COLLEGE FOOTBALL ’87 : COACHES, PLAYERS, TEAMS AND TRENDS TO WATCH THIS SEASON : DAN McGWIRE: : He Throws Almost as Far as Mark Hits

It was McGwire week in the Big Apple and, perhaps for the first time ever, Mark, the Oakland Athletics’ home run-hitting sensation followed his little brother Dan, who is the not-so-little 6-foot 8-inch sophomore quarterback at Iowa.

The day before Mark arrived at Yankee Stadium to try to improve on his 40-home run season and help Oakland stay in the American League West race, Dan made his debut as Iowa’s starting quarterback against Tennessee in the Kickoff game here Aug. 30.

Certainly, it was one of the rare times Mark followed Dan in anything.

And just how did the Big Apple respond to the brother act? With typical confusion, to be sure.

When Dan stepped onto the field the first time Iowa had the ball, the press box announcer said, “At quarterback for Iowa, Mark . . . Dan McGwire.”

Fans, too, may have become confused. Say, wasn’t that Mark fading back to pass to Quinn Early at Giants Stadium the other day?

Or was it Dan who struck out three times against Ron Guidry at Yankee Stadium a day later?

Dan, 19, four years younger than Mark and three inches taller, forgives the confusion.

“We’re basically the same,” he said. “We’ve been brought up the same. We basically look the same . . . we almost look alike.”

Also, not surprisingly, they share another important trait--a willingness to deal with the demands and responsibilities of being highly regarded and sought-after athletes. Reporters often come away from an interview with Mark in virtual shock, having become accustomed to dealing with often surly baseball players.

Dan, too, handles the inquiries smoothly and doesn’t let the inevitable questions, ones he has heard hundreds of times already, irritate him or leave him at a loss for words.

For Dan McGwire, fame has arrived on two fronts. Obviously first, and probably always first, is the now-famous name. It isn’t easy to hide when your older brother hits 33 home runs before the All-Star break, basically wraps up rookie-of-the-year honors at mid-season, and threatens to rewrite several records.

Second, how can you stay out of sight when you’re 6-8? And talented. Many believe that Dan could revolutionize the game, become to college football what Magic Johnson has become to pro basketball. Before Johnson, there had never been a 6-8 point guard. Iowa officials have searched the records and believe there has never been a 6-8 quarterback in college football.

Therein lies the fascination with Dan McGwire. The public is interested because of the name, but also because the kid is big and has a live arm.

This couldn’t have been illustrated better than during the nationally televised Kickoff game. Just before Iowa’s first play from scrimmage, as Dan McGwire lined up, ABC inserted a small picture with Mark McGwire in his baseball uniform. From Toronto, Mark gave his views on his brother’s debut as starting quarterback.

Even as Dan entered a new phase of his college career, big brother was watching. Afterward, the questions directed at Dan McGwire were divided between his own performance and the quarterback controversy at Iowa, and naturally, about his brother Mark.

Question: Do you get to go to each other’s events?

Answer: I did during the summer. I went to see some of his games.

Q: You must be very proud of his accomplishments.

A: Yes, I am. I’m very proud of him.

Q: Does it bother you to be compared to him?

A: No, it doesn’t. He plays baseball and I play football. And I want to leave it at that.

The answers come quickly, almost automatically. And why not? Great things have been expected from Dan McGwire ever since he led Claremont High School to a 14-0 season and the Southern Section Eastern Conference championship in his junior year.

Later, away from the media crush at Giants Stadium, McGwire was asked if he ever wants to put a moratorium on the brother questions.

“Not yet,” he said, laughing. “The media hasn’t gotten that bad.”

Certainly, it helps that the brothers play different sports. In fact, Dan once said he quit playing baseball at the Little League level because he found it dull, saying he preferred to move around.

He may not like playing baseball but he did get the chance to watch his brother in person for a short time earlier this summer in Oakland. Possibly, if Dan had stayed another week, Mark might have hit five more home runs.

“When I was there, I think he hit three or four home runs in about a week and a half,” Dan said. “It was against Boston and Detroit and some other team. It might have been (a good-luck charm) with me being there. It might have boosted his ego.”

Mark didn’t get the chance to see Dan in action here, not even on television. He tried, though, rushing into the clubhouse after Toronto had routed Oakland, 13-3. He caught the last part, just as Phil Reich kicked a 20-yard-field goal with three seconds remaining to give Tennessee a 23-22 victory.

