Keynote Kid

Frank Baur decided it was time to see America, or at least the part of it that extends beyond the little pond in which he was the biggest of all fish. So this summer he and Phillip Ng, a teammate from Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., loaded up a van and pointed it toward California. Baur, 23, who is the starting quarterback at Division I-AA Lafayette and one of the best players in the U.S., had never been west of Pittsburgh. When he crossed into the central time zone on the second day of his odyssey, he noted in his journal with some excitement that it was the first time in his life he had ever traveled far enough to reset his watch.

Baur's first stop was Notre Dame, where he found Touchdown Jesus' arms open but the football stadium's doors closed. Next he visited Nebraska's Memorial Stadium, where he had his picture taken standing on the 50-yard line. A few days later he sneaked into Stanford Stadium, and as he stood there tracing John Elway's footsteps with his own size-15 feet, Baur thought to himself that the world seemed impossibly large.

"Just being there makes you think. Why can't this be my stadium?" Baur said wistfully. "Last year I watched the Notre Dame-Michigan game on CBS, and the same day we played Kutztown [Pa.] in front of 4,500 people."

Last season, as a junior, Baur led the nation in passing efficiency, completing more than 64% of his passes for 2,621 yards and 23 touchdowns, finishing well ahead of such Division I-A quarterbacks as Troy Aikman of UCLA and Steve Walsh of Miami. His average gain of 10.24 yards per attempt was tops in the nation. Lafayette, which finished the season 8-2-1, was second in Division I-AA in total offense, thanks largely to Baur, who, at 6'5" and 214 pounds, could be one of the top three quarterbacks taken in next spring's NFL draft. "A lot of great players have come from the other side of the tracks." says NFL scout Bob Ward. "It doesn't hurt to be hungry and persistent, and he's got that."

What also sets Baur apart from most quarterbacks is that he stutters. "During the game it's never a problem," he says, "probably because I'm not thinking about it. It's always a problem otherwise, though. I'm always afraid to say the wrong thing and make people think I'm an idiot."

Though it's barely noticeable in conversation, Baur remains sensitive about his stutter. "I keep my mouth shut in class," Baur says, "even though a lot of times I do know the right answer. I'm embarrassed very easily, and I'm afraid if I say it I'll look like a jerk or something."

Besides the football field, the only place where Baur is able to completely forget himself is at the piano, which he crouches over as if he were settling in behind an 88-man offensive line. "It's a nice release," he says. "You just let out what's inside of you. I'm able to keep my mouth shut but still say something." Baur would probably be a lot happier if he were able to keep his mouth shut about being a pianist, but nobody will let him. "I imagine it makes defensive linemen want to kill me," he says. "They're probably saying to themselves, The big fairy, let's break his fingers."

And what fingers! Each of Baur's hands is large enough to spread more than the width of an octave and a half on a piano's keyboard, a span of 26 white keys from pinkie to pinkie. If he wants to pump-fake a Mozart concerto and then go long with a Beethoven sonata, he can do it with ease. "There are a lot of songs that are really tough if you have small hands." he says. Tougher still if you have long fingers that a lot of people named Bubba keep trying to stick in your ears.

About those ears: Baur's are not what you would describe as petite. In fact, most of his friends and teammates call him Dork, which on your Heisman hit parade doesn't have quite the ring of Crazylegs or the Galloping Ghost. "I'm used to it," says Baur. "But I can think of dorkier people than me."

When Baur dons helmet and shoulder pads, there is nothing even remotely dorky about him. Though Lafayette is not usually on an NFL scout's itinerary, this season the talent hunters will be visiting Easton to assess Baur's extraordinary arm. "He's a great big kid with a very strong arm." says former Washington Redskins general manager Bobby Beathard, now an NBC analyst. "Everybody's going to take a close look at him because he's so big and strong." Lafayette offensive coordinator, Joe Mancini, says that at least half of the NFL teams have requested film of Baur.