At Last, He’s No. 1 : Todd Blackledge, in His Fourth Year With the Chiefs, Finally Takes Over at Quarterback

It was 1984, the first week of the regular season in the National Football League, and Curt Warner was already in the hospital.

He had gone down in the second quarter on opening day while carrying the ball for the Seattle Seahawks. It was his knee and it was serious: The rock-bottom low point of a running back’s life.

But when, after surgery, consciousness returned, Warner didn’t have to face the bleakness alone. Sitting beside him in a straight-backed hospital chair was his old college roommate.

“Thought you were in Kansas City,” said Warner, managing a small smile.

“I was,” said Todd Blackledge. “Just wanted you to see a friendly face when you woke up.”

Warner, recalling the conversation not long ago, said Blackledge had taken a day off from the Kansas City Chiefs--flying to Seattle one night and returning the next--in order to spend a few hours with a downed buddy.

“That’s Todd,” his college coach, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, said later. “Todd’s always doing things like that. As a leader, he’s one of a kind.”

The Chiefs are beginning to think so, too. Their coach, John Mackovic, announced the other day that Blackledge will be the team’s quarterback this season--with veteran Bill Kenney playing a backup role.

Although that didn’t surprise Blackledge’s friends, others noted that he is now a fourth-year Chief.

In Canton, Ohio, where he was born near the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, gangly high school freshmen have grown into mature seniors during Blackledge’s years as a Kansas City backup.

At the same time, many NFL passers have grown old and famous.

Since 1983, when Blackledge was one of a record six quarterbacks drafted in the first round, the five others have been distinguishing themselves--Jim Kelly in the USFL, John Elway for the Denver Broncos, Tony Eason for the New England Patriots, Ken O’Brien for the New York Jets, and Dan Marino for the Miami Dolphins.

Of the six, Blackledge, the second drafted, has become the last to start. Where has he been?

“Right here,” he said as the Chiefs began their 25th season in Missouri. “But my situation is a little different here. I’ve been playing behind a really fine quarterback (Kenney, a Pro Bowl player). A lot of teams don’t have that.”

In other words, Mackovic, the former quarterback coach of the Dallas Cowboys, has been developing Blackledge at leisure.

“This is the right time for Todd,” Mackovic said.

If so, the Chiefs will be playing this season under a hard-throwing leader who has the size and mobility of a modern quarterback. He stands 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 225 pounds.

But he is unconventional in some other respects.

Wearing an extremely short crew cut, Blackledge looks like an early 1960s All-American boy.

Single at 25, he is more family man than ladies man or playboy. His idea of a good time is going fishing in Maine with his dad, Ron, an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Strangest of all--considering that Mackovic, a passing specialist, made this particular athlete his first draft choice--is the kind of quarterback Blackledge is.

A Phi Beta Kappa student who took Penn State to its first national championship, Blackledge is more leader than passer. He has shown only about a .500 arm, having completed 253 of 500 passes in three seasons.

“The only stat I care about is winning,” he said.

What this shows, among other things, is where Mackovic’s priorities lie after nearly 20 years of coaching pass offenses.

To him, passing comes second.

“It’s the leaders who win,” Mackovic said, mentioning the two things that in his view mean football leadership.

“A leader sets the example in both work habits and attitude toward the team,” he said. “Second, a leader is a problem-solver--on or off the field.”

The Chiefs call Blackledge all this and more as he works their locker room, or moves around the practice field, quietly encouraging teammates.

But can he pass?

The years ahead will answer that, although Pro Bowl cornerback Deron Cherry, the Chiefs’ best player, is willing to commit himself now.

“Todd isn’t as flashy as Marino or Elway,” Cherry told Kansas City reporters. “But he’s got everything else.”

Blackledge’s long suit was trumped throughout his early seasons with the Chiefs. It’s hard for a backup quarterback to lead spectacularly from the bench.

So this is put-up time for him. For him and Mackovic both--tough division or no. They’ve had three seasons to season. Pressure? That’s football. They will rise or fall together.