Still, when he wouldn't shoot up the shoulder with painkillers for an exhibition game, Shula and Scott got in a yelling match in the locker room. The next day, Scott was traded to Washington for the forgettable Bryan Salter.

But that's not the mistake Scott harbors today. Several teammates asked don't know this one. They think he never has attended a Perfect Season reunion. But he says he was there in 1982, at the 10-year celebration, ready to join in. As Scott tells it, he and Shula were in an Orange Bowl elevator together.

"I said to him, `We've got to meet next week and iron out this thing between us," Scott says. "Shula said to me, `F--- you.'''

Shula says today: "I don't remember that. Why would I say that?"

When the elevator door opened Scott walked out of the Orange Bowl, rolling away like a dropped coin, never to be seen again. Shula wishes he would return, saying, "I loved Jake on that team and I know the kind of player he was. I don't think there has been a better safety combination than him and Anderson."