PRO FOOTBALL ’87 : COACHES, PLAYERS, TEAMS AND TRENDS TO WATCH THIS SEASON : HONEYMOONS AFTER MIAMI : For Starters, Testaverde Doesn’t Mind Second-Stringing Along, Scouts’ Honor

So far, we know that Vinny Testaverde says no to drugs and drink, that he personally answers his own fan mail, that he tools around town in a black Jaguar that has a dashboard worth more than the family Buick.

What else? We know that he lends $10 to elderly couples stranded in parking lots, that the Waltons would have envied his family life, that a college teammate once compared Testaverde’s nose to the front end of a Concorde.

What we don’t know--what is driving the locals absolutely crackers--is if Testaverde, the $8.2-million Boy Scout in cleats, can play quarterback for the win-starved Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Yes, he can.

Against the Cincinnati Bengals, in his very first appearance at Tampa Stadium, Testaverde threw three touchdown passes in about six minutes. The Bengals still won the exhibition game, 31-30, but Testaverde (16 of 29, 233 yards) made his point: he can play.

No, he can’t.

Against the Indianapolis Colts last Saturday, Testaverde completed 6 of 24 passes for 42 yards. While several members of Testaverde’s offensive group later found themselves on the waiver wire, the performance still caused Tampa Bay optimists everywhere to reconsider.

Remember, the Buccaneers have seen manners before. They had quarterback Steve Young, sort of a sincere Eddie Haskell with money. The Buccaneers have seen whopper contracts before. Again, we offer Young, the Buccaneers’ most valuable player in 1986 who has since been dispatched to the San Francisco 49ers. And the Buccaneers have seen potential, plenty of it. This was the team that introduced Doug Williams to the National Football League, that was convinced Steve Spurrier was a quarterback to cherish, that swore Jack Thompson was destined for the Hall of Fame.

Yes, well, Williams is now a backup for the Washington Redskins. Spurrier is the head football coach at Duke University. And get this: Thompson is a local promotional representative for--you guessed it--Testaverde.

As for legacies, the Buccaneers are best known for their losses. So many to choose from, too.

Leeman Bennett, the most recent head coach to be fired, left town with a sparkling 4-28 record. Before him, it was John McKay (44-88-1). In all, the Buccaneers have won five games or fewer in eight of the franchise’s 11 seasons. They are 17-65 on the road. Opponents have outscored them by more than 1,000 points.

Now there is Ray Perkins, best known for helping assemble the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, succeeding legendary Coach Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama and drafting one Mr. Testaverde.

It was also Perkins, in a long-awaited announcement, who named veteran Steve DeBerg, not Testaverde, the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.

To which Testaverde replies: “Everybody expects me to jump right in there. You have to realize that Steve’s a 10-year veteran. That’s a lot.

“My answer to a question like that last week--Who should be the starter, me or Steve?--was, if I was put in the game, I feel comfortable enough to get the job done.”

Testaverde is accustomed to this sort of thing. He waited three years until he became the starting quarterback for Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, N.Y. He spent a long year at the Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy before his grades were good enough to enroll at the University of Miami. Once there, he had to wait until Bernie Kosar left after the 1984 season to become the starter.

Now this. “I mean, that’s fine with me,” Testaverde says. “I’m in no big rush. I want to be in there, don’t get me wrong, but I believe in Coach and what he sees. If he thinks Steve is going to get the job done better, then I’m not going to disagree with him until I feel that I’m making it obvious that I’m getting the job done better.”

History tends to use Testaverde as an example of what happens to those who wait and work. At old Sewanhaka High, Testaverde left the premises with a diploma and honorable mention All-American status. At the University of Miami, home of soft knits, pastels and guerrilla warfare attire, Testaverde became the school’s all-time leader in passing yardage and touchdowns . . . in only two seasons. He also has a Heisman Trophy to call his very own.

So Testaverde doesn’t mind delays--he thrives on them, actually. He is, well, too true, too accommodating. Negatives. Where are the negatives?

Let’s see, at the annual Buccaneers rookie show, Testaverde, a former member of the Iron Arrow leadership honorary fraternity at UM, played chaperon to two strippers. He escorted the scantily attired women to a makeshift stage where an embarrassed Perkins awaited. It was, said teammates, the first time rookie quarterback and head coach took turns blushing. “We don’t want to talk about that,” he says. “That wasn’t my idea.”

Here’s one: Testaverde occasionally can be seen cruising around the Gulf in a $150,000, 34-foot powerboat that easily reaches speeds of 70 m.p.h. Surely there must have been some wake law violations.

Truth is, Testaverde comes as advertised: kind, considerate, thoughtful. He bought his parents, the legendary Big Al and wife Josie, their choice of automobiles. He dotes on his four sisters. He treated some of his new teammates to fancy dinners. Don’t they have merit badges for this sort of thing?

“Before he got here, players were wondering what he was going be like,” tackle Ron Heller says. “You know, Heisman Trophy winner, $1-million baby (actually, $2-million signing bonus). I think everybody was pleasantly surprised. He acts like a typical rookie. He’s very quiet and I’ve never seen him dog it on the field. If you didn’t pick up a newspaper, you wouldn’t know he was anything special. You would think he was some low-round draft choice trying to make the team.”

