THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010612
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FROSTBURG, MD. LENGTH: 88 lines
Larry Bowie ought to give his agents a bonus.
Following the college draft last spring, eight NFL teams contacted Bowie, a University of Georgia fullback who'd had mixed results during two seasons in Athens. Bowie turned the process over to his agents, who analyzed each team's strengths and weaknesses, then provided Bowie with three offers from which to choose - Cincinnati, Baltimore and the Washington Redskins.
``They thought Washington was the best place for me,'' Bowie said Wednesday. ``They told me this was the place I'd get the best shot. I just did what they told me.''
Bowie beams when someone mentions that it looks like they made the right recommendation. Since training camp opened, he has moved from fifth-team fullback to second team behind Marc Logan. One competitor, free agent Anthony McDowell, already has been waived. Two others, William Bell and Larry Jones, may be in serious jeopardy if Bowie keeps improving.
``That's the key; does he get better from one day to the next?'' running backs coach Bobby Jackson said. ``There have been players who climbed and climbed and climbed, then suddenly stopped once the games were played. I don't think Larry's that kind of player, but we'll see. If he continues to pass the test, he's got a chance to play in this league. He's made a big leap in the last week.''
The first of those tests comes Friday night against the Buffalo Bills. The coaches know what Logan can do. He isn't likely to play more than a few downs. Then it's Bowie's turn.
``I'm not nervous about it,'' Bowie said. ``I'm sure I will be as the game gets near, but I'm in the flow of things here. I've adjusted to the system. Now's the time to perform.''
After attending junior college for two years, Bowie transferred to Georgia, which previously had recruited him as a tailback.
``I gained a little weight in junior college and they switched me to fullback,'' he said. ``By the time I got to Georgia, there was no way I was going to play tailback.''
Bowie is just 6-feet tall, but weighs 232 pounds. He also exhibits soft hands and more than adequate pass-catching ability, musts for a fullback in the Norv Turner system.
``I'm lucky, I guess,'' he said. ``Before my senior season, the coaches at Georgia spent a lot of extra time with me on catching the ball. They hadn't done it the year before, but it's paying off now.''
But his primary quality that pleases the Redskins is his blocking. His footwork may not be everything they want, and he occasionally botches an assignment, but Jackson smiles when he says, ``he just knocks people down.''
``He's big-boned, big-thighed, with tremendous explosion,'' he continues. ``He gets great leverage when he blocks, which is something you either have or you don't. He's not the type of kid who's a traditional I-formation fullback, someone who slams between the tackles every down. ``He'd be more polished if that were the case. But his effort, his attitude and his explosion have been very good. The rest we can teach him.''
FORGET FROSTBURG: Another in a series of heavy rains Tuesday night was the final straw for Turner. Early Wednesday morning, he announced that both of the day's practices would be held indoors, after which players living in Washington would be allowed to leave camp for home. Rookies and players who didn't have living quarters in Washington would be bussed to Redskin Park Thursday morning for an early afternoon practice on artifical turf. Then the team would fly to Buffalo to prepare for Friday's preseason opener.
``It's great mental work indoors, but we're kidding ourselves if we think we're getting the work done we need to get done,'' Turner said.
One idea being kicked around is moving some workouts to West Virginia University, an hour away in Morgantown. They have an artificial field and football coach Don Nehlen was a visitor to practice on Tuesday. Nehlen and GM Charley Casserly briefly discussed holding a scrimmage at WVU next summer. The Redskins may get there sooner than even Nehlen hoped.
THE CONTRACT: It took an upper-level Redskins official nearly an hour to answer a question about Heath Shuler's contract. That's how convoluted the deal is. In a nutshell: The original contract was eight years, $19.25 million, with a $5 million signing bonus. That contract can be voided at the end of this season if Shuler meets certain easily attained requirements. However, the Redskins can buy an additional two years for $4 million (prorated over three years) and his cost against the salary cap next year would be $3.958. If they don't exercise the ``buyout,'' as it's called, Shuler becomes a restricted free agent. Washington would retain the right to match an outside offer or accept first- and third-round draft picks by offering him a 10-percent raise. Under that scenario, his cost against the '97 cap is $3.559 million. If they don't match an outside offer and Shuler leaves, he still would count $1.792 million against the '97 salary cap. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
``I've adjusted to the system. Now's the time to perform,'' said
rookie Larry Bowie, who signed with the Skins as a free agent. by CNB