To Morton, Elway’s the Salt of the Earth After That Drive

Craig Morton, Denver’s quarterback when it lost to Dallas, 27-10, in the 1978 Super Bowl, assures everyone that the Broncos will be in better hands this time.

Of John Elway’s 98-yard drive against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday, Morton said: “It was best drive I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of them. I’ve seen Roger Staubach win some games in some ‘Hail Mary’ situations and I’ve been in on a few game-winning drives myself, but I have never seen one in that kind of situation in a championship game. It was just phenomenal.

“I don’t know how you’d rate it with the all-time great drives, but how about No. 1? It was absolutely the greatest drive Denver has ever made.”

He then gave Elway the highest accolade.

“He’s the only quarterback I’ve ever seen who could have pulled that off,” he said.

Although New York opened as a 7 1/2-point favorite in Las Vegas, oddsmaker Sonny Reizner of the Castaways said that very little Denver money showed up.

“It’s crazy,” he told Newsday. “The money started to show for the Giants right away. Of the first 60 bets we got, only three were on Denver. By early afternoon, the line was 8 1/2.”

The ritual of dousing New York Giant Coach Bill Parcells with Gatorade has inspired a high-ranking executive of the firm to send Parcells a gift certificate to replenish his wardrobe.

Asked for how much, Parcells would only say: “It’s more than $5 and less than $5,000.”

Trivia Time: Phil Simms wears No. 11 and John Elway No. 7. Has any quarterback with either number won in the Super Bowl? (Answer below.)

From Washington Redskin defensive end Charles Mann: “You know, the best thing that can happen for us now is for the Giants to win the Super Bowl. I’m dead serious. We don’t want them to lose and come back hungry and mad next year. Let ‘em win and get all those New York endorsements and TV shows, just like the Bears did.”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Former Ohio State receiver Lenny Willis, recalling a pep talk by Woody Hayes, told the Dallas Times Herald: “We were playing TCU back in ’73 or ’74 when he came up to us in the locker room. He said, ‘You can’t play the piano without the black and the white keys.’

“We didn’t have the wisdom he had, so he had to explain it to us. TCU had no black players at the time. We went out there and kicked their butts.”

Ohio State defeated TCU, 37-3, in 1973.

Ouch: Wrote Paul Finebaum of the Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald after Ray Perkins abandoned Alabama to become the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: “Since the day he arrived here, Perkins has been driven by winning and making money--and not necessarily in that order.

“He also seems to have gone out of his way to be as rude and cold to as many people as possible. That part of Perkins’ legacy certainly won’t be missed.”

Trivia Answer: Yes. Joe Theismann wore No. 7 for Washington when it beat Miami, 27-17, in 1983. Craig Morton of Denver and Ron Jaworski of Philadelphia both were losers with No. 7. Tony Eason of New England and Joe Kapp of Minnesota were losers with No. 11.

Quotebook

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, on why he pitches batting practice: “Did you ever hear of a batting practice pitcher dropping dead? You hear about men dropping dead shoveling snow or mowing the lawn, but not pitching batting practice.”