FOR VLASIC, PATIENCE IS A WAY OF LIFE, AND . . . : He’s Still Playing a Waiting Game

He comes from a quarterback-rich area in western Pennsylvania that has produced Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Jim Kelly.

“I hope there’s room for one more in pro football,” said Mark Vlasic, who was drafted in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Chargers last week.

Vlasic, who grew up in Monaca, Pa., and played college football at Iowa, may be the eventual successor to Dan Fouts, but inexperience is likely to keep him in a backup role for at least a few years.

Waiting will be nothing new for Vlasic, who was the understudy to Chuck Long at Iowa for four seasons.

Vlasic finally got his chance to start as a fifth-year senior in 1986, but a shoulder injury limited his playing time to six starts.

He was something of an unknown going into the draft, despite leading Iowa to a 39-38 comeback victory over San Diego State and being named most valuable player in the Holiday Bowl.

Vlasic, who has graduated from Iowa with a degree in finance, almost feels as if he had a second major . . . in patience.

Two years on the scout team followed by two years as Long’s primary backup provided a preview of what the next few years in San Diego may be like.

“We were always going against the starting defense, and they made life rough,” Vlasic said. “If one of the starters had a bad day in class or had a fight with his girlfriend, he would take it out by knocking me on my butt. But I think it helped me learn to deal with things. I can certainly say I’ve paid my dues.”

The Chargers were willing to gamble because quarterback coach Roger Theder was impressed with Vlasic after watching him on film and in person.

Vlasic has size (6-feet 3-inches, 205 pounds), a strong arm and has shown an ability to bring his team back to win. He did it in Iowa’s final regular-season game against Minnesota and again in the Holiday Bowl.

“Nothing makes up for experience, and I know I’m going to have to take my bumps for a while,” he said. “I’ve watched film for years, but that’s not the same as being down on the field with people in your face.

“I don’t want to sound overly confident, but I believe everyone has to set goals, and mine is to be All-Pro someday. If you don’t set goals, you’ll never get there.”

The more immediate goal is making the team this summer in training camp. The Chargers have three veteran quarterbacks in Fouts, Mark Herrmann and Tom Flick, plus Vlasic and free agent Rick Neuheisel.

Fouts and Herrmann are unlikely to be challenged as Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, meaning Vlasic and Neuheisel will compete with Flick for the third spot.

Vlasic, who is in San Diego to learn the Chargers’ terminology and playbook before mini-camp late this month, must show in training camp he can move the team, Theder said.

“A lot of guys look good in individual workouts, throwing against air,” Theder said. “But Mark’s strength is in 11-on-11 competition, with things happening around him. He throws with a good touch and seems to have a good understanding of the game, and I don’t think he will be rattled by pro defenses. But the bottom line is, he’s got to prove he’s better than others in camp, in scrimmages and in exhibition games.”

Head Coach Al Saunders said Vlasic must demonstrate a level of competence to merit being groomed as the long-range successor to Fouts.

“He could be an exceptional quarterback in the future,” Saunders said. “He has the tools to do it, but whether he matures into that, we won’t know until we work with him a lot more. How fast he learns is important.”

Vlasic said his objective is to be as error-free as possible.

“I’d like to show them I can do more things right than wrong and prove that down the road I deserve the opportunity to play,” he said.

He impressed Theder in a workout at the University of Iowa this spring.

There were no true receivers on the field, so Vlasic had to throw to a defensive lineman, Jeff Drost, who would later be drafted by Green Bay.

Drost didn’t run any pass patterns, but stood in spots where receivers would wind up if they had run curls, sideline cuts or other breaks. Drost managed to hold most of the passes Vlasic threw him.

“I liked his velocity and the quickness of his release,” Theder said. “He showed great accuracy, just as he had on film. His college position coach, Bill Snyder, said his techniques were actually a little smoother than Chuck Long’s.”

Long, runner-up to Bo Jackson in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1985, became the most accomplished quarterback in Iowa history and was drafted by the Detroit Lions last year.

Long and Vlasic were friendly rivals during their years in Iowa City. Their passing styles, however, are not really similar, according to Vlasic.

“Chuck’s delivery is more side-arm and I’m more of an overhand passer,” Vlasic said. “For that reason, we never were able to really help each other much with techniques. Where Chuck helped me was in knowing where and when to throw the ball. He helped me learn to read receivers--how to come off the primary receiver and the order to look at secondary receivers.

“There was a very competitive relationship, but not in a negative way. I think I was able to push him. We never held back anything in practice.”

Although he rarely played while Long was in school, teammates gained enough respect for Vlasic to vote him team captain before the 1986 season.

Four years of waiting behind him, Vlasic was confident and eager to prove himself. He got off to a fast start and was leading the NCAA in passing efficiency before suffering a shoulder injury just before halftime of Iowa’s third game, against UTEP.

“I think we were ahead something like 40-7 and I wasn’t even going to play in the second half,” Vlasic said.

“I got hurt when I dumped the ball off over the middle to a running back running a crossing pattern. After my delivery, my arm was at my side, and I got wrapped up by a tackler. When I went down, my head and my arm both hit the (artificial) turf, and I thought at first my head might be hurt worse.”

The ringing in his head went away quickly, but the shoulder troubled him the rest of the season. Vlasic, his arm at less than full strength, had to share the job with Tom Poholsky, who started four of Iowa’s five Big-Ten wins.

The highlight of the regular season came in the finale against Minnesota, which Poholsky started. Iowa trailed, 17-0, at halftime, and Coach Hayden Fry turned to Vlasic, who completed 16 of 21 passes for 199 yards in the second half as the Hawkeyes rallied to win.

He completed the season ranked third in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation in passing efficiency. He completed 93 of 152 passes for a .612 percentage, 1,234 yards, 9 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

Fry called Vlasic the sleeper of the 1987 draft.

“He could be a real surprise to people,” Fry said. “There’s no reason to think he wouldn’t have competed with Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh (drafted in the first round by Chicago) for All-Big Ten if he hadn’t been hurt. We watched him for four years while Chuck Long was here, and we knew what he could do.”

Vlasic starred in Iowa’s Holiday Bowl victory, completing 15 of 28 passes for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Hawkeyes won on a last-second field goal.

“We knew San Diego State was going to be hard to beat,” Vlasic said. “We knew they were a team that got better as the season went on, and they were not nearly as bad as some papers wrote (in Iowa).

“I had been sacked only five times all year, but they were able to get me five times that night. We were playing on grass for the first time all year and we were slower than they were. We were a step behind all night, it seemed.”

As it turns out, being slightly in arrears is right where Vlasic has been and is likely to remain for a while. It took him four years to pass Long, and it could be nearly that long before he emerges with the Chargers.