For the Detroit Lions, It’s First and Long : Besides Usual Pitfalls, Quarterback May Have to Dodge a Strike

After watching the Chicago Bears demolish Phil Simms and the champion New York Giants the night before, Chuck Long bounced into the Detroit Lions’ clubhouse Tuesday morning with a question.

“We are going on strike, aren’t we?” the quarterback asked.

Everybody laughed. If there is no players’ strike, the Lions will play the Bears next week, after meeting the Raiders at the Coliseum Sunday.

Long is trying to stay loose in his first year as the Lions’ starter, and Eric Hipple remembers the carefree days of 1981 when the National Football League was dished up for him on a Silverdome platter, too. Let Hipple tell Long what playing quarterback in the NFL is really all about.

Hipple was Long’s age, 24, and an unknown from Utah State when he made his NFL debut in a Monday night game against the Bears. Not knowing any better, he went out and passed for four touchdowns and ran for two others in a 48-17 rout. Gee, he thought, this is fun.

“I was just glad to start,” Hipple said by phone from Pontiac, Mich., this week. “I understood that we caught ‘em in some man coverage and made some big plays, but I continued to play pretty well throughout that season.”

Sweet memories, those, with harder times to follow. For Hipple, the last players’ strike in ’82 was no joke.

“(That) threw my career off a little bit,” Hipple said. “We won our first couple games, then went on strike, and when we came out of it things just fell apart. Of course, you know how that goes: The quarterback gets a lot of the blame, so that’s when the battle between me and Gary Danielson started.

“That continued for a couple of years, and we went through a coaching change and (offensive) coordinator changes. With all the things that happened around me, it just fell apart for a few years.”

Hipple is on injured reserve after breaking the thumb on his passing hand in training camp.

“I hope Chuck won’t have to face the same strike situation. It can really damage a career when that happens. You fall into a big turmoil, things get upset, the season gets all screwed up and you gotta come back and try to rally. That was a (hassle) for a young quarterback finally to get the chance to start and then to have to go through all that.”

The Lions drafted Long, from Iowa, on the first round last year, then ignored him. Since Coach Darryl Rogers hadn’t included the rookie in his plans, with Hipple and the veteran Joe Ferguson available, the Lions didn’t get around to signing Long until almost the end of training camp. It was less a holdout by Long than a stall by the Lions, but it rendered him essentially useless for the season.

“Missing training camp last year really set me back,” Long said.

But this past off-season, instead of going home to Wheaton, Ill., Long stayed around to work with offensive coordinator Bob Baker and some of the Lion receivers. Then, when training camp opened, Rogers handed him the job.

Despite Long’s inexperience, most of the other players found no fault with that.

“Chuck Long is the Lions’ future,” says Jeff Chadwick, a starting wide receiver and one of Long’s closest friends on the club. “Joe’s good. Eric Hipple’s good. But the Lions are trying to prepare for the future.

“One thing the Lions haven’t done in a long time is declare somebody the starting quarterback for more than a couple of weeks. I think the team feels more comfortable with that, knowing that ‘here’s the guy we’re gonna be blocking for, catching the ball for. No matter what happens, this is the guy that’s gonna be in there.’ ”

Even Hipple understood.

“I wasn’t too worried about it when they drafted him,” Hipple said. “I thought it was a good move, really. I’d come off a pretty good year, but I’d spent several seasons hurt, and Joe’s up there in age. They had to go get somebody.”

While waiting for his thumb to heal, Hipple has become another coach for Long, offering input on the sideline during games and sticking close to him during the weekday routines of film review and practice.

Last week, as the Lions blew a first-half lead en route to losing to the Minnesota Vikings, 34-19, Hipple even got into fatherly advice.

“This may sound a little selfish,” Hipple said, “but when the game started getting out of hand near the end, I said, ‘Listen, you’ve got a long career ahead of you and a lot of games ahead of you. Don’t go in there and try to pull this one out to the point of being a hero where you end up throwing five interceptions by trying to make spectacular throws that just aren’t there. Still play your game and be consistent and things will work out.’

