Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 15, 1992 TAG: 9202150091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
WLAF MAY BE MOORE'S TICKET TO THE TOP
THE FORMER VIRGINIA standout quarterback hopes playing time in a lower leaguewill show the Denver Broncos what he can do.\ One year ago, Shawn Moore had a busted thumb, an uncertain National Football League future and a college jersey that seemingly was available for the first Virginia recruit who asked.The situation has improved dramatically for Moore, one of 37 players protected from Plan B free agency by the Denver Broncos.
Moore, activated by the Broncos for the final four games of the regular season, ranks as Denver's No. 2 quarterback after the retirement of longtime backup Gary Kubiak.
"I think he has the ability to be a starter down the line," Denver coach Dan Reeves said this week. "I'd love for him to be a starter.
"He just needs to play. I think he has a great future, but we're not going to know for sure until he plays."
Moore has returned to his home in Martinsville and was honored last Saturday night as the sixth Virginia football player whose number has been retired.
"It's been a good year. I'm happy with the way things have turned out," said Moore, who holds virtually all of UVa's passing records and was the ACC player of the year in 1990, when he also finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Moore spent the first 12 weeks of the season on Denver's practice squad but did not play in a game, one reason that he jumped at a chance to play in the World League of American Football. Some other NFL players, like Detroit Lions quarterback Andre Ware, weren't so eager.
"I need the playing time," said Moore, who was selected by Denver in the 11th round of the NFL draft. "[Ware] does, too, but he probably makes a million more dollars than I do."
Moore signed two one-year contracts for a reported $175,000 per year - agent Brad Blank called it one of the best deals he has negotiated - and that didn't include bonuses when Denver reached the AFC championship game. Moore's gross on-field income will be close to $250,000, counting his salary for the 10-week WLAF season.
Moore originally was to have played for San Antonio, Texas, but he will report Feb. 23 to the Birmingham (Ala.) Fire, whose head coach, Chan Gainey, once served as quarterbacks coach of the Broncos and uses a carbon copy of the Denver offense.
It has been speculated that Denver will draft a quarterback - "I wouldn't be surprised," Moore said - but he hopes to play well enough in the spring to convince the Broncos that he can back up John Elway.
Elway underwent surgery Thursday for the removal of a bone spur in his shoulder, although he has been virtually indestructible over the past eight years, only once playing fewer than 15 regular-season games.
Kubiak, 30, started five games in his 10-year career - one reason he announced his retirement to join the coaching staff at Texas A&M.
"We had discussed it," Moore said. "I went out to dinner with him and John before it happened and he told us he wanted to get into coaching."
The Broncos were unaware that Kubiak was contemplating retirement, or else they would not have waited until the 11th round to draft Moore.
"We weren't looking for a quarterback," Reeves said. "I was looking at film of [UVa wide receiver] Herman Moore [now with the Detroit Lions] and saw Shawn make some great throws on the move. He could scramble. It was late in the draft and he had the size and the arm, so we decided to go after him.
"I thought Gary would have played for quite a while longer. His back turned out to be worse than we thought. It didn't [put Denver in a bind] this year. But it's important for Shawn to step forward or else we'll have to take a look at someone else."
By the time training camp started, Moore had recovered from the broken thumb that caused him to miss his final regular-season college game and perform erratically in the Sugar Bowl and East-West Shrine Game.
"I think [he wasn't drafted higher] because, basically, he was a roll-out passer," Reeves said. "Not being able to throw at the combine hurt him. It's a good thing for us he wasn't drafted any higher."
With his size (6 feet 2, 210 pounds) and mobility, Moore has some of the same physical attributes as Elway.
"Quarterbacks need to have the ability to get away from a pass rush," Reeves said. "Some quarterbacks scramble but look at the pass rush. Shawn always looks downfield. He's got great strength and he's very competitive.
"He has the charisma that all the good quarterbacks have. The other players rally around him. Secondly, he's extremely bright."
Not long after Kubiak retired, Reeves fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Shanahan. Reeves is more involved with the offense than most head coaches and indicated that he and Shanahan weren't always "on the same page."
"I was very surprised," Moore said. "He [Shanahan] was probably the glue that kept the offense together. He'd been a head coach [with the Los Angeles Raiders]. He had been an offensive coordinator other places."
Receivers coach George Henshaw was promoted to offensive coordinator, with former New England head coach Ray Berry hired to work with the quarterbacks.
At the time Moore was activated, Elway, 31, was coming off an injury and there was some concern he would be unable to play. Indeed, Elway was hurt against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game and Moore almost played after Kubiak was shaken up on the next-to-last play.
"John really took a lot of punishment," Moore said. "We had some problems in the offensive line and, a couple of times, we didn't know from week to week whether he could play."
As a member of the practice squad, Moore was unable to dress for games. Once activated, he charted plays and felt much more involved, he said.
"Around the eighth week, they told me I would be activated," he said, "so some of it was them keeping a promise. Being on the practice squad can be sort of depressing."
If a player is active for the last four games of the regular season, he loses his eligibility to be a member of the practice squad the next year. That's fine with Moore.
"Either I make the team or I don't," he said. "If I don't, I would be free to talk with another team. I realized long ago that this was a business."
Nevertheless, there was some satisfaction in being put on Denver's 37-man protected list. There were some starting NFL quarterbacks - Steve DeBerg and Dave Krieg, for two - who were made available for Plan B free-agency.
"I didn't know it was going to happen," Moore said, "but I figured that was one of the considerations in making me available for the World League. They want to see what I can do."