Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 20, 1995 TAG: 9507200048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: SPARTANBURG, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
``This is nothing like Fredonia,'' Metzelaars said of the New York town near the Lake Erie shore where he spent his first 13 NFL summers with the Buffalo Bills. ``In Fredonia, we usually wore sweatpants to work out.
``It was that cool. I almost always wore long sleeves in the morning, just to get a sweat started. Here, it's tough enough keeping your helmet on and breathing at the same time.''
In the Carolina Panthers' first camp at Wofford College, Metzelaars is the man with the most NFL experience. The tight end also has played in four Super Bowls, and is one of three former Bills - with projected starting quarterback Frank Reich and wide receiver Don Beebe - who were targeted as free-agent signees by Panthers general manager Bill Polian, the ex-Buffalo GM. Carolina also has ex-Bill linebacker Carlton Bailey, who played two seasons with the New York Giants after starting his NFL career in Buffalo.
``Training camp is never fun, but the heat just adds to it,'' said the 6-foot-7 Metzelaars, who still holds the NCAA Division III basketball record for career field-goal accuracy (72.4 percent). ``We don't have any choice though. It's like the cold was in Buffalo. It's there, you deal with it, and you practice in it.''
Metzelaars, 35, signed a three-year, $2.4 million contract with the Panthers in March. ``It's like starting over, but then it isn't,'' he said. ``What's strange is not knowing the routine, because there is no routine. It's all new, with new faces, most of them, anyway. No one knows the pattern of what's going on, or the tempo.
``You'll see people walking around at times wondering where to go next. In Buffalo, we did the same things for so long, like other clubs, and you knew when one drill was finished where to go without being told. The heat, added to that, makes things more monotonous. It's just another thing that will help separate the men from the boys.''
While Reich - who frustratingly got little chance to play behind Jim Kelly at Buffalo - says he ``has something to prove every single day,'' Metzelaars said he isn't sure what's left for the transplanted Bills to prove.
``I want to go out, have some fun and help this team win,'' said the red-haired tight end. ``We're here to do the same thing we did in Buffalo - improve and win some games. When I started in Buffalo [1982], we weren't very good. Leadership to me isn't talking about how we played in four Super Bowls. My idea of leadership is by doing, by how I work.''
In the first three days of Panther workouts in temperatures higher than Metzelaars' uniform number - 88 - he caught several balls, but no breezes. When a pre-thunderstorm gale blew through Sunday afternoon following practice, Reich didn't quit answering media questions in a collapsing interview tent.
``Now, this is what it's like in Rich Stadium,'' the quarterback recalled.
Among the trio who shuffled off from Buffalo, there are 29 seasons of NFL experience. So, it isn't just the heat that has Metzelaars pacing himself during two-a-days.
``What I've learned and can pass along is that you don't make the team the first practice,'' he said. ``There's a long, long way to go. If you get pumped up now, you're wasting a lot of energy by fretting about it.
``I guess I've also been around long enough that hopefully I know what it takes to win, and what's the difference between winning and losing. And that difference isn't much, as we learned in Buffalo when we started to win and then last year [when the Bills failed to reach the playoffs].''
The transplanted Bills will return to their old home Sept.10 when the Panthers visit Rich Stadium in the second game of the season. Until then, Metzelaars will try to stay cool by thinking about those Fredonia mornings.
``I heard it got up to about 90 in Buffalo the other day,'' he said. ``They'll be closing everything up, you know. Compare Fredonia and Spartanburg? It might be new, but it's still training camp. I don't relish it. Never have. At the same time, it sure beats working for a living.''
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB