The moral of the story is don’t get your quarterbacks from the Pacific-10 Conference.
Based on this year’s passer-efficiency ratings, the worst quarterbacks in the NFL come from the Pac-10.
The Bears’ Cade McNown, the All-Pac-10 quarterback from UCLA, has plenty of company in his misery. The conference once renowned as a step ahead of the rest in developing sophisticated offenses finds itself woefully behind.
McNown is ranked 27th, making him fifth worst among the 31 quarterbacks who have thrown enough passes this year to qualify. It also makes him fourth worst among Pac-10 quarterbacks.
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Cincinnati’s Akili Smith (Oregon) is 31st. San Diego’s Ryan Leaf (Washington State) is 30th. Dallas’ Troy Aikman (UCLA) is 29th.
Other Pac-10 quarterbacks loitering at the bottom of the rankings are Arizona’s Jake Plummer (Arizona State) in a tie for 24th and Atlanta’s Chris Chandler (Washington) at 23rd. That means six of the bottom nine-rated passers in the NFL come from the Pac-10.
The top-rated Pac-10 quarterback is Jacksonville’s Mark Brunell (Washington) at ninth. Buffalo’s Rob Johnson (USC) is 13th and has failed to finish eight of his 19 starts in Buffalo because of injury. New England’s Drew Bledsoe (Washington State) is 17th.
No Pac-10 quarterback guided his team into the playoffs.
The top two passers and four of the top 12 are from the Big Ten–Denver’s Brian Griese (Michigan) No. 1, St. Louis backup Trent Green (Indiana) No. 2, Kansas City’s Elvis Grbac (Michigan) No. 7 and the New York Giants’ Kerry Collins (Penn State) No. 12.
Speechless: It’s nothing new for Bears players to be ticked off at their quarterback. It is new for Bears players to make anonymous threats about lying down because they don’t like the quarterback. Mike Ditka once spoke his mind at a public luncheon about how Rudy Bukich should be the quarterback instead of Bill Wade. Coach George Halas called Ditka on the carpet. Ditka refused to apologize.
Former quarterback Virgil Carter once called Bears management “chicken [feathers]” for the way the proverbial “quarterback situation” was being handled.
Former receiver George Farmer once got into a fistfight with former quarterback Bobby Douglass, the last famous left-hander in town.
Jim McMahon labeled Doug Flutie “Bambi” and led a locker-room protest against the new kid in town. McMahon and Mike Tomczak conspired against another new kid, Jim Harbaugh.
Except for James “Big Cat” Williams, the current Bears seem too timid to speak up.
San Diego version: In San Diego, where the Chargers have less to lose than the Bears, safety Rodney Harrison had this to say about beleaguered Ryan Leaf:
“Ryan has done some really stupid things, plain and simple, over the last few years. He has opened his mouth and most of the time when he opens his mouth, he puts his foot into it. But it all comes down to you don’t have to like a guy to play with a guy. You don’t have to like someone to be around them. It is all about making plays. Regardless of who likes or dislikes Ryan Leaf, his job is to make plays.
“Has he made plays at times? Yes. I think he needs to get better. I think he needs to put it as a priority that football is No. 1, along with conditioning and weight training and all of the things he needs to do in the off-season to be a good quarterback.”
Spoken like a man.
No intimidation: When the Washington Redskins were in Pittsburgh last Saturday, Myron Cope, the Steelers’ radio broadcaster since 1970 who routinely nicknames opponents, referred to them as “Redfaces.” Somebody from owner Daniel Snyder’s entourage sent a complaint.
Replied Cope on the air: “If that boy billionaire thinks he can shut me up, he should stick his head in a can of paint.”
“There’s no way in the world I would let them tell me what to say in my broadcast,” Cope said. “I mentioned it repeatedly after that, just to make my point clear. It’s the first time in 31 years anything like that has happened. There’s no way those bums muzzled me.”
Nostalgic Moon: Quarterback Warren Moon played 17 years for four NFL teams: Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Kansas City. His favorite memories:
Stadiums: 1. Giants Stadium: “Because it’s New York.” 2. Tampa Stadium (old one): “The grass.” 3. Cleveland Stadium (old one): “Our rivalry.” 4. Arrowhead Stadium: “The fans were loud but not nasty.” 5. Lambeau Field: “The great tradition.”
Receivers: 1. Cris Carter, Vikings: “Work ethic, tenacity.” 2. Tony Gonzalez, Chiefs: “He’s so gifted.” 3. Drew Hill, Oilers: “Consistency.” 4. Ernest Givins, Oilers: “After the catch.” 5. Joey Galloway, Seahawks: “Explosive speed.”
Defensive backs: 1. Mike Haynes, Raiders-Patriots: “Best bump-and-run.” 2. Rod Woodson, Steelers-Ravens: “Very cagey.” 3. Albert Lewis, Chiefs-Raiders: “Long arms, catch-up speed.” 4. Ronnie Lott, 49ers-Raiders-Jets: “Tenacious.” 5. Deion Sanders, Falcons-49ers-Cowboys-Redskins: “Best athlete I’ve been around.”
Pass Rushers: 1. Bruce Smith, Bills: “Hands down.” 2. Lawrence Taylor, Giants: “Relentless.” 3. Reggie White, Eagles-Packers: “Powerful.” 4. Charles Haley, 49ers-Cowboys: “Very smart.” 5. Derrick Thomas, Chiefs: “Speed to burn.”
Bears fans: The Packers and Rams aren’t the only teams rooting for the Bears to upset the Lions Sunday. Network television is going to hate seeing the defending world champions eliminated from the playoffs.
The Rams need only 15 more yards passing to break the NFL season record of 5,018 by the 1984 Miami Dolphins. With the Rams on the sidelines, TV audiences will be deprived of watching the most exciting player in the league, Marshall Faulk, and last year’s MVP, Kurt Warner.
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Atlanta linebacker Jessie Tuggle said he watched a lot of television while recuperating from knee surgery. He picked Faulk as an easy MVP winner.
“That guy, he’s incredible,” Tuggle said. “He’s way above anyone in this league at his position right now, no one close.”
Rice a Raider? The idea of Jerry Rice joining the Oakland Raiders next season is interesting news to Raiders receivers Tim Brown and Andre Rison.
“I don’t know if there would be enough balls,” said Rison. “Man, if he came here crying, it isn’t going to work. Me and Timmy get along just fine. I catch my two or three.”
Brown doesn’t buy the notion that Rice is a salary-cap casualty:
“Believe me, there is never a situation in this league where a guy is going to lose his job because of the salary cap. They may use that as an excuse but that’s not the reason. All they have to do is redo the deal and spread it out, and Jerry can be there with a cap number in a blink of an eye if that’s what they wanted to do.
“But that’s an excuse they’re going to use, and most of the public won’t know that. But the players, especially the guys who know the system, know that’s not the reason they’re going to let Jerry go.”