Heller has taken a special interest in Testaverde. In what some New York fans call the best high school game ever played, Heller’s Farmingdale team was beaten on a 60-yard touchdown pass thrown by a second-string quarterback inserted in the game as a wide receiver. The wide receiver was none other than Testaverde. “He threw it on the run and they beat us, 8-6,” Heller says. “In high school, I didn’t know it was the great Vinny Testaverde. All I know is that I came across the field and almost blocked the pass.”

Pleasant as always, Testaverde didn’t even remind Heller of the loss when the two were introduced shortly after the quarterback signed with the Buccaneers. “He said, ‘I remember you. You won the Thorpe Award (for the best scholar-athlete in Nassau County).’ ”

Heller was hurt when Testaverde made his professional debut against the Bengals. He sat in the press box and watched as Testaverde warmed up behind the Buccaneer bench. He heard the crowd applaud and cheer in anticipation. “I actually felt nervous for him,” Heller says. “I had butterflies for him. So then he comes in and completes his first pass. It was unbelievable how under control he was.”

Even when things go poorly, as they did against the Colts last weekend, Testaverde impresses.

“He seems like he’s at home out there,” Heller says. “He gives a feeling of confidence, an air of greatness.”

Aside from his obvious physical gifts (6-5, 220 pounds, strong, fast), Testaverde brings a soothing calm to a huddle. Perkins likes his quarterbacks to be composed, almost serene, when they play.

“I would prefer to have somebody who does not get over-excited, too emotional,” Perkins says. “The quarterback and the head coach, they’ve got to be thinking about the next series.”

Perkins says he never considered trading the rights to Testaverde. Wouldn’t even listen to an offer. After spending a week as one of Testaverde’s coaches at the Japan Bowl and later taking a day to visit him at Miami, Perkins decided there would be no deals. He saw Testaverde handle himself in front of crowds, in front of mini-cams and notebooks, in front of other coaches. He knew that Testaverde could throw a football. Now he knew Testaverde could handle the distractions, too.

“I didn’t know what (Perkins) was looking for, so I acted myself,” Testaverde says of the interview process. “I can’t change for anybody. That won’t make me happy.”

Here are, as best as anyone knows, the things that make Testaverde happy: family and football. The rest is a mystery.

Testaverde will chat for hours about curl patterns and rollouts. He’ll talk proudly about the folks. He might even detail, hesitatingly, though, his growing endorsement package.

As for the inner sanctum, Testaverde allows few visitors.

“I’m a real private person,” he says. “As far as my private life is concerned, I don’t let too many people know what’s going on, outside that I have a girlfriend and my family’s close. But as far as what I do and where I go, you can ask anybody in here (pointing to the Buccaneer locker room) and they couldn’t tell you. I really don’t like anybody to know my business. That’s just the way I am, the way I’ve always been.”

The Buccaneers understand. They no longer treat Testaverde as a curiousity piece, but as one of the guys who happens to cherish his privacy. Had he arrived in Tampa, say with the pomp and circumstance Brian Bosworth demanded in Seattle, the situation may have become strained, if not unbearable.

Instead, Testaverde took part in Perkins’ pre-training camp workouts. He leased an apartment in Tampa. He made it known that he’d like to start, but that DeBerg deserved first consideration.

DeBerg, cursed in his own special way, appreciated the gesture. Four times DeBerg has entered a season full of hope and expectations, only to see his team acquire the newest young quarterbacking rage. In San Francisco, DeBerg watched Joe Montana become the greatest thing since the Golden Gate Bridge. In Denver, he greeted John Elway. Then came Young in Tampa. And now Testaverde, another No. 1 pick.

“The only thing in common is, if you want the next Joe Namath, get Steve DeBerg first,” DeBerg says.

Actually, DeBerg says, there are similarities between this latest situation and the one in Denver with Elway. Both were the first players selected in the draft. Both were expected to become instant successes. Both head coaches--Denver’s Dan Reeves and Tampa Bay’s Perkins--are cautious sorts.

Perkins once nursed Phil Simms into the Giants starting lineup before Simms was truly ready. Perkins had no choice, really. The Giants needed help and Simms was willing, but not entirely educated.

Here, Perkins has DeBerg as a safety net. In New York, it was 10-story drop.

For the moment, DeBerg finds himself as the rightful starter. He understands Perkins’ system better. He had a more consistent (Perkins loves that word) exhibition season. He deserves the job. But even DeBerg knows eventually what will happen. After all, he’s had so much practice at it.

Testaverde “is going to be a great player, a great player,” DeBerg says. “He’ll be as good as anyone in the league. He’s going to be as good as Elway. It’s just going to take him a little time to get comfortable.

“The first year he’s going to struggle. Already, he handles himself pretty well. But at times, he’ll get that big question mark on his face.”

Answers await. DeBerg says he’s available for tutoring sessions. “To be honest, it’s so much easier to help Vinny more than Steve Young,” he says. “Our games are much more similar. Steve Young wasn’t really a true pocket passer.”

Marc Trestman has been hired to coach the quarterbacks. For trivia buffs, Trestman was the quarterback coach at the University of Miami when Kosar and Testaverde first made Coral Gables their home.

And Perkins is there, too, playing little mind games with his quarterbacks like he used to do with Simms. Third-and-three on their 25--what’s the play? What if they blitz? How about if time is running out? This sort of thing.

Testaverde can’t wait. Or can he? Of all his gifts, maybe this should be the one he prizes most: his patience.

“Next, (the goal) is to go play football and live up to my own expectations,” he says. “I want to be a great NFL quarterback.”

Two-for-two on goals achieved, you tend to believe Testaverde. After all, Boy Scouts never lie.