Tolliver’s Not Bad, He’s Paying His Dues : Pro Football: History has shown that nearly all young quarterbacks struggle in the early stages of their careers.

He will tell you he is Texas tough, but history give a durn.

Those who doubt, those who boo, are now in pursuit of Billy Joe Tolliver, and they’re gaining ground.

And as a beleaguered Tolliver prepares for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, and what could be his last stand as the Chargers’ starting quarterback for a while, expectations continue to clash with reality.

“Tell me about it,” Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway said. “This is going to be the toughest time for Billy Joe. I know. I mean I was the $5 million bust.

“You can’t turn it around in just one game. I was going through the same thing as Billy’s going through when I started. I was getting booed, and I was no good, and all of a sudden you start thinking that maybe you really are a bad football player.”

It is almost every young quarterback’s claim to fame. If you want it, you will pay dearly. And you will have to live through those unforgiving days when every pass becomes a case study in survival.

“I remember rolling out against Buffalo my rookie year,” former Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw said, “and I had this guy open 20 yards down the field. The corner had fallen down, so he’s really wide open and I throw the ball five yards in front of me. Five yards .

“I couldn’t even draw my arm back. I was scared to death. That first year in football nearly destroyed me.”

In the early stages, almost all quarterbacks struggle. History has said it will be so.

“I don’t give a damn who he is, every young quarterback goes through the same rigmarole,” Sid Gillman, former Chargers’ head coach, said. “They have to get through that booing period. It’s time and experience.

“How many games has Tolliver started? Eleven. Well, we know he’s no (Dan) Marino, so now he fits in with all the rest of the young quarterbacks who have tried playing this game.”

Dan Marino, the rookie quarterback anomaly. He was the one who prospered, the one who has made it miserable for all who will follow.

“When I started, they said a rookie quarterback couldn’t come in and play well,” Elway said. “And I proved that to be true. Then along comes Marino.”

Like Elway, Marino was a first-round draft choice. But unlike Elway, Marino began his pro career on the bench behind David Woodley. After making two relief performances, he earned his first NFL start in Miami’s sixth regular-season game.

At year’s end he became the first rookie quarterback to be elected to the Pro Bowl.

“All right, now look at that,” Gillman said. “How many quarterbacks have we had in the NFL in the last 70 years? And how many have stood out early on in their career? Marino. So Marino’s a special animal.

“With everyone else you have to go through the ups and downs. You don’t give up on these guys. When you give up on them, you lose continuity and some other guy has to come in and go through the same thing.”

If players were judged on their apprenticeships alone, the Hall of Fame would be all but empty of quarterbacks. Bradshaw threw 20 interceptions in his first 11 starts, and four touchdown passes. Bob Griese went 4-7 to begin his career and Bart Starr opened 2-9. Len Dawson threw 45 passes in his first five years for Pittsburgh and Cleveland before making Kansas City a winner.

Johnny Unitas was released by Pittsburgh and played sandlot football before replacing George Shaw in Baltimore. Joe Namath went to the Hall of Fame after breaking from the gate, 5-5-1.

It took Joe Montana three years before he earned his 11th NFL start, and in that time, he compiled a 4-7 mark.

“And those situations were handpicked,” former 49ers Coach Bill Walsh said. “Montana probably had the best of all worlds because he had Steve DeBerg playing for him a good part of his first and second year.

“When we would put Montana in the game, we did so in situations we felt he’d be comfortable in. Then he’d be taken out for Steve.”

While most young quarterbacks fail to complete half of their passes, Montana, like Marino, enjoyed extraordinary success from the outset.

“Montana has been in the same system forever, and it’s arguably the best system,” former Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts said. “And with Marino you’ve got the same system with arguably the best head coach. That makes a big difference.”

Said Bradshaw: “Trust me, jack, he ain’t wrong there.”

Tolliver has been here, there and everywhere with his fastballs. And while hard to believe, he has shown more accuracy than Fouts, Elway, Vinny Testaverde, Jim Everett and even Namath in his first 11 starts.

“A strong-armed quarterback is never going to be accurate anyway unless he’s throwing a lot of wide flares and five-yard passes,” Bradshaw said. “Tolliver is a 15- to 20-yard guy. He’s got that live, live arm.

