ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996 TAG: 9610280130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
THE FORMER VMI All-America receiver is back in the NFL, this time with the Indianapolis Colts.
The NFL is like real life. It isn't always what you know, but who you know.
Ask Mark Stock. Seven years after the former VMI All-America receiver was a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he's back in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts.
``I haven't documented it, but I might be on the verge of setting an NFL record,`` Stock said by phone from Indianapolis a few days ago. ``How many people have gone six years between receptions in NFL history?''
It must be a short list, as Stock heads home - he lives in Vienna, Va. - with the Colts for Sunday's game against one of his former employers, the Washington Redskins. So far, Stock has played exclusively on special teams for the Colts, who have had 11 different starters miss a total of 31 games. That doesn't include a few more who might be out for the RFK Stadium visit, or quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who will play with a broken nose.
``I thought I was going to have to practice at linebacker the other day,'' the 5-foot-11, 173-pound Stock said.
Stock wasn't signed by the Colts until one week before the start of training camp, in July. He was headed to Texas to work a football camp and figured his playing career was over. He was satisfied working for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Northern Virginia.
Then, his history helped.
Stock, who has played for five teams in three different pro leagues in seven years, spent last season with San Antonio in the Canadian Football League. The U.S. teams in the CFL folded, and all players under contract - Stock was to be in his option year in 1996 - were doled out in a dispersal draft. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers took the VMI alumnus.
``I told them I was either going to get back into the NFL or retire,'' Stock said. ``They were great about [it]. They understood and allowed me out of the contract. I started contacting [NFL] teams, and got some interest from a few, including the Colts.''
Indianapolis head coach Lindy Infante knew Stock from 1991, when the then-Green Bay head coach made Stock the Packers' last cut before the season opener. It helped that Colts quarterback coach Buddy Geis was familiar with Stock from last season in the CFL, where Geis was the Memphis Mad Dogs' receivers coach. It also helped that Indy didn't re-sign Floyd Turner and cut veteran Flipper Anderson, now with the Redskins.
Stock got his CFL opportunity with San Antonio coach Kay Stephenson - who coached the ex-Keydet in 1992 when Stock started for the World League-champion Sacramento Surge. That was a year after Stock was called to active duty by the Army for the Persian Gulf conflict, although he never reached the battlefield.
``I've persisted, anyway,'' Stock said of his NFL days, which began when he was a sixth-round draft pick by the Steelers in 1989. ``It's tough when you're a marginal player. It's tough to come in and take ground and have a chance to show what you can do. People have to know you. Every year, I've had a different head coach. That makes it tough.''
Stock has played in five of the Colts' seven games on kickoff and punt return and punt teams. He's the fifth receiver for a team that often runs four-receiver sets. Infante's offense is receiver-based, but, to date, it's about the only position where the Colts have had no one injured.
``I have a two-year contract, so, if I stay healthy, I have a chance this year,'' said Stock. ``I'm 30, and I'm still in relatively good health. If it doesn't work out next year, I'll probably retire. There are times when maybe it looked like I was foolish for hanging on, like I was wasting my time, but I'm still looking for that proverbial break.''
He has six career receptions, including two in the playoffs, from his rookie year. He spent three seasons with the Redskins (1992-94), with Joe Gibbs, Richie Petitbon and Norv Turner as bosses. His first season he was on the ``physically unable to perform'' list with recurring hamstring problems. He played three games, on special teams, for Petitbon. In '94, he was on injured reserve with a torn left rotator cuff.
Even this season, Stock's literally been on the edge. For the opener, the Colts were short on defense, so the club asked Stock if he would mind being cut for a week or two so another player could be added. On Aug.25, he was waived. Ten days later, he was back.
``They figured I was less likely to be picked up than maybe someone else,'' Stock said.
A native of Canton, Ohio, Stock knows the only way he's going to get into his hometown's Pro Football Hall of Fame is by purchasing a ticket. However, he continues to live up to the city's famous NFL nickname.
He's been nothing but a bulldog.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Stockby CNB