Wanted: A job quarterbacking the Vikes
Posted: Tuesday October 20, 1998 12:27 PM
Dennis Green
Head coach
Minnesota Vikings
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
Dear Mr. Green,
Put me in, coach.
Let me take a few snaps. Let me behind the wheel of that offense of yours.
Let me throw the ball up to Randy Moss.
I've seen the films. I know the drill. Make the pass look like a Mark
McGwire home run and Moss'll outjump anybody in shoulder pads for it.
Underthrow it, he comes back for the ball. Overthrow it -- hey, it's
possible -- he runs it down.
And when Moss is covered, or taking a breather? How about that No. 80 guy,
Cris Carter? He could
lose a defensive back in the hall closet. You don't catch more than 800
balls in the National Football League by not knowing how to get rid of a
pesky defender.
I've seen the films. I've looked up his numbers. I know.
And, heck, we got Jake
Reed, too. Truth is, coach, I think you might be forgetting about that
guy. He's No. 86. Tall guy, like Moss. 6-foot-3. Unselfish. You see the
block he laid downfield to spring a touchdown the other night against
Washington?
'Course you did. You're the coach. And a darn good one, too, I might add.
Anyway, Reed can catch the ball, too. Put me in, coach, and I'll throw it
to Jake every once in a while, just so everybody's happy. I'm a good guy
for the locker room. A leader.
Now, I know we have Randall
Cunningham, who's doing one fine job as a fill-in for poor old Brad Johnson. Randall's
got a strong arm and reads defenses pretty well and ... yeah, OK, he's
pretty good. Hasn't thrown a pick this year, league-leading passer rating
that looks like a solid day on the Dow, back-to-back player of the week
awards. Blah, blah, blah.
But the guy's like, what, 63 years old? He was laying tile in Las Vegas
back in '96, for Grant's sake. If he can come back after a year of cutting
granite, I can come in for a couple games.
That's all I'm after, coach. I know you're going to put Johnson back in
when he's healthy. The guy's a winner. He knows the offense better than you
do, practically. He can smell a blitz before the defense calls it.
But just a couple weeks. That's all I'm asking for, coach.
I know what you're saying. Haven't seen me throw? Fine, I'll just hand off
to Robert Smith 20 or
30 times a game. Truth is, I'm a little out of shape, and my arm's not all
that strong, so I really wouldn't mind letting someone else rip a run while
I stand there looking quarterbackly.
And, heck, we got Leroy
Hoard, too, who's been around since there was a Cleveland Browns, for
goodness sakes. He can still bull in from inside the 5 with anybody. I can
hand off to him.
Or throw to that tight end of ours. What's his name? Glover. Andrew Glover. The guy's
6-foot-6. You can't miss him. I'll throw it to Andrew. I couldn't overthrow
him if I tried.
I know, I know: Can I take a hit? Heck, Randall's barely been touched back
there. He's been sacked -- what, once? OK, six times. But he has those
gimpy knees. I figure I can just scramble behind Randall McDaniel, Korey Stringer and that
awesome offensive line of ours.
Think Flutie, coach.
The point is, coach, if you put me in, I'll make sure I get rid of that
ball when it's time to throw. I'll hand off when I need to -- as long as
you tell me who to hand off to. With Jake and Randy and Cris and Robert and
Leroy and Andrew and our hogs up front, anybody can do the job.
But, just between you and me, coach, we don't really want Jay Fiedler in there.
Who the heck is that guy, anyway?
John Donovan is senior writer for CNNSI.com. Comments? To
e-mail Donovan, click here.
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