Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 27, 1993 TAG: 9312270084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: IRVING, TEXAS LENGTH: Medium
"I've said publicly that I thought I'd be back with the Redskins, but you get an understanding that there's a time to move on, not that you want to," Rypien said after the Redskins were blown out by a Dallas team he helped beat 35-16 in Washington's opener. "But you can just sense a feeling around that this might be the time to do something, because of what's transpired.
"I've had a great run here, a great eight years with this organization. But I think their mind is made up. And maybe that's best both ways."
Rypien's composure never wavered throughout a 20-minute question-and-answer session in which he talked about his frustrations over playing time, performance and management's handling of a team in transition.
He said that shortly after he injured his right knee in a loss to Phoenix on Sept. 12, he was approached by management about restructuring his $3 million-per-year contract so that less of it counted against the Redskins' projected 1994 salary cap.
He agreed to open negotiations - but said his agent never heard another word from the club.
"I wouldn't say they [talks] broke down, talks never got fired up," he said. "I might have lost money; you never know. If they'd said they needed to do some things to save money under the salary cap, I'd have understood.
"Instead, it appears they're looking at a totally different route."
The Redskins have expressed interest in Miami Dolphins quarterback Scott Mitchell and plan to begin negotiations with his agent, Tony Agnone, once Mitchell is a free agent after the season.
But Washington's game plan for the 1994 draft, months before anything has to be finalized, also includes taking a long, hard look at either Tennessee's Heath Shuler or Fresno State's Trent Dilfer if they enter the draft as juniors.
Of the two, the Redskins are said to prefer Dilfer and would gladly use their first-round pick on him should they not be able to get a quarterback by some other means.
In all likelihood, however, Washington may be in the market for at least two quarterbacks. The Redskins have made it clear through their actions that they have no interest in third-stringer Cary Conklin - and Rich Gannon hardly has been inspiring.
Rypien didn't say it, but he hinted that the possibility of contract talks was one reason he came back early from the knee injury he suffered against Phoenix.
"You sacrifice your career, then you don't even hear from them," he said evenly. "When that happens, you get the feeling that things are going a little sour and are not going to turn out your way.
"I go home at night sometimes and think about the way the season has gone and where I might be next year, if I'll be anywhere at all."
Rypien said part of the team's trouble this season has been that many of the older players feel the same as he does, that they're being phased out and won't be in Washington next season. The only players he mentioned were running backs Earnest Byner and Brian Mitchell and fellow quarterback Conklin. None was available for comment following Sunday's game.
"It's a shame the way they've treated E.B. [Byner]," he said. "To me, the guy's one of the hardest-working, dedicated professionals I've ever been with. He works hard, and when he gets a chance, he responds.
"The way we used Mitch and E.B. in the first game . . . I mean, Reggie Brooks has had a great year and I don't mean to take anything away from him, but E.B.'s a guy who's always performed.
"I think it's from the top, it's someone saying, `I want so and so playing and so and so doing this.' "
That was Rypien's lone semi-negative reference to team owner Jack Kent Cooke. Otherwise, Rypien had nothing but praise for the 81-year-old billionaire, with whom he feuded two years ago over his contract.
"I'm elated the way this organization has treated me," he said. "It's been seven years of utopia. I don't want to bite my neck off, but I'd never say anything bad about the organization. They've treated me with class, and that's the way I want to be known as well."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB