Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993 TAG: 9306010087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KENT PULLIAM THE KANSAS CITY STAR
DATELINE: KANSAS CITY, MO. LENGTH: Medium
"Get back quick!
"Get back quicker!"
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Blundin laughs at the recollection.
"But nobody ever told me how to do it more quickly," he said.
That ended in January. Paul Hackett, the Chiefs' new quarterbacks coach, isn't at all bashful about telling Blundin which foot to move first and how to get back into the pocket and get rid of the football quickly.
That, as much as Joe Montana's signing or Dave Krieg's experience, has accelerated the progress of the Chiefs' young quarterback over the past three months. Blundin has seen it documented on the videotape he reviews with Hackett each Monday morning.
"There is no comparison from when we started," said Hackett, who works with Blundin and the other quarterbacks five days each week. "But he's still got miles to go. I think it's a little frustrating for him right now because he is being compared every play to two of the guys who are some of the best quarterbacks ever.
"He is going to have to keep his dobber up and not get frustrated. But the guy is eager, he absorbs everything you tell him and he's an athlete."
He has yet to show whether he will be a football player, though the early returns are encouraging. Basketball - he played at the University of Virginia - and baseball dominated his football off-seasons. Football technique is something he worked on at the start of fall football practice.
Blundin is 6 feet 6 and sometimes appears ungainly because of his angular frame. And he still is in the process of thinking where each foot should be placed. A closer inspection, though, shows he sets up quickly and is ready to throw as quickly as any of the Chiefs' other quarterbacks.
Blundin was scheduled to play in the World League this spring. When the Chiefs drafted him in the second round in 1992, they knew they were getting an undeveloped quarterback. He has started just 11 games since high school.
When the World League suspended play, Blundin had the chance to work extensively with Hackett, which should prepare him to play for the Chiefs more quickly than the game action he would have benefited from in the World League.
The timing could not have been more fortuitous.
"In all the fundamentals, Matt was way behind," Hackett said. "I am extremist on that because one of the things I learned from Joe is that the best defense for a young player is fundamentals, a base that you can always fall back on when everything else around you falls apart.
"Without this, the danger is that you may have gotten further into bad habits and further down the line away from this particular system."
It is not lost on Blundin the advantage he has in working with Krieg and Montana. It occurs in the film sessions and on the field. Hackett says the visual image of Montana executing a play they have just discussed is invaluable for a young player.
"I am around two guys who have been through everything, the good and the bad," Blundin said.
A part of the good for Blundin is that Montana will be 37 when the season begins. Krieg will be 35 by mid-season. Neither will play for 10 more seasons - leaving the opportunity for Blundin to establish himself as the Chiefs' next quarterback.
by CNB