“Everybody in the world may be jumping on this kid, but he’ll be fine. Ask Fouts, he didn’t exactly tear up the league when he came in.”

When Fouts started playing with the Chargers in 1973, he joined a team in chaos. Offensive coordinator Bob Schnelker resigned four games into the season, and then Coach Harland Svare was replaced by Ron Waller.

“I was up against Jesse Freitas, who was the hometown favorite from San Diego State, so there were not a lot of Dan Fouts fans,” Fouts said. “I was getting booed regularly. I remember getting introduced in pregame warm-ups and Pat Curran being the first guy on the field to greet me and he was booing louder than anybody else.”

Tolliver, in his second NFL season, has come under criticism for guiding the Chargers to a 4-7 mark as a starter. The Hall of Fame-bound Fouts went 1-9-1 to open his career in San Diego. And lost start No. 12, as well.

“Believe me I know what Billy Joe is going through,” Fouts said. “They were yelling for my scalp, too. We were a young team and didn’t have near the talent the Chargers have now.

“We used to sit around and give out the goat of the game award. I got it so often, they started to name me Billy. We’d sit at the bar and everybody would go, hey, D-a-a-a-n, your t-u-r-n.”

In the last six seasons, Elway has directed the Broncos to more victories than any other NFL quarterback--60. But in 1983 when he took command of the Broncos for the first time, it was a disaster.

“I’m behind center and I’m staring across the line at Jack Lambert going what am I doing here?” Elway said. “I was just happy getting the plays off before getting a delay of game penalty.

“You didn’t read coverages; you just figured on this play he should be open and here it comes. It’s just a matter of being patient and not getting down on yourself, but let me tell you, it’s a hell of a lot easier for me to say it, than it was to do it.”

Elway had it all, and it wasn’t enough. In a game against the Chargers early in his career, he was so rattled he lined up behind guard Tom Glassic, thinking he was the center.

He was jerked from his first start after completing one of eight passes for 14 yards with an interception, and then after back-to-back losses against the Raiders and Bears in his fourth and fifth starts, he was replaced by DeBerg in the starting lineup.

“Looking back the best thing that happened to me was to get benched,” Elway said. “It gave me a chance to sit back and realize what was going on.

“When things become a burden there is a tendency to try and do too much. I still have that problem, and sometimes will try to make something out of nothing. It’s like you’re trying to prove everybody wrong and you end up working against yourself.”

Elway came to know Tolliver in Hawaii this past off-season while competing in a made-for-TV quarterback challenge. When it came time earlier this week for Tolliver to hear an encouraging word, he tried to telephone Elway.

“I was impressed with Billy, his arm, just the way he carries himself,” Elway said. “If you would check out the stats for all first- and second-year guys, I would suspect he’s in the same boat as everyone else. They say it, you don’t believe it, but then you find out--nothing makes up for experience.”

It took experience and Ernie Zampese’s know-how to shift Everett’s career into high gear after a 3-8 start.

“Bradshaw struggled, Elway struggled and Everett had some real hard times,” Zampese, the Rams’ offensive coordinator, said. “It’s got to really be tough on the kid now, but Tolliver has got some ability. Just leave him alone and then at least you can find out if he can or can’t do it.

“I think they are doing exactly what they have to do down there. After the season is over, then you can evaluate. If he’s making progress, which I’m sure he will, you stay with him. But if not, before you lose your job, then hey, maybe you say you made a mistake.”

In watching Tolliver at work, Gillman said, “I think it’s unfair to be down on him. I really do. He does such a good job of moving that team from the 20-yard line to the 20-yard line. Something happens after that, but God almighty, getting to the 20 is no easy chore.

“The kid seems to me to be a fighter. He should stop reading newspapers, put on his earmuffs and get on the practice field and throw a million balls. There’s no way I’d make a change unless I knew I had somebody on the bench who can win.”

It took more than five years for Bradshaw to pitch more touchdowns than interceptions. And along the way he had to compete with Terry Hanratty and Joe Gilliam. But it was Bradshaw who survived, Bradshaw who earned four Super Bowl rings.

“I’ve seen Billy Joe play; I love the guy,” Bradshaw said. “But it’s called paying your dues, and that’s the horrible part of the whole thing. Now if Billy didn’t have the ability, we’d have a problem here. But I’d be surprised if he didn’t fight through this and become a good or maybe even great quarterback.”

Bradshaw, of course, knows all about criticism. “I was stupid, remember?

“I went to a really bad team and the whole world was looking for me to carry it,” Bradshaw said. “And when I didn’t, I lost all my confidence. I almost quit and went into evangelical work. Everybody was ripping me and tearing me apart.

“My coach (Chuck Noll) would come in and jump my butt in front of the whole team, and grab my facemask and pull me up and down the sideline. He never gave me any encouragement. I felt I was no good. Babe Parilli saved my career. He came my second year, and I needed someone to baby me, and he was telling me, ‘Great throw, nice job, good effort.’

“And here’s the key, even if Billy’s benched, it’s important for people who are handling him to reassure him that he has a bright future. Right now they have to be very careful not to destroy this kid. They can’t let him think it’s all his fault just because they’ve won only two games.”

The Chargers average 2.2 years of experience on offense and have the youngest offensive unit in the league with an average age of 24.6 years.

“You’re never going to win unless you have the right supporting cast,” Hank Stram, former Chiefs coach, said. “All the fine quarterbacks coming out of college usually wind up going to a bad team, and as a result, they suffer from a lack of supporting cast.

“Testaverde went to Tampa and he was a bum when they didn’t win. Now he’s got two running backs, a very good tight end, good outside receivers, their defense is playing well, and he’s getting credit for playing well. People don’t understand, there’s nothing instant in this game.”

It’s the nature of the position, however, that invites criticism. “So much is expected of the quarterback that in a sense it’s up to him to save the team,” Walsh said.

“It’s a big test. It’s so much faster than the college game that it can be a bewildering experience. It’s not an easy road. It’s the quarterback who is openly booed, and it can be as exasperating, as it can be devastating.”

After Sunday’s 24-9 defeat to the Raiders, Tolliver sat dejectedly before his locker. The game was over, the interviews completed and still he sat there. His eyes were red and gone was the bravado that had held him solid.

“I think he really saw how hard and how cold it can really be,” Ted Tollner, Charger quarterbacks coach, said. “I saw it. I think it got to him, but it’s one of the things we liked about him. Can the guy survive when things get tough? I mean it gets pretty unbearable.

“When you want to do so well, and there’s an outer feeling around you that has no appreciation for you whatsoever, that’s a pretty heavy load for a 24-year-old told to take. I don’t care how tough you are.”

Sunday, Tolliver will make his 12th NFL start, and with each pass he will be trying to convince the naysayers that he belongs. As history insists, it will be no easy chore.

“I did a little research on my own,” he said. “I tried to figure out why I was struggling. I checked out this NFL book with year-by-year information, and you know, I’m not the first guy to ever come down the line and have problems.

“That’s nice to know, but just to be frank, it’s still a pain in the ass.”

QUARTERBACKS’ FIRST IMPRESSIONS First 11 NFL starts for selected quarterbacks:

Name, Team W-L-T Att. Comp. Pct. TD Int. Billy Joe Tolliver, Chargers 4-7-0 325 172 48.8 12 16 Dan Fouts, Chargers 1-9-1 284 130 45.7 8 17 Terry Bradshaw, Steelers 5-6-0 236 108 45.7 4 20 John Elway, Broncos 6-5-0 257 123 47.8 7 15 Joe Montana, 49ers 4-7-0 325 209 64.3 17 11 Dan Marino, Dolphins 8-3-0 310 186 60.0 24 7 Vinny Testaverde, Buccaneers 2-9-0 389 185 47.5 21 12 Jim Everett, Rams 3-8-0 316 152 48.1 9 18 Joe Namath, Jets 5-5-1 340 159 46.7 20 16 Troy Aikman, Cowboys 0-11-0 293 150 52.9 9 18 Bob Griese, Dolphins 4-7-0 290 150 51.7 14 13 Bart Starr, Packers 2-9-0 179 92 51.4 6 6 John Hadl, Chargers 3-8-0 249 106 42.5 14 21