THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 3, 1994 TAG: 9408030566
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Heath Shuler officially took office as quarterback of the Redskins late Tuesday night. Washington could barely keep from greeting the rookie savior with a yawn.
Hotshot college passers rarely have made a lasting impact in D.C. sports history. Shuler may be an exception, though many folks will go to their rest convinced he wasn't worth the 8-year, $19 million contract he autographed.
At 6-2, 221 pounds, Shuler has the size necessary to succeed in the NFL. He possesses a strong arm and a quick release rarely present in players so tender.
His running style has been compared to that of San Francisco's Steve Young. High praise. Young and Philadelphia's Randall Cunningham are the game's best ever.
Coaching? Norv Turner is today's finest teacher of aspiring signal-callers.
So what's wrong? For one, the 13-day holdout. The first three days of Redskins training camp were for review, a rehash of the lessons taught at mini-camp and summer school.
But a couple days after the scrimmage against Pittsburgh, the inevitable happened. Turner began installing new schemes, new formations.
Shuler wasn't privvy to that information. Neither was he around when Turner put the team through the 90-minute walk-throughs, 90-minute film sessions, 90-minute full-speed practices.
That's time lost, never to be recaptured, no matter how many extra hours Shuler, Turner and quarterbacks coach Cam Cameron spend.
After watching John Friesz drill effectively for two weeks, it'll take a miracle or a foolish blunder by Turner for Shuler to start on Sept. 4 against Seattle.
Also working against Shuler is what made him so valuable, his draft position. When it comes to the performance of first-round quarterback selections, one word best describes the Redskins' record - wretched.
Between Slingin' Sammy Baugh and Holdout Heath - or between 1938 and 1994 - Washington drafted quarterbacks in the first round six times. The names Larry Isbel, Jack Scarbath, Ralph Guglielmi, Don Allard, Richie Lucas and Norman Snead are synonymous with overestimated ability and unfulfilled expectations.
Isbel, Allard and Lucas - drafted 1952, 1959 and 1960 - never played a regular-season game. Scarbath, drafted in '53, played two seasons. The Redskins were 9-14-1.
Guglielmi, a star at Notre Dame, had two tours of duty in Washington; 1955, then 1958-60. He started only in his last season in D.C. The Redskins posted a 1-9-2 record.
Then there was Snead, a tall, lanky Newport News native who'd starred at Wake Forest. His arrival in 1961 was supposed to mark the team's resurgence. But he was fed to the wolves his rookie season, throwing 22 interceptions and just 11 touchdown passes. The team was 1-12-1.
In '62, Snead achieved some balance and nearly took the Redskins with him. He passed for 22 touchdowns, an equal number of interceptions. Washington went 5-7-2.
But following a '63 season in which Snead was intercepted 27 times, and Washington won just 3 of 14, he was peddled to Philadelphia for pot-bellied playboy Sonny Jurgensen.
The revival had finally begun in earnest. A succession of undervalued and overlooked quarterbacks led Washington to the greatest era in its existence.
Billy Kilmer's passes wobbled so badly they practically quacked. New Orleans gladly dealt him to Washington, where 'Ol Whiskey led the Redskins to a Super Bowl.
Joe Theismann came over in an unheralded trade with Miami. Under Joe Gibbs, he guided the Redskins to a pair of Super Bowl appearances.
Jay Schroeder was a mid-round pick who started his athletic career as a minor league baseball catcher. Everyone in the NFL but Gibbs thought Doug Williams was finished. And Mark Rypien was a sixth-round survivor who rose to Super Bowl MVP through determination and diligence and Gibbs' brilliance.
Clearly, bargain-basement pickups have served this franchise far better than any of the shiny and sparkling items they've found on the showroom floor.
Redskins fans love to brag about all the history their favorite quarterbacks have made.
But they never say that almost all of it is bad, especially when a No. 1 pick is involved. by CNB