He was heard to say: “Darn, my brother’s team just lost.”

Likewise, Dan wasn’t able to watch Mark when the A’s lost to the Yankees, 4-1, the next day.

Still, there is a strong family support system.

“There always was (competition) when we all played sports growing up together,” Dan said of the relationship among the five McGwire brothers. “They are all great brothers. We helped each other out when we were down. When we needed help, we’d ask questions, and (Mark) would be more than happy to help us out.”

Travis Watkins, a sophomore receiver at Iowa who also played with Dan at Claremont, believes that the McGwire family has contributed a great deal to the success of his friend.

“I lived with him last year, and his family gives him a tremendous amount of support,” Watkins said. “If Dan has a bad game, they don’t let him slide a bit. They won’t let him.

“Even though he has lived in Mark’s shadow, despite playing a different sport, Dan could easily stand alone. Even if (Mark) never played, Dan would stand by himself.”

It isn’t hard to understand why. While crowds gather to see Mark McGwire hit baseballs as far as he can, they also want to see how far Dan McGwire can throw a football.

On the second play from scrimmage in the Kickoff game, Dan launched a pass to Early from about the Iowa 30-yard line to the Tennessee 10, which Early just missed.

The growing legend of McGwire’s arm got a considerable boost in Iowa’s spring intra-squad game when he threw a pass from his own 25 to Early at the goal line. Not surprisingly, the 75-yard attempt had been blown up to a 90-yard strike by the time the Kickoff game rolled around.

“It hit Quinn and bounced off his face mask,” Watkins said. “Quinn is so fast, you’d think he could have outrun that. Everyone just went oooh and then aaah. I was excited for him; you just don’t see that every day from a sophomore.”

McGwire believes that he may be starting a trend. He recently was quoted in a national magazine as saying: “Offensive linemen are getting taller, and other quarterbacks have to roll out or look between the linemen to see downfield. I have a tremendous view. When I’m bouncing on my toes, I can be 6-10.”

Thus, after the spring game, the hype machine was shifted into full gear, thanks in large part to Iowa Coach Hayden Fry.

Some of Fry’s comments on McGwire:

--”He has unbelievable strength. The rascal can throw a football as pretty as anyone you’ve ever seen. He’s becoming more and more accurate with it. . . . All Dan needs is experience to become a truly great quarterback.”

--”I’ve had some great ones but never a quarterback with an arm this strong. He’s so big and so tall that he can see the field. He’s not just a slim guy, he weighs 235. Gosh, in our scrimmages, we’ve had some of our better tacklers hanging on him like they were hanging on the branches of a tree, and he doesn’t even know they’re there.”

On whether McGwire can throw it 90 yards:

--”Oh, shoot, I imagine he can throw it farther than that. He doesn’t even have to take a step. He just flips his wrist and the ball is . . . well, you just have to see him in person. . . . We just don’t have the receivers to exploit all of his passing ability.”

Consider, of course, that Fry sometimes can make even Sparky Anderson seem understated. In the Kickoff game, though, Fry stopped raving about McGwire and used a three-quarterback shuttle system against Tennessee--a rotation, if you will.

McGwire completed 7 of 14 passes for 86 yards and no touchdowns in splitting time with Chuck Hartlieb and Tom Poholsky. The quarterback relay, came as a surprise, though, especially after all the enthusiasm.

“He’s trying to find out the right mixture, that’s why he’s playing so many people out there,” McGwire said. “But I think pretty soon, before the Big Ten season starts, he should decide.

“Personally, I think he should go down to one quarterback.”

Watkins said McGwire will come out stronger from this experience.

“He’s just always been a success,” Watkins said. “He works hard to be No. 1. And he’s not a quitter. I’ve never seen him fall second in anything. Not in high school, junior high or grade school.”

For those who have observed Mark McGwire’s improbable rookie season with the Oakland A’s, it’s easy to forget that his success didn’t exactly come overnight. He, too, had to await his chance while Oakland looked at Rob Nelson as its first baseman.

It probably wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Dan, once again, reverted to form and followed his brother’s path, winning the quarterback race and taking college football by storm, as his brother has done in baseball.

After all, they look alike, they sound alike. Why shouldn’t their athletic careers continue to develop alike?