Rookies at the Helm

Rookies at the Helm No one is more likely to change from Saturday's hero into Sunday's nobody than a rookie pro-football quarterback. Experts generally agree that it takes five to six years for a fledgling passer to gain the poise, knowledge and confidence--in himself as well as that of his teammates--to become a winner. Even the best young signal callers usually find themselves enduring a lengthy novitiate behind a seasoned pro.

This year the situation is somewhat different. Just as 1970 was hailed as the year of the quarterback on college gridirons, so 1971 is rapidly shaping up as the year of the rookie quarterback in the National Football League. In the opening games of the season, a number of confident young post-grads have gotten off the bench and gone into the lineup to show how well they can do. One reason for their precocious success is that more and more colleges are turning to pro-type offense with an emphasis on drop-back passing. Another is, simply, that the new boys have an abundant supply of talent. Herewith, the top helmsmen of the future--and perhaps the present:

> Jim Plunkett of New England, 6 ft. 3 in., 210 Ibs., came to the lowly Patriots from Stanford as the N.F.L.'s No. 1 draft choice. In the season's opener against Oakland, one of the strongest teams in the American Football Conference, Plunkett completed only six of 15 passes; but two were touchdown tosses of 33 yds. and 22 yds., and he led the Patriots to a stunning 20-6 upset victory. "I don't think we can transform the Patriots into a winning team in one year," he says realistically, "but I've been pleasantly surprised to find that some of this business is not as difficult as I thought." Plunkett saw a bit more of the difficulty last week against the tough Detroit Lions, who pulled the Patriots off their cloud by a 34-7 margin. Still, New England's lone touchdown came on a 61 -yd. bomb from Plunkett to his favorite collegiate target, Randy Vataha.

> Archie Manning of New Orleans, 6 ft. 3 in., 212 Ibs., was equally dangerous at Mississippi as a passer and runner. While it is almost axiomatic in the pros that a team cannot win a championship with a scrambling passer, Manning may yet prove the exception. Directing a green team (eight rookies in the starting lineup) against the experienced Los Angeles Rams, Manning kept the rugged Ram defense off guard with his fancy footwork and completed 16 passes, one for a touchdown. Then he closed the game in a style reminiscent of his Merriwellian history at Ole Miss: with one second left on the clock he dived over the Ram goal line to give the Saints a 24-20 victory. The following Sunday, San Francisco blitzed both of their outside linebackers in an effort to contain Manning, dumping him six times and bouncing him out of the first half of the game with an eye injury. But Manning did complete eight passes, two for touchdowns, in a 38-20 losing effort. Archie has been so spectacular that he already has defenses gunning for him. Said Rams' End Deacon Jones, with a blood-and-feathers smile: "I hope to end Manning's career the next time we meet."

> Dan Pastorini of Houston, 6 ft. 3 in., 216 Ibs., hurled 35 touchdown passes at Santa Clara, but was still relatively unknown outside California until the close of the 1970 season. Then he was named most valuable offensive player in the East-West Shrine game. Pastorini, who is also the Oilers' punter this season, got his chance last Sunday in the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs. Sent in to replace ineffective veteran Charley Johnson, Pastorini nearly handed the mammoth Chiefs their second upset in a row. Although he suffered two interceptions, he completed ten of 21 passes for 156 yds., including a 12-yd. flip to End Charlie Joiner and a 14-yd. pass to Joe Dawkins to set up a field goal that gave Houston a 16-13 lead with eight minutes to play. Although Kansas City scored a last-quarter touchdown to win 20-16, Pastorini left the field to a standing ovation from the Houston fans. Even so, his position is far from secure; he faces stiff competition from another Oiler rookie, Lynn Dickey, who at Kansas State broke every Big Eight career passing record and completed eight passes in Houston's opening loss to the Cleveland Browns.

> Scott Hunter of Green Bay, 6 ft. 2 in., 210 Ibs., followed a pair of hard acts at Alabama: Joe Namath and Ken Stabler (now of the Oakland Raiders). Worse, Hunter was out with an injury the better part of his senior year. "That probably cost me some money," he ruefully admits. At the least it dropped him to a sixth-round draft choice. Now the Packers, who thought they might have to trade away their top draft choice next year to find a new quarterback, are close to ecstatic over Hunter's performance. "Why make a trade when we have a quarterback right in front of us?" crowed Rookie Coach Dan Devine. With good reason. Although the

Packers lost a sloppy 42-40 opener to the New York Giants, Hunter partially redeemed the day by ripping the Giant secondary for nine completions and two touchdowns. The following Sunday, Hunter drew the starting assignment over aging (39) Zeke Bratkowski; he engineered the Packers' methodical offense shrewdly and scored a touchdown himself as Green Bay walloped the Denver Broncos, 34-13. His self-assurance has also won over his teammates. Said Cornerback Ken Ellis: "One thing you never have to worry about is confidence in a passer from Alabama." The Packers are certainly one team that should have confidence in an Alabama quarterback, even an unheralded one. They got along quite well for years with a 17th-round draft choice from the Crimson Tide named Bart Starr.

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