Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 4, 1992 TAG: 9201040046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
PRESSURE ON RYPIEN DOUBLES STARTING TODAY
For "a bloody idiot," Mark Rypien is pretty sharp.The highest salaried among the Washington Redskins had the most to prove this season - and he did. Rypien held out for a week of training camp, asking for an average salary for NFL quarterbacks.
Rypien settled for less, a $1.25 million, one-year contract, after Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke called him "a bloody idiot" for missing camp. Now, it appears Rypien's right arm can go deep into Cooke's wallet, after guiding the Redskins to the NFL's best record.
The Redskins needed Rypien to be only an average quarterback. They got much more. Rypien's 97.9 quarterback rating was the second-highest in club history, to Sammy Baugh's 109.7 in 1945. Rypien was elected the NFC's Pro Bowl starter. In Washington's past seven games, he has 17 touchdown passes and only three interceptions.
Never one of those "I told you so" guys, Rypien has spent his fourth season in a Washington uniform saying and doing all the right things. However, quarterbacking the Redskins ranks second among pressure jobs in Washington, so let's not beat around the Bush: If the Redskins fail in a playoff bid that begins today against the Atlanta Falcons at RFK Stadium, Rypien again will hear he isn't good enough to get Washington to a Super Bowl.
"There was a lot of discussion about that a year ago, at the end of the season," said Redskins quarterbacks coach Rod Dowhower. "Give [coach] Joe Gibbs credit. After meetings and a lot of thought, in the final analysis, it was decided Ryp was our best chance to succeed.
"Sure, he could have been traded. At that time, though, Joe decided, based on all of the information we have available, Ryp is the guy we need to go with. This season, Mark rewarded Joe with that decision, but there were many who thought the opposite would take place."
Dowhower pointed out that Gibbs and his staff didn't simply put blind faith in Rypien, a Calgary, Alberta, native and a sixth-round draftee from Washington State in '86 who spent his first two NFL seasons as one of those Redskins who suddenly end up on injured reserve for seasoning.
"There was a stretch of games a year ago when Mark played as well as he has this season," Dowhower said. "What you're seeing he really started toward two years ago, when he played through his adversity [repeated fumbling]. A year ago, injuries got him. When he came back [from a knee sprain], he proved he could do it. The question was whether he would be there to do it."
Today's game will be the 27th consecutive Washington game started by Rypien, 29. That qualifies for iron-man status at the NFL's most embattled position. Dan Marino, Jim Everett and John Elway are the only quarterbacks with longer current starting streaks than Rypien.
"I think what I've done has to do more with playing a lot than anything else," Rypien said with typical modesty. "It's getting acquainted with the offense. The more you play, the better you get, and the better idea you have about what might transpire.
"Another thing is not trying to make the big play all of the time."
Of course, what's up front for the Redskins' offense has protected Rypien beyond expectations, and a running game enhanced by rookie Ricky Ervins has given the quarterback other options besides "The Posse" of pass catchers. Another part of Rypien's growing-up process was establishing himself in a huddle filled with Pro Bowlers past and present.
It's helped that Washington has won 26 of Rypien's past 31 starts.
"What it came down to is how he produced," Dowhower said. "That's what would determine how the team would look at Mark. He showed he could make the plays."
Dowhower said the coaches knew Rypien could succeed if his confidence wasn't shattered "because the kinds of things he said and asked in film sessions showed his feel for the game and his own discipline fit with our disciplined approach."
Then, Rypien arrived late for camp with his weight down. He had drilled so long and so well in the Redskins' summer school that training camp was little more than a tuneup.
Not that Rypien was totally sure he would have a 28-touchdown, 11-interception season - that plus-17 ratio is the NFL's best. He stuck with a few superstitions, too.
During the Redskins' 11-0 start, Rypien wore, refusing to wash, a 1948 Winter Olympics sweatshirt. A near-scratch golfer, he quit playing for three months, until Dallas beat Washington. Today, he again will wear an old wristband for warmups and a new one in the game. Before he runs onto the field at RFK Stadium for introductions, he will touch the Redskins' logo on the wall with both hands.
"Mostly, it's a matter of being healthy," Rypien said.
Those who have observed Rypien know he already was wise. Now, it seems, he's going to get wealthy, too.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL