ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701270099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: MICHAEL WILBON
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
SOURCE: MICHAEL WILBON
It's not every day that a University of Virginia alumnus gets to play in the Super Bowl. Chris Slade, New England's outside linebacker and ex-Cavalier, knows this.
We tick off the names of Wahoos past and present who never made it. Jim Dombrowski? ``Nope,'' Slade said. ``Played most of his career with the Saints, right?'' Herman Moore? ``No, Herman hasn't been, neither has Shawn Moore.'' Don Majkowski? ``Majik would have made it had he stayed in Green Bay, but nope.'' Terry Kirby? ``No.''
The names keep coming. No for Ray Roberts, no for Jason Augustino, no for Tony Covington and Mike Frederick. ``Nobody who played at UVa while I was there,'' Slade said.
``Hey, this could be a big deal,'' Slade said. ``I mean, it's a big deal already, playing the Super Bowl. But suppose I'm the very first Virginia player to be in the Super Bowl?'' We go back as far as we can, only to find out hours later it wasn't far enough.
Henry Jordan, the Hall of Famer and late Packers defensive end, played in the very first Super Bowl. Jordan was a Wahoo. Oops. The people who research such things in Charlottesville say a total of seven Cavs have played in the Super Bowl.
Still, it's rare. Still, it's a big deal. Besides Jordan, no Virginia player figured as prominently as Slade does. Two Patriots, more than any others, are charged with the responsibility of chasing and catching Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre on Sunday in Super Bowl XXXI. Willie McGinest is one, Chris Slade is the other. They have to be a big deal for the Patriots to win.
``The Packers lost three games - to the Cowboys, Chiefs and Vikings - and in all three of them, people got a lot of outside pressure on Favre,'' Slade said. ``We played Mark Brunell in the AFC championship game, so we just had a taste of the style Favre represents. The thing is, Favre never seems to get rattled when you hit him. He's fearless, that's what he is.''
A total of 30 sacks in four years would suggest Slade can catch up to just about anybody. He graduated from Virginia as the ACC's all-time sack leader with 40, having surpassed the one and only Lawrence Taylor. ``The man I'm still in awe of,'' Slade said. ``He's been to camp a couple of times and I'm like, `Wow, LT!'''
Now Slade's playing for LT's old coach, Bill Parcells. For the final five weeks of the season, Slade was asked to do something he'd never done in his career at Virginia or New England: platoon.
``Ninth game of the season,'' Slade said Thursday. ``They told me they wanted me to be fresher to rush the passer on third downs. I didn't mope or anything. But I wasn't happy about it, I didn't agree with it. As a competitor, I always like to be out there. Every down if possible. I took it personally. Did I talk to the coaches? Yeah, a lot.''
Al Groh, New England's defensive coordinator and a fellow UVa alumnus, said it wasn't a matter of being dissatisfied with Slade's production. ``We had a lot of games that were decided in the fourth quarter during one stretch,'' Groh said. ``We looked up and Chris had been playing 65, 70 plays. We needed more in his tank at the end of games when your pass rusher's got to rush the passer. He's a highly energized guy. He wants to be every place all of the time. We needed him to narrow his focus and his field of vision for particular jobs.''
When Groh added ``big games require playmakers,'' the context was McGinest (9.5 sacks this season) and Slade (7.0 sacks) rushing Brett Favre.
``I know it's a lot of pressure on me,'' Slade said. ``But if you're going to be a big-time player you've got to step up and play in the biggest games. I'm glad my number is being called.''
When Parcells put him back in the starting lineup for the first playoff game, Slade responded with eight tackles and a sack. Two weeks ago in the AFC championship game against Jacksonville, Slade was even better, sacking Brunell once and recording nine tackles.
A big performance Sunday could lead to more numbers being called. Zeroes to be exact. Slade is about to become an unrestricted free agent. He said his first choice would be to stay in New England.
One thing that has spoiled Slade through the past eight years of his football career is playing for great coaches. ``One who was very stubborn,'' he said of George Welsh, ``and the other who has a huge ego,'' he said of Parcells. The words couldn't hide the affection he has for both.
``I've been very, very fortunate,'' he said, ``to play for one man who was the winningest coach at two schools: Navy and UVa, and another coach who's won two Super Bowls. They know how to win. There's no guessing with either of them. They're both great on the sidelines and great in preparation. I guess you could call them both old-school in that they're very disciplined people and they require their players to be the same way. But at UVa, Coach Welsh allowed me to let my hair down a little, do my thing. There are a lot of guys in the league who could have benefited from playing for the coaches I've played for.''
Michael Wilbon is a sports columnist for The Washington Post.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Former Cavalier Chris Slade (right) must make bigby CNBplays for New England when the Patriots take on Green Bay on Sunday.
color. 2., (headshot) Slade. KEYWORDS: FOOTBALL