THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300722
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 76 lines
Ken Harvey wants some company on his flight to the Pro Bowl this season - his fellow linebackers.
``I know what we have to do for that to happen - we have to win,'' says the Redskins' two-time selection, who has developed into one of the game's top players since coming to Washington as a free agent in 1994. ``I feel like we're more ready to do that than at any time since I've been here, but I understand that you have to do it on the field. The rest is just talk.''
If the rest of the Redskins had played to the standards set by Harvey, Marvcus Patton and Rod Stephens last season, Washington would be held in far greater esteem around the league. Patton, Stephens and Harvey finished 1-2-3 in tackles. Harvey led the team in sacks (7 1/2) and quarterback hurries (17); Patton finished first with four forced fumbles; Stephens forced two and recovered one.
``It's one thing to bring in a free agent, it's another to bring in three the last two years and have them complement each other so well,'' linebackers coach Mike Haluchak said.
Harvey set an unofficial team record with 16 tackles for losses last season, a number that does not include his sacks. The Redskins didn't begin keeping that stat until a decade ago. Harvey wrestled the record from Neal Olkewicz (15 1/2) with a tackle behind the line against the New York Giants in Week 14.
But Harvey has done things Olkewicz could only dream of. No linebacker in the NFC has more sacks the past two seasons than Harvey's 21. In a Week 5 upset of Dallas last season, Harvey recorded 15 tackles, 11 solo, had a half-sack, forced a fumble, made one tackle for a loss and earned a quarterback hurry.
Against his ex-teammates in Arizona two weeks later, Harvey again made 11 solo tackles, adding a sack, two hurries and a forced fumble.
``Everyone looks at the sacks and uses that for a measuring stick,'' Haluchak said. ``Really, Ken had a better year in 1995 than he did in '94. He did a tremendous job playing over the tight end last year. He is as well-rounded a linebacker as there is in the NFL.''
The Redskins will again move Harvey onto the line on passing downs, this time next to newly acquired Sean Gilbert in what they hope becomes an unstoppable combination.
Meanwhile, they hope that Stephens and Patton have exactly the same kinds of seasons as a year ago.
Patton, an outside linebacker who left the Buffalo Bills, led Washington with 103 solo tackles, 161 overall. It took one-half season for him to adjust to his new surroundings. And, although he had just nine more tackles the second half of the season than he did the first, his performances had much greater impact heading into December.
In Week 9 against the Giants, Patton had 12 tackles and recovered a fumble. In Week 11 against Seattle, he intercepted a pass, forced a fumble and made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage. Two weeks later, 12 more tackles against Dallas, followed by a sack and six solo stops in the rematch against the Giants.
Against the Rams, Patton had 17 tackles, 12 solo, and forced two fumbles. Defensive end Tony Woods carried one in for a touchdown.
``Marvcus played the run and the pass about equally well,'' Haluchak said. ``He really played well for us last year, especially in the second part of the year when he grew more comfortable with the defense.''
Stephens' debut season of 153 tackles, 77 solo, was nearly a mirror image of the previous year in Seattle. They are by far the 30-year-old's two best seasons in the NFL.
``I feel like I'm coming into my own,'' says Stephens, who started with Seattle, was cut by Denver after a Plan B tryout in 1990 and was about to take a job with an airline as a baggage handler when the Seahawks invited him back. Since then, he has progressed from two tackles in 1990 to 153 last season.
``With Gilbert in front of me, it feels like the old days in Seattle, when I had Cortez Kennedy. It ought to be a lot of fun playing football this season.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Ken Harvey has developed into one of the NFL's top players since
arriving in Washington in 1994. by CNB