Reunited With Sevier, Mojsiejenko Rejoices
A few days ago, Ralf Mojsiejenko recalled, a rather unusual questionnaire was distributed to members of the San Diego Chargers. One question asked what head coach, other than his own, the respondee would like to play for.
“I thought about it a couple of days and then I wrote, ‘Joe Gibbs, as long as Wayne Sevier is his special-teams coach,’ ” Mojsiejenko said.
Quick as a genie, Mojsiejenko had his wish fulfilled via the trade route. This week, with Gibbs and Sevier watching closely, Mojsiejenko was booming his left-footed punts down the practice field at Redskin Park.
“This is the best scenario for me right now,” said Mojsiejenko, who averaged 44.1 yards a kick with the Chargers last season. “I was a 4.3 (hang time) or 4.4 long-ball hitter under Wayne (at San Diego) the last two seasons. Then Joe Madden came in with a different philosophy and wanted me to hit for the sidelines on every punt. That takes an adjustment.”
Mojsiejenko did not adjust well and he was not happy with the Chargers’ failure to back up what he called a “promise to redo” his contract after he was chosen for the Pro Bowl.
Due to receive $175,000 on the fifth and final year of a contract he signed out of Michigan State in 1985, Mojsiejenko sought a $300,000 deal. It was not forthcoming and he boycotted a minicamp, drawing a $2,500 fine.
Told he had been traded for a seventh-round draft pick, Mojsiejenko said: “That makes me feel I must have gotten someone angry. I think I’m worth a little more than that.
“I’d been talking about my contract for a year and a half and they said they’d redo it. Then they balked. It was like offering candy and taking it away. I stayed away from minicamp and that got Mr. (General Manager Steve) Ortmayer mad. But I just wanted to be treated with respect.”
Mojsiejenko was given plenty of respect here, as coaches and players followed the flight of his kicks.
“There was a big crosswind and it took me by surprise,” Mojsiejenko said. “I felt like a freshman going into college, where everybody is expecting a lot. Everybody is watching, looking to see what you’re made of.”
Gibbs was satisfied with the ingredients: “He looks like he’s strong and quick, everything we were told he was.”
Sevier, who provided that preview, welcomed Mojsiejenko like a lost son and said: “I feel very good about it. It’s not like we’d planned it or were looking there, but it was a result of (General Manager) Charley (Casserly) keeping his lines of communication open.
“Now we have a little work to do. With Ralf kicking off the left foot, we have a lot of changes on kick protection, flopping everything. Everything was right-left, now it’s left-right. But it’s going to be worth it.”
Not everyone, naturally, was overjoyed to see Mojsiejenko arrive. Punter Greg Horne, signed to a $35,000 bonus when the Phoenix Cardinals failed to protect him in February, was written off and released.
Rick Tuten, who won the battle with Horne but lost the war, was a dejected figure this week as he watched Mojsiejenko punt, looking up to see each kick sail down the field. Tuten, wearing a dirty and ragged No. 10 jersey, later was assigned to center the ball to Mojsiejenko, who stood out in a brand new white No. 2.
Tuten eventually got to kick a few and, after a couple of long punts, shanked several. His situation was like an instant replay, because Mojsiejenko beat out Tuten with the Chargers last year.
“Rick and I are friends and I visited him in the offseason in Florida,” Mojsiejenko said. “I feel bad about it and I know he feels bad. I hope things work out for him. I know Rick can punt in this league.”
Gibbs said Tuten had been offered an immediate release to look for another job, but had chosen to remain with the Redskins through the weekend.
“He said he came this far and he wanted to finish it up,” Gibbs said. “We gave Rick and Greg an opportunity to win it on the field, but we were still not sure. Nobody had stepped up and taken it and that’s not a good feeling with the start of the season approaching.”
The Chargers are replacing Mojsiejenko with free agent Lewis Colbert, an eighth-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1986 who was cut by the Atlanta Falcons before last season.
Not only will Mojsiejenko do all the punting in Friday’s exhibition at New Orleans, he also will hold for place kicks. He practiced with Chip Lohmiller this week and the results were satisfactory.
Mojsiejenko and Lohmiller were acquainted previously. Mojsiejenko once kicked a 61-yard field goal for Michigan State. Lohmiller reminded him that he had booted a 62-yarder for Minnesota.
“He’s an excellent holder,” Gibbs said. “We’ll go with him in this game and see how his timing is. I’d rather have him do it than Ryp (quarterback Mark Rypien), because the kickers and punters are all together at practice and you don’t have to get your quarterback out early to hold.”
Mojsiejenko said: “At San Diego, besides punting, I kicked off and was the holder. I like to do all that, because it gets me into the game more.”
Asked whether he could pass off a fake, he replied: “I’ve tried it a few times in practice. I like to think I’m athletic enough to roll out and complete a pass.”
Although Mojsiejenko (pronounced Mose-YEN-ko) is of Ukrainian ancestry, he was born in West Germany and came to the United States when he was 9 months old. He has become accustomed to having his name mutilated by the media.
“Sometimes it’s pronounced like it’s Chinese and sometimes like it’s Polish with ‘ski’ at the end,” Mojsiejenko said. “And some people write it worse than they say it. What really makes me mad, though, is when they spell Ralf as Ralph, like it was in USA Today.”