Laufenberg Was the Odd Man Out on Redskins

Some men get violent. When others are cut in professional sport, they rant in public and weep in private. A few accept the decision stoically, team players to the end. Nobody ever left the NFL quite the way Babe Laufenberg did the Redskins last month.

All four television stations were on hand at Redskin Park; he was photographed from the time he arrived, in a pin-striped suit, to his final interview, given close to a sign that said: “No admittance.”

Imagine the farewell had the Babe actually completed an official pro pass. Or even thrown one.

Laufenberg’s resume is an odd one. Having never played a down in three pro regular seasons, he nevertheless can honestly insist: “I win games.”

His problem was that the Redskins have about 12 times as many practices and controlled scrimmages as preseason games. That’s where Laufenberg lost--in the boardroom, not in games.

Fair or not, about 70% of most evaluations are done in practice. And the Babe is not a practice player. He holds the ball wrong; he releases the ball wrong.

All he does is get the ball to the proper man with the game on the line. Preseason be damned. The Babe’s team wins. Too bad half a dozen lousy outfits around the NFL won’t realize this.

Unfortunately, the next coach who judges Laufenberg very likely will be as mechanically minded as the one who released him. Like Joe Gibbs, other coaches are enthralled with textbook form and stunning potential.

“He’ll suffer from the same mentality as he left,” said a veteran scout.

Still, being objective, you would arrive at the same conclusion as Gibbs. Your heart pens Laufenberg onto the roster; your mind gives the backup quarterback job to Doug Williams and the passer-in-waiting mantle to Mark Rypien.

Williams is a big-timer whose playoff experience, with an otherwise ordinary Tampa Bay gang, lifts him over the cuddly Babe. If Gibbs hadn’t chosen Williams, owner Jack Kent Cooke would have had reason to question his coach’s wisdom.

Cooke’s logic lately has been unusually inconsistent. He has spent freely, for Kelvin Bryant and Williams, and upgraded the team dramatically. The demise of the U.S. Football League may well have allowed the Redskins to slip past the Giants as favorites in the NFC East.

Except they seem to lack the sort of mean pass rush Dexter Manley has provided the last several years. With money and draft choices, the Redskins have planned for a memorable 50th season.

Without pressure on the other team’s quarterback, the Redskins may be as damaged on defense as they are improved on offense.

If Cooke is as intent on a Super Bowl victory as he acts, why not throw a few hundred thousand more pennies toward a man who will assure the strongest possible team?

Gibbs probably will have a quicker quarterback hook this season, be more inclined to use Williams if Jay Schroeder makes too many bad decisions.

So loyal was Gibbs last season that the slumping Joe Theismann had to be carried off the field, with a broken leg, before Schroeder was given a try.

Schroeder’s 5-1 record has made his position solid, though hardly cemented. A Theismann-like performance, back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, will give Schroeder Theismann-like status.

Until that happens, Schroeder will be given the benefit of many doubts but certainly not all of them. Williams caught Gibbs’ fancy when both were in Tampa.

Who knows how effective Williams might be with such unfamiliar luxuries as quality blocking. Lots of times in Tampa Bay, it seemed, opposition tacklers were in the pocket before he arrived. Salivating. All but saying: “What took you so long to get here? We had a free path, too.”

The question about Williams has been his accuracy rather than his strength. He’s the only quarterback who can lead Superman, the whispers go, but he also might throw a screen pass to a worm.

Both Laufenberg and Williams needed last Saturday’s preseason test against Tampa Bay badly. There was just one game--and one football. Williams playing so well made Gibbs’ decision Tuesday much easier to make, and easier for everyone but Laufenberg to accept.

In reality, Laufenberg was beaten out by a player who might as well be wearing pin stripes to each game if he makes the team: Rypien.

Gibbs reasons that Rypien in three years will be better than Laufenberg has become in the same time frame. Also, the Babe happens to be about 18 months older than the top gun, Schroeder.

Laufenberg is not the luckiest fellow who ever fastened a chin strap. In college and the NFL, he finished behind a glamorous quarterback with more ability. When he needed it most, the USFL ceased operation.

He is bright enough to recover grandly from this blow; whether somebody in the NFL will give him a chance, on his terms, is doubtful.

He surely deserves a better off-the-field fate than he has gotten in football. (The New Orleans Saints, looking for a No. 3 quarterback, claimed Laufenberg off the waiver list but released him in the final cutdown.)