ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 10, 1996 TAG: 9611120019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
SONNY JURGENSEN offers words of wisdom, and Gus Frerotte drinks them up.
A few minutes after the Washington Redskins had beaten the Indianapolis Colts two weeks ago, Gus Frerotte bumped into his friend, Sonny Jurgensen, in the home locker room at RFK Stadium. Frerotte had just completed 17 of 25 passes, one for a touchdown when he read a blitz perfectly in a 31-16 hammering of a team that narrowly missed making the Super Bowl last season.
However, Jurgensen couldn't help himself. As he said, ``I bust his chops all the time,'' and this was no exception.
``I told him I wanted him to teach me how to throw that pass into the ground,'' Jurgensen said the other day, smiling broadly as he chewed on an unlit cigar. `` `You know, that hitch to Henry Ellard you almost buried.' He says to me, `How about that touchdown pass [to Leslie Shepherd]? Why don't you talk about that?' Then he says `Aaah, that's the same thing my dad would have said.' ''
It's been like that for most of the past three years between the 62-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback, Redskins icon and broadcaster, and the 25-year-old third-year pro and seventh-round draft choice who has led the team on a 7-2 run after winning the job over Heath Shuler in training camp.
This is a solid friendship, and an informal mentor-protege relationship, forged in the early days of Frerotte's first training camp - when Shuler, the team's No. 1 pick, was holding out for a better rookie contract. Frerotte was getting all the work, and Jurgensen saw something special in those footballs whizzing through the air.
``I remember [newscaster] George Michael and Sonny calling me over one day and saying they wanted to interview me,'' Frerotte said. ``I'd been getting lots of reps, and I'm sure they were saying, `Who is this guy?' I was a little scared and a little nervous. I knew who Sonny Jurgensen was, but I didn't realize how big he was in Washington. Both of them kept saying, `We've gotta get you to lighten up, have some fun.' It just started from there.''
Jurgensen recalled being impressed with Frerotte.
``I could see right away he had a live arm, threw the ball well, had good fundamentals, all the things you look for,'' Jurgensen said. ``He'd played in a passing offense in college, and he looked very comfortable in the pocket. He was a very nice young man who also had a sense of humor. We just hit it off right away.''
It did not take long for the two to start talking about football. Then and now and all the times in between, it's never been anything formal. Jurgensen is not his coach, and wants to make it very clear he does not diagram plays or stay after practice to work on the younger man's mechanics. They've never gone over game tapes, though a few months ago Jurgensen had Frerotte over to his house and showed him a highlight film with a flat-bellied fellow in a green No. 9 jersey throwing passes for the Philadelphia Eagles.
``He laughed,'' Jurgensen said, laughing, too.
As a local sportscaster with the Redskins as his focus, Jurgensen is a presence in training camp and during the week. The two see each other, strike up a casual conversation, launch a few needles and discuss anything that's on either man's mind. On the subject of football, Frerotte tries to listen.
``He's got great coaching, he doesn't need anyone offering him advice on how to play the position,'' Jurgensen said. ``With us, it's always casual conversations. We have fun with each other. It's nothing forced. And whenever I say anything to Gus that's football-related, I'll tell either Cam [Cameron, the quarterback coach] or Norv [Turner].
``I tell him every week that preparation is everything. Vince Lombardi had a line that `Preparation is the mother of learning.' He said it all the time. I tell Gus, `Get the game plan, get it down, study your reads. Prepare. You have to prepare.' ''
Frerotte says the best advice Jurgensen ever offered him came before his first preseason game as a rookie against Buffalo.
``We were on the field before the game and he came over and we talked,'' Jurgensen said. ``I told him this was a heck of an opportunity for him, and then I asked him if he knew the best thing he could do to impress the coaches. He says, `What's that?' I said, `Throw the ball away if there's nothing there.'
``Right about then, Cam comes over and asks Gus, `What's he telling you?' Gus says, `You won't believe it, but he says I'll impress you if I throw the ball away.' Cam said, `He's right.' Gus did it once in the game and he sees me after and says, `I guess that impressed 'em, huh?' ''
Frerotte clearly treasures the relationship, just as he treasures the Jurgensen rookie football card his brother found recently and the old quarterback signed for him.
``The thing about Sonny is that he relates his experiences as a quarterback with what's going on with my life,'' Frerotte said. ``In a certain situation, he'll say, `This is how I handled it.' He doesn't put any pressure on me. He's just a great guy to be around because he cares so much. I could throw 10 touchdown passes and one interception, and he'll say, `What the heck were you thinking on that interception?' ''
Jurgensen has also tried to impress on Frerotte the particular pressures of the most visible position.
``I've always said that quarterback is an easy position to play until it becomes your job,'' Jurgensen said. ``Now, you have the responsibility of leading the team. . . .
``Some guys, instead of being loosey-goosey after they get the job, they pull back a little. I saw a little bit of that with Gus in the first game against Philadelphia. It was like he was protecting the position. I told him, `It's your job now, and you've got to go perform. Go out and play the way you and I know you can.' ''
Jurgensen's friendship with Frerotte clearly has the blessing of the coaching staff.
``I see them as being friends and Sonny being able to give Gus fatherly advice,'' Turner said. ``They're not talking specific football, and I think Gus sees it that way, too. . . . But it's great for Gus to have someone like that to talk to who's been through it all himself.''
Jurgensen is aware there may be a public perception he has favored Frerotte over Shuler, particularly in game broadcasts. He says he's always tried not to take sides in the Gus-Heath debate.
``After they decided on Gus, I did talk to Heath,'' Jurgensen said. ``My conversation to him was that I know you won't believe this, but in the long run, this may be the best thing that will ever happen to you. The reason is all the pressure is off his shoulders. I told him he needed to prepare like he was going to play. It's the old story - you're only one play away. If you're not ready, the people at RFK won't understand that. . . . If you don't make plays, you'll hear boos. And if Gus doesn't perform, they'll be calling for you. Hey, they booed Unitas.''
Said Shuler: ``We've spent some time talking, and he's had some good advice. He spends a lot more time with Gus; they have a good relationship. It doesn't bother me. I've never been one to cling on to people in the football part of it. I listen to the coaches, but he's got a lot of experience. I'll listen to him, too.''
Frerotte loves hearing Jurgensen's war stories, the tales of football in the '60s and '70s when No. 9 was arguably the greatest pure passer the game had ever seen. And now, the old quarterback loves to watch Frerotte perform on Sundays. ``Instead of just running plays, he's managing the offense,'' Jurgensen said. ``And we've seen this year he's starting to make plays on his own when things break down. . . . He's not afraid to fail. Last year, he threw four interceptions against the Giants and didn't go into a shell. The next week, he came right back and hummed it in there, he wasn't afraid to go downfield.
``I still think now that he's only scratching the surface. He can only get better as long as he keeps the same attitude.''
And, perhaps, the same counsel, as well.
LENGTH: Long : 137 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Jurgensen, Frerotte. KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB