Fish Focus Despite J.J.'s Loss

With coach Jimmy Johnson back in Texas to bury his late mother, the Miami Dolphins went about practice as usual Wednesday with the focused demeanor Johnson has made his trademark in the NFL.

Johnson broke from the team to attend the funeral of his mother Allene in Port Arthur, Texas, where she died Sunday at age 77. Assistants handled their usual roles in meetings and practice with minimal change.

"He's here in spirit. We know that today," wide receiver Oronde Gadsden said during a break in meetings. "Just the presence of Jimmy Johnson, that's still around."

Cornerback Terrell Buckley said the only difference that stood out was that Johnson wasn't around to open meetings or call the team together after Wednesday's practice.

"You start and end with the head coach," he said. "He starts the meetings and finishes the day. Today there was a little more chit-chat at the start, things like that. It's a little different when he's not around."

Johnson got word of his mother's death late Sunday. Girlfriend Rhonda Rookmaaker said she gave him the news when he returned from the team's final meetings before Monday night's game against Denver.

Johnson patrolled the sideline in his usual animated style during Miami's 31-21 triumph over the Broncos. But despite calling the victory his biggest since taking over the Dolphins, his anguish was obvious.

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"Our schedule's pretty well set," offensive coordinator Kippy Brown said. "We're organized and we go about our business. We already had to condense what we usually do on Monday and Tuesday. So we put in a long day yesterday."

Eddie Jones, the team president, and Harvey Greene, vice president for media relations, also attended the funeral.

While Johnson guided the Dallas Cowboys to the first of his two Super Bowl titles, his drive to win produced an unusual turn when it was learned he had asked his parents not to attend. He didn't want the distraction.

Even during a visit to Houston in his first year as Dolphins coach, he planned to spend only about five minutes with them at the team bus.

Allene and her husband, C.W., never seemed to mind. They said it was part of his devotion to coaching.

Johnson's softer side showed after his parents' health began to deteriorate. C.W. has undergone two operations in the past two years for colon cancer, and Allene required kidney dialysis three times a week.

Johnson offered to move them to South Florida, but they preferred to stay in Port Arthur. So he hired a housekeeper, cook and gardener for them, and bought them a satellite dish so they could watch Dolphins games.

Last month, Johnson flew his parents in to attend their first Dolphins game in Miami, a 30-10 victory over New Orleans. He also took them to eat at his Three Rings restaurant in Miami Beach and went for a ride in his boat.

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