49ERS PLAY OUT OLD STORY : CONTROVERSY BREWS AT QUARTERBACK.Byline: Gwen Knapp San Francisco Examiner The San Francisco Examiner is a U.S. daily newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since the late 19th Century. History 19th century The beginning of the Examiner is a topic of some controversy. Here it comes Here It Comes is the third EP from Doves. It was the last release on the band's Casino Records label on August 2, 1999 on limited CD and 10" vinyl. Martin Rebelski, the unofficial fourth member of Doves, plays piano on the title track. again, another quarterback quandary for the San Francisco 49ers Everything has been downsized this time. Steve Young's infirmities don't match Joe Montana's. Elvis Grbac's quarterback-in-waiting credentials can't touch Young's (circa 1992). The free-agency market, which opened for business after Montana was dispatched to Missouri, hovers like a vulture vulture, common name for large birds of prey of temperate and tropical regions. The Old World vultures (family Accipitridae) are allied to hawks and eagles; the more ancient American vultures and condors are of a different family (Cathartidae) with distant links to over the latest proceedings. It creates the crisis, preying on Grbac. It also offers the solution. If Grbac departs as a free agent, he can always return by the same route. Or someone else can take his place as Young's heir. Jeff Blake, the Cincinnati Bengals' promising star, is under contract through 1999, right about the time that Young's career should definitively - rather than speculatively - enter the twilight. Rick Mirer, unsupported in Seattle, could be cut loose after the 1997 season. He enthralled en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. Niners scouts before the 1993 draft. His shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
The reasoning might seem presumptuous pre·sump·tu·ous adj. Going beyond what is right or proper; excessively forward. [Middle English, from Old French presumptueux, from Late Latin praes , but the 49ers surely believe that their system can lift any quarterback to a new stature. They are not humble in that regard. Grbac can increase his market value today against the Atlanta Falcons, but he wouldn't have to take a snap all year to guarantee a free-agency windfall when his Niners contract expires after this season. His understudy wins over Dallas and Miami in 1995 revealed a poised professional, ready for full-time work. Several teams would hire him as a starter on the basis of those game tapes alone. But they will pay him more because he won those games for San Francisco. There is always a premium attached to 49ers quarterbacks. They have brand-name appeal. Scott Mitchell signed a three-year, $11.1-million contract with the Detroit Lions in 1994, after starting seven games in relief In baseball statistics, games in relief (denoted by GIR) is the number of games in which a pitcher appears but is not the starting pitcher. See also
``Based on what we know at this point in time,'' team president Carmen Policy said, ``Steve Young will be our quarterback in 1997.'' The job is his to lose, not Grbac's to win. One groin injury and one game against the Falcons can't change that. But Policy's stand would have to become negotiable if Young couldn't play for more than half this season and Grbac duplicated what he did last year. Then the questions become more difficult: Does the franchise jettison jettison (jĕt`əsən, –zən) [O.Fr.,=throwing], in maritime law, casting all or part of a ship's cargo overboard to lighten the vessel or to meet some danger, such as fire. a proven youngster for a 35-year-old scrambling quarterback at the crest of his career? If the answer is no, then what happens to Young? The 49ers would never dispose of him cavalierly, sending him to a dreadful franchise. When they dumped Montana, they made sure he had a soft landing, into a locker room with Marcus Allen, Neil Smith and a decent coaching staff. Could they do the same for Young, and hope to get adequate compensation? A contender like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia won't be able to trade high draft picks. Those would come out of a quagmire (New York Giants
v. dwin·dled, dwin·dling, dwin·dles v.intr. To become gradually less until little remains. v.tr. To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. quickly. Policy has said he doesn't expect to keep both players next year. More to the point, he has said he doesn't expect to keep Grbac. ``I don't think he's willing to do what Steve did,'' Policy said, meaning idle on the bench in a waiting game that could last for years. Likewise, the Niners can't do for him what they did for Young - pay top wages to their designated clipboard-holder. Policy said he was trying to fashion a contract for Grbac anyway. He and agent Jim Steiner plan to meet in about a week and a half, when the Niners travel to St. Louis, Steiner's home base. Policy might be able to find extra cap money by renegotiating Young's contract. But any new deal with Young would surely involve an extension, which couldn't do much to reassure Grbac about his future here. There are significant risks to letting him go. Most teams put their starting quarterbacks under financial lock and key, fending off free-agency temptations. Even Seattle's disenchantment dis·en·chant tr.v. dis·en·chant·ed, dis·en·chant·ing, dis·en·chants To free from illusion or false belief; undeceive. [Obsolete French desenchanter, from Old French, with Mirer does not guarantee his banishment. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: While Steve Young, left, sits out with an injury, El vis Grbac gets his big chance today. Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion