drastic measures are called for when we haven't been playing so well on offense."

The Redskins are 2-4 and averaging only 13.2 points per game. They've failed to reach the end zone in two of their home games.

Little Dan is so fed up he reportedly tried to hire Mike Shanahan recently. When Shanahan wisely said no to a mid-season coaching change, Little Dan turned to the 67-year-old Lewis, whose last NFL job was five years ago in Detroit.

So now comes the Monday Night Mess, which promises to be equal parts football and reality TV.

The media is having fun this week pointing out that Lewis was calling bingo and delivering meals on wheels for the Novi Senior Center in Michigan a couple of weeks ago. It's a great story, but let's also not forget that no matter what happens, Lewis was a well- respected assistant on the collegiate and NFL levels. He's a West Coast disciple who learned the intricate offense from the master himself, Bill Walsh, in San Francisco while the 49ers were winning two Super Bowls.

In 1992, Lewis moved on to Green Bay as Packers offensive coordinator under Mike Holmgren, another Walsh understudy.

While several assistants who were taught the West Coast system by Walsh or one of his disciples got head coaching jobs in the NFL, Lewis never got his chance. The inability of Lewis, who is black, to land a head coaching job is one of the many examples that justified the NFL's decision to create the "Rooney Rule," mandating that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for all head coaching openings.

Considering Lewis' current assignment, it's ironic that his lack of play-calling experience is often cited as a reason he never became an NFL head coach. Lewis didn't call plays under Walsh or Holmgren and is remembered in Minnesota for the 2001 game at Chicago when Vikings coach Dennis Green relieved him of his play-calling duties.

"Sherm had our attention," former Vikings receiver Cris Carter told the Washington Post. "He was a very good coordinator, very well- organized and he had a good feel for calling the plays on game day."

Here's wishing Sherm good luck on Monday night. He's certainly going to need it.

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com