Laufenberg Bids to Stick in San Diego

Pity the postman looking for Babe Laufenberg.

Leading what he calls “an uncertain life and an uncertain life style,” Laufenberg has drifted from Washington to San Diego to Washington (again) to New Orleans to Kansas City to Washington (Round 3).

He hasn’t led this nomadic existence by design. He would have stayed if someone had offered. But at each NFL stop, Laufenberg has been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Now it seems he may have found a permanent mailing address. After five years of frustration, Laufenberg, who grew up in Encino and starred at Crespi High, is making a strong bid to land with the Chargers as a backup quarterback--maybe even as the starter.

“I don’t go by other people’s opinions,” says Jerry Rhome, the Chargers’ first-year offensive coordinator. “I’ve worked with the guy and trained him, and I think he can play.”

Rhome came to San Diego from Washington, where he first tutored Laufenberg. He says it isn’t a lack of talent that has hindered Laufenberg’s career.

“He’s a smart kid and knows the offense very well,” Rhome said. “He’s an excellent scrambler and has a very strong arm. And he’s a competitor. So all those things together make him a pretty good quarterback.”

So why has he never established himself? Finding a quarterback job in Washington was hard work.

“I’d say two or three reasons,” Rhome said. “One, he was sitting there behind Joe Theismann and then in came Jay Schroeder and then in came Doug Williams. That didn’t help his cause any. The guy who makes the decisions, the head coach, wanted to go with whoever. A lot of times it comes down to two guys. He was the odd man out a couple times.”

In the Chargers’ spring mini-camp and preseason drills, Laufenberg (6-3, 205 pounds) has made an impression on Rhome.

“This is an excellent situation. It’s an open battle. There’s no established player here. That means he has a chance to show what he can do. It looks like he’s gaining confidence in himself every day, and I know the players have confidence in him,” Rhome said.

Laufenberg is competing with Mark Malone, Steve Fuller and Mark Vlasic. Malone and Fuller are veterans who were in Pittsburgh and Chicago, respectively, last year; Vlasic was a Charger rookie. Each is seeking to replace retired Dan Fouts and his backup, Mark Herrmann, who was dealt to Indianapolis.

If ever there were an ideal situation for Laufenberg, this would appear to be it.

“No doubt,” he said. “I’ve been in some situations in the past on veteran teams with veteran quarterbacks, and you can’t really crack it. Of course, there are veteran quarterbacks here, but the No. 1 guy last year is gone, and the No. 2 that was here is gone. It’s pretty rare that you find a team with two jobs open like that.”

All of which creates a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.

“It feels good,” Laufenberg said. “You certainly can see more of a purpose in what you’re doing, rather than in the back of your mind knowing, no matter what you do, you’re going to have a real tough time unless someone gets hurt.”

That’s the way it has been, even in college.

Laufenberg, 28, was the Del Rey League MVP as a senior at Crespi. He earned a scholarship to Stanford but found himself competing with John Elway. Ever the realist, Laufenberg transferred to Missouri but left before playing and spent a year as the Pierce College quarterback.

He transferred to Indiana and settled in with the Hoosiers for two seasons, setting school records for passing yards in a season (2,468) and passes completed in a game (34), season (217) and career (361).

Selected in the sixth round of the 1983 draft by Washington, Laufenberg spent that season behind Theismann and Bob Holly.

In 1984, Schroeder joined the Redskins, and Laufenberg was released. He spent a couple of weeks with the Chargers in ‘85, and returned to Washington as a backup to Schroeder later that year after Theismann broke his leg.

He was back with the Redskins early in 1986 but was released after Williams signed a free-agent contract after the United States Football League disbanded.

Laufenberg moved on to New Orleans, where he appeared in his only two regular-season NFL games, but only to run out the clock.

Last year, he was cut by Kansas City. Then he signed on again for a couple of games with the Redskins--in reserve, of course.

For a guy who has been passed around a lot, he hasn’t thrown many passes. In fact, the last pass Laufenberg threw in a game that counted was in college. He has yet to attempt a pass in a regular-season NFL game.

“It’s frustrating,” Laufenberg said. “You’d like to play. You just plug along waiting for a break. I guess if you hang around long enough, it will come.”

That’s the way it looks here. By all indications, Malone is the front-runner, with Laufenberg a close second.

“Everybody is getting a lot of time,” Laufenberg said. “It’s not a situation where the starter takes 20 plays, the backup takes five plays and five are split up among the other guys. Everybody is working. That’s all any player really wants: a fair, objective evaluation. As much work as we’re getting, I think you’re going to get that. It isn’t a situation where you walk away and say, ‘They don’t know what I can do.’

“I feel good about the way I’m playing. But there are a lot of things that can get better. As far as the overall picture, that’s four weeks away. If you start thinking about that now, you’d just worry yourself to death.”

And, should his status change, should he suddenly find himself unemployed and changing his address again, Laufenberg says he won’t quit. He has been with four teams, and that leaves 24 more.

“In my heart, I know I can play,” he said. “I mean, until I get out there and prove I can’t play, there will always be that nagging doubt. I don’t want to be one of those people at 40 or 50 hanging out at a bar saying, ‘Boy, I coulda, I woulda.’ Until they all tell me no, I’ll keep plugging along.”