THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410230176
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
A message for embattled Redskins rookie quarterback Heath Shuler: Look west, young man, and take a lesson from your old pal, Todd Kelly of the 49ers.
Kelly, the former Bethel High School and, like Shuler, University of Tennessee star, endured a horrid rookie season a year ago. He knows what it's like to be called a bust. He understands the frustration of arriving in town with the pressure of big expectations and falling flat on your face.
Kelly experienced having a starting position yanked out from under him during his rookie season because he hadn't lived up to expectations.
He also knows what it's like to come back. Strong.
Last week in that blowout of the Falcons, Kelly overwhelmed tackle Mike Kenn to sack quarterback Jeff George. The week before in Detroit, he forced a fumble, knocked down a pass and had a sack in leading the 49ers' defense.
Linebacker Rickey Jackson has been working with Kelly since coming to the 49ers during training camp. He has news for those who called Kelly's selection a first-round disaster. They're wrong.
``Once he gets a few more things down, I think he's got All-Pro potential,'' Jackson said. ``He's got more ability than a lot of people think.
``I see a lot of myself in Todd. He's got a good power rush, good quickness off the ball, and good long arms. Only thing he needs is more stamina, so he can rush like me the whole game instead of rushing 10 good plays then have to sit down.''
Kelly and Jackson review pass-rushing techniques every day. Jackson says Kelly always had the speed rush but needed to learn how to use his hands to get better leverage.
Kelly also had to learn to put up with the carping of San Fran fans who thought he wasn't worth the money he was being paid. He did it by retreating humbly, admitting he had a lot to learn, and vowing to flex his muscles when he came back. Take note, Heath.
SOLD (DOWN THE RIVER) MILWAUKEE: Here's Packers general manager Ron Wolf's explanation (lame) why the team is turning its back on Taproom Town in favor of playing all home games at Lambeau Field.
``With a new highway connecting Milwaukee to Green Bay, we can get there in two hours,'' Wolf says. ``It's just as easy for them to get here in two hours. Why add the added pressure to our team of more movement? Why not make it a home game in the true sense of the word? And give our team as good a chance as every other team. I think we have the best facility there is in the National Football League. You still get a chill when you go out there to play. I don't know if that's true when you go play in Milwaukee.''
I've been in Milwaukee in October, November and December. You get a chill. As for giving the team its best chance to win, check this stat: the Packers are 105-61-3 in Milwaukee (.630), 132-111-6 in Green Bay (.542).
NFC NUGGETS: The Vikings are patting themselves on the back for bowing out of the Scott Mitchell sweepstakes and dealing with the Oilers for veteran Warren Moon. He is 13-3 as a starter since last Oct. 24 and is averaging 327 passing yards the last three weeks, while Mitchell and the Lions struggle. Moon is averaging 23 completions and 267 yards in the Vikings' scheme, compared to 20 completions and 232 yards last year in Houston's run and shoot. just tell the fans. Detroit hasn't sold out a game yet this season, and it isn't likely they'll sell out any games the rest of the season, either. . . . Bob Bowser, the son of the oldest living NFL player, has given up his Rams season tickets. ``I couldn't get anybody to go with me,'' said Bowser, whose 95-year-old dad, Arda Bowser, played for the Canton Bulldogs in 1922. ``Even when I gave them away, that person wouldn't show up.'' . . . Greg Clifton won't have to worry about being offered a job by the expansion Carolina Panthers, for whom he tried out a couple weeks ago. The Eagles added the 26-year-old wide receiver, who started at VMI and finished at Johnson C. Smith, to the practice squad last week. . . . Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson is aggressively lobbying the league to assign his team to the NFC West. Richardson admitted writing a letter to commissioner Paul Tagliabue, stressing the Panthers' preference for being placed in the NFC. Richardson's argues that fans would take to the new franchise better if the Panthers were in the NFC because Carolinians are accustomed to watching the Falcons and the Redskins. He also states that putting the Panthers in the NFC could offset anticipated losing records and ``help us buy some time as far as fan support is concerned.'' Meanwhile, some clubs sent notes to Tagliabue recently suggesting a Southeast Division that would take in New Orleans, Atlanta, Houston and any two of the three Florida teams. . . . Cowboys special-teams star Brock Marion was so small in the seventh grade that his father had to sneak weights in his pants so he could meet the football team's weight requirement.
QUOTABLE:
Even though the game was last week, savor this gem from Dallas 350-pound guard Nate Newton, on his matchup with 350-pound William ``Refrigerator'' Perry of the Eagles: ``It'll be fat on fat. If we rub up against each other the wrong way, we'll start a grease fire.''
Cowboys coach Barry Switzer, on what surprised him the most about the pro game: ``Halftimes are only 12 minutes. Hell, I didn't know that. I always wondered why when I came from halftime of a pro game after getting a beer or talking on the telephone, they were deep in the third quarter. I always thought I'd just talked a long time.'' MEMO: Material in this column was obtained from Virginian-Pilot/Ledger-Star
wire services. by CNB