“In other words, my advice to Chuck is, ‘Don’t get overly wrapped up in what’s happening at the moment,’ such as what happened in the last strike or what could happen this year, or when you’re going through a rough time on the team to the point where you end up ruining your own career by making a lot of dumb judgments.”

With Hipple hurt and the Lions sliding toward 5-11 in ‘86, Long started the last two games--losses to the Bears and Falcons--strictly for experience. He really wasn’t prepared.

Baker, who was the Ram quarterback coach in ‘83-84, said: “Just don’t count last year. If a quarterback misses summer camp, that just kind of blows the year.

“We put him in there the last couple games to get the feel of things. Now, we’re going with the kid. I just figure this is the first year around.”

Baker said that Long is learning fast.

“We don’t have any problems with this guy. He can handle whatever you dish out. The thing that we’re concerned about with the boy is if we can keep him protected, and the guys did a great job last week. He got bumped only three times.”

Against Minnesota, Long completed 24 of 38 passes for 195 yards, with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Three passes, including two that should have been touchdowns, were dropped, so four Lion drives stalled inside the 20-yard line, forcing them to settle for field goals.

Long’s highlight was a perfect “touch” pass over defenders to a leaping Pete Mandley in the rear of the end zone. The television announcers said it was a “lucky” throw. Chadwick knew better.

“He was just looping it over,” Chadwick said. “He did it on purpose. He’s got that kind of touch. Given the time and experience, he’ll be able to do much more of that.”

Raider Coach Tom Flores offered this rating of Long: “He’s very accurate. Stands tall (6-4) in the pocket, a classic, drop-back pocket thrower. When pressured, he seems to be very poised.”

Long’s off-season work “was a nice program for the boy,” Baker said.

Chadwick ran routes to develop their timing, they played racquetball for quickness and footwork and lifted weights to increase Long’s arm strength. Critics have said he doesn’t have an NFL arm, but Chadwick said nobody can say that now.

“When he first got in here you could tell he needed a lot of work,” Chadwick said. “He was just trying to throw a spiral. But he’s very patient. He doesn’t get up tight and worry. He’ll carry that onto the field.

“The thing that really impressed me about Chuck is that in the three preseason games we had, he was throwing balls that I’d never seen before.

“I’m coming out of a 20-yard crossing route, and as I make my break the ball’s right there--like, I never saw him throw it. That’s the way it’s supposed to be done, but most of the time the quarterback will be late with it, and the defensive backs will converge and the receiver winds up getting nailed.”

Long walks by as Chadwick is talking with a reporter on the phone.

“He can’t throw the ball worth beans; he’s so weak,” Chadwick barks into the mouthpiece.

Long smiles and keeps walking.

“Sometimes we call him Bobby Layne, or just, ‘Hey, Bobby,’ ” Chadwick said, referring to the Lions’ Hall of Fame quarterback of the 50s. “(Chuck) has got a little bit of a lineman’s gut, too.”

Chadwick said Long doesn’t emulate Layne’s social habits, but “he’ll go out and have a few with the guys.”

Long said in a conference phone call to Los Angeles reporters this week: “It’s been pretty smooth so far, all through preseason and training camp. I feel a lot more comfortable than last year.”

Apprised of Rogers’ comment that not much was expected of him this season, Long said: “I guess they didn’t have a choice. I’m young and we have a lot of young players.”

Hipple and Ferguson have been helpful, even knowing that if Long is the Lions’ future, they must be the past.

“I’ve always asked questions,” Long said. “They’ve always answered ‘em.”

Ferguson, who played 12 years in Buffalo, is 37, so he figures to be used only in an emergency. But where does Long’s ascendancy leave Hipple, who turned only 30 last Wednesday, two days after getting his thumb out of the cast?

“I still feel real good about things for me,” Hipple said. “I’ve reached that point in my career where I know what’s going on on the field and there aren’t many surprises left, and I’ve got the physical tools to do it.

“But I’m not looking to make a change. I’ve enjoyed being here. I’d just as soon be here.”