| |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |
Arena Leaguers throw, throw, throw
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 12:11 PM
The recent success of Rams quarterback Kurt Warner brings up a larger issue: the advent of developmental or minor leagues for the NFL. Arguably, three of these leagues exist now: The Arena League, NFL Europe, and the Canadian Football League, which the NFL subsidizes. Bills' quarterback Doug Flutie and 49ers' backup quarterback Jeff Garcia are the most visible products of the Canadian Football League. In addition to Warner, wide receiver Oronde Gadsden of the Dolphins is a product of the Arena League. From NFL Europe, Lawrence Phillips of the 49ers is the most obvious success story. Quarterback Dameyune Craig out of Auburn did well in Europe last spring, and could get a chance with some other NFL team, if not the Carolina Panthers. The quarterback position is where the development story is most obvious, and that was the topic of conversation this week among some of the participants in Vince Gill's celebrity golf tournament in Oklahoma City. I enjoyed teeing it up with people like Johnny Unitas, Warren Spahn, Brian Bosworth, Barry Switzer and Merlin Olsen. Unitas, who is very impressed with Warner, brought up a valid point: You can't develop as a quarterback unless you throw, throw, throw and throw. That's what these various leagues have afforded these guys. They've given them an opportunity to play. You don't develop as a quarterback sitting on the sidelines. We all attribute the qualities Warner has displayed -- the ability to throw on the move, throw to a tight place and throw with accuracy and a lot of flair -- to his having played in the Arena League. With all the expenditure of time and effort on scouting, you wonder how someone like Warner falls through the NFL cracks. But it's difficult to measure the human will, heart, perseverance, and desire that make a guy tick. You just can't put a computerized number to that. The problem with the SaintsIt's understandable that Saints coach Mike Ditka is getting down over all the fourth-quarter losses. Three times the Saints have been within minutes of winning games, twice within two minutes of closing out a victory, only to watch the lead slip away. They've allowed something like 35 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Here's the main problem: Because of the compounding injuries to running back Ricky Williams, they don't have a strong finisher, some way to control the ball during the final quarter. When you are leading, you need a guy in there who can pound it, hold on the ball and run out the clock. The Saints haven't been able to do that, and they don't have a good enough quarterback to dink and dunk the way a West Coast offense would. So when their opponents are behind, they're able to rally by throwing the the ball. Ron Meyer, a former NFL head coach, is a pro football analyst with CNN/SI and appears weekly on CNN's NFL Preview.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
