|
|
|
Saturday, January 13
Remaining quarterbacks still earning respect
By John Clayton
ESPN.com
ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Ravens coach Brian Billick says to get used to seeing quarterbacks
rise from the dead. An NFL final four quarterbacking derby of Rich Gannon,
Trent Dilfer, Kerry Collins and Daunte Culpepper is a sign of the times.
Who knows? There's hope for Rick Mirer, Scott Mitchell and Jim
Miller. Maybe Heath Shuler should try a comeback. Let's not get carried
away.
|  | | Rich Gannon threw 28 touchdown passes during the regular season. |
"It's interesting to see that three of the four guys in the
championship games are ones who have kind of moved around a little bit,"
Billick said. "Kerry's been a few more places than Trent. Their backgrounds have similarities. They were high-round draft choices. I'm sure
they can talk to each other about shared experiences."
Even Culpepper, a 1999 Vikings first-rounder, faced bust status
before he even played an NFL game. Vikings players snickered at how raw
Culpepper was as a rookie. He was all feet. In practices, he'd look
downfield and run instead of throwing. Outsiders -- and many insiders --
considered coach Dennis Green crazy for dumping Jeff George and Randall
Cunningham to start him.
That's why the NFC and AFC championships for quarterbacks is one big
"I told you so" party. It should teach critics not to hit the reject
button on all quarterbacks, but the one you reject may be in the next Super
Bowl.
"All of these quarterbacks had abilities that were questioned,"
Billick said. "In three cases, the fact that they left to see the success
they are having indicates that maybe they weren't the total problems."
At least, Gannon doesn't hold his rejection in Minnesota against
Billick, who was a tight ends coach on the 1992 Vikings. Gannon was 8-4 as
a starter in 1992. He led the club in completions for the third
consecutive year. Yet when the playoffs started, coach Dennis Green decided
to bench him.
"The whole Vikings fiasco certainly wasn't good for my career,"
Gannon conceded. "It set me back. Then, going to Washington (following a
1993 trade) and having shoulder surgery hurt. The combination of those two
factors made it hard for me to rebound from."
Imagine Gannon's frustration. He was 28 years old, a year after
proving he was good enough to take a team to the playoffs. His opportunity
to establish himself was stripped away. Then his right shoulder went.
He went from a 1992 potential playoff quarterback to unemployed in
1994. The phone didn't ring. Nobody wanted a wounded winged non-playoff
quarterback even though it was a coach's decision to try another
quarterback.
Literally, it took four years to reestablish himself. He signed with
the Chiefs in 1995. Elvis Grbac was injured so Gannon came to the rescue in
1997 with a 6-3 record on a 13-3 team. He was hot, but coach Marty
Schottenheimer went back to Grbac and lost.
He was now 32 and still had never made the playoffs even though he
put two franchises in position to be in the Super Bowl tournament.
"It's still unfathomable to think that a guy like Rich, with his
ability and the league in such dire need for quarterbacks, sitting an entire
season unemployed," Billick said.
Gannon still believed in himself, and apparently the Raiders did,
too. In 1999, they signed him to a four-year, $16 million contract. Gannon has responded with two trips to the Pro Bowl, one AFC West title and a runner-up finish for MVP.
"People watching the last couple of years knew that I can play,"
Gannon said. "I think the Raiders knew that when they brought me in two
years ago, so I don't think it surprised many people."
Dilfer has different issues than Gannon. The Bucs drafted him to be
their franchise quarterback in 1994. Coming out of Fresno State, it was a
surprise that he went as high as the No. 6 pick in the draft. Instead of
being a fan favorite, though, he was public enemy No. 1 in Tampa.
Radio talk show hosts blasted him. One of the problems in the NFL is
that high draft choices asked to perform immediately don't catch much of a
break. Ask Culpepper. Green drafted him with the idea of sitting him for a
year. Yet, unless he could take his 266-pound
body on the defensive line, Culpepper was perceived a bust because Green blew it by not taking Jevon Kearse.
|
“ |
People watching the last couple of years knew that I can play. I think the Raiders knew that when they brought me in two years ago, so I don't think it surprised many people. ” |
|
|
— Rich Gannon, Raiders quarterback |
Dilfer took plenty of heat as well, but he did snap back. Dilfer blamed the Bucs' offensive schemes rather than himself. Too many low-percentage passes were called, he suggested. Late in his Bucs career, he
found the offensive system too conservative.
Coach Tony Dungy, blessed with a great defense, let then offensive
coordinator Mike Shula call running plays on the first two downs and let
Dilfer try to convert third-and-6 or third-and-10 plays.
Should he return to Tampa as the Ravens' Super Bowl starter, he'll
have the biggest smile in the world. Shaun King, his replacement, had the same problems. Dungy fired Shula and tried Les Steckel as offensive
coordinator. On Tuesday, Dungy fired Steckel.
Try blaming that one on Dilfer.
"Trent Dilfer has been a phenomenal performer for us," Billick
said. "He's a big reason why we've gone on to win nine games in a row. He
brings the decision-making. Sometimes at the quarterback position, it's as
much the play you don't make or the mistake you don't make as it is the play
you make. He's smart with the ball. He's not made a turnover in three
games."
Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe went on a diatribe following
Sunday's victory over the Titans, joking about winning with Dilfer. He joked about how the critics didn't give Dilfer a chance. In a
loud voice that he wanted Dilfer to hear because he liked him, Sharpe joked
that they scored 24 points with Dilfer at quarterback.
"We might have scored 35 or 40 with a real quarterback," Sharpe
said in his joking fashion.
Bill Walsh, general manger of the 49ers, reviewed the four
championship quarterbacks on local radio and said two -- Culpepper and Gannon
-- were very good and the other two were average. Then he paused, after
thinking, and said one was poor -- Dilfer.
No, these quarterbacks aren't going to be given any respect. They
have to earn it.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
|
|
