OPINION

By TIM DAHLBERG

updated 4:53 p.m. ET May 24, 2008

Bill Parcells just doesn't get it.

He's mad at Jason Taylor, so mad that it's likely the best player on the woeful Miami Dolphins won't be a Dolphin much longer. So mad that he watched game film instead of watching Taylor in the finals of "Dancing With the Stars.''

Not that he missed a lot. Kristi Yamaguchi had this one wrapped up from her opening tango.

Most of Taylor's teammates probably weren't watching, either. They were in bed early so they could be up early for practice the next day that was voluntary in name only.

Unlike Parcells, though, they probably got it.

They know that football careers can be short. They understand that partying with the stars and seeing yourself on the screen is just as satisfying as sacking the opposing quarterback.

That's why Terrell Owens was turning on every television set in his house the other day for his appearance on the sitcom "Under One Roof.''

"I think I surprised a lot of people with my performance,'' T.O. said. "For me, I feel like I can act. That's what I want to do.''

So does Taylor, who, fresh off his evening network debut jetted to New York for the morning talk shows, then back to Tinseltown for meetings with movie executives.

Special feature When athletes and celebs get together A look at the many links between sports and Hollywood stars. NBCSports.com

While his teammates sweated and Parcells stewed, Taylor was doing lunch in Beverly Hills and having his people call someone else's people to make him even bigger in movies than he is on the football field.

But he may think twice about quitting his day job, even if he can do a mambo and fox trot with the best of them.

The road to the Oscars is littered with the carcasses of former athletes who thought Hollywood would be theirs, as anyone who watched Shaquille O'Neal as the genie in "Kazaam'' can certainly attest. Fellow big man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fared better as the pilot in "Airplane,'' but at 7-foot-2 it's hard not to be typecast.

The two centers were among the luckier basketball players, most of whom end up playing themselves in one-and-off movies like Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing in "Space Jam'' or Jason Kidd and Steve Nash in "Like Mike.''

Athletes have been trying to break into Hollywood since English Channel conqueror Gertrude Ederle appeared in the silent film "Swim, Girl, Swim,'' in 1927. Ederle's 1924 Olympic teammate, Johnny Weissmuller, later became more famous for being Tarzan than anything he did in the water.

Taylor can take heart that at least some football players can carry their Screen Actors Guild cards without fear of embarrassment. Jim Brown announced his retirement at the same time he was filming the "Dirty Dozen.'' Merlin Olsen was a star in "Little House on the Prarie,'' and O.J. Simpson had a bit of a career before some other things got in his way.

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