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COMMENTARY : A Tough Choice, but Handley Made the Right Choice

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HARTFORD COURANT

The other shoe has fallen, and it conked Phil Simms right on the top of his blond noggin.

Ray Handley, the New York Giants’ new coach, made the right call even if it turns out to be the wrong one. This is a no-lose situation for the first-year man, which is a good thing to have going for you if you are the brand-new coach of the Super Bowl champions and have been called upon to make your first major personnel decision. He made it at the right time, in his own good time, and that was the way to do it, too.

He chose Jeff Hostetler as the starting quarterback over Simms because Hostetler has had better numbers in the exhibition games and is five years younger, much less damaged and much more mobile. He chose the younger legs because the left side of the Giants offensive line has been weakened with left tackle Jumbo Elliott and left guard William Roberts holding out (Jumbo reported Wednesday.) Handley also remembers last year when Simms went down with an injury and Hostetler stepped in, cool as ice, and led the Giants to victory in every game he started (five), including the Super Bowl. Hostetler’s bright performances last season against the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears, two of the Giants’ first three regular-season opponents this year, also carried weight.

Simms was contending on his track record and the fact he has performed very well in the exhibition games, though not quite up to the Hostetler standard. Maybe the factor that argued best for Phil’s chances was that he was the sentimental choice. Had the veteran players voted on it, he would have won easily. Lawrence Taylor made his feelings clear, coming down on Simms’ side weeks ago.

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Far too much was made of the competition for the Giants quarterback position. People will seize upon anything that will take their minds off Moscow coups, hustling hurricanes, and workaday cares.

Remember when Roger Staubach and Craig Morton, who were considered nearly equal, were contending for the starting quarterback job with what was then America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys? There was the same type of foofaraw.

Everybody liked Phil Simms because he overcame a lot, including serious injuries, and proved his mettle. He was General Manager George Young’s first draft pick out of Morehead State in Kentucky. Observers were shocked when his name was called on draft day, but he became a tremendous pro quarterback, a winner and a champion. Bill Parcells called him “one of my guys.” He was tough, cool and a good leader.

But he is not as good this year as the man who beat him out.

Hostetler came in to replace the injured Simms last year knowing the whole team’s season was his to win or lose. There is no other way to look at it. If quarterback is the most vital position and a team can’t win without a good one, the whole matter rested squarely upon him. That’s pressure. He met it.

This is a great personal victory for the man from Johnstown, Pa. It’s also a pleasing vindication for bad breaks of the past. When Simms got hurt last year, Hostetler was there and made the most of his opportunity. But in 1987, it was Jeff Rutledge who got the summons when Simms went down. Hostetler was his backup.

Hostetler was a brilliant athlete at Conemaugh Township High School in Davidson, Pa., some 18 miles from Johnstown. He was valedictorian of his class. He played quarterback and linebacker until his senior season. In that year, Conemaugh had a quarterback, Jeff’s brother Todd, who could do the job adequately, but had no tailback. Jeff willingly switched, to help the team. That year, he made the Parade All-America team as a linebacker.

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The Johnstown area is one in which both Penn State and West Virginia have heavy support of college football fans. Both recruited Hostetler.

He chose Penn State, which allegedly recruited him as a quarterback, which was what he wanted. Unfortunately, his competition was Todd Blackledge. The feeling around his home town was that Joe Paterno really wanted him to play linebacker.

He transferred after two years and made his mark at West Virginia. While he was at it, he won scholastic All-America honors, was nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship, played in the Hula and Japan Bowls and married the coach’s daughter, Vicky Nehlen.

The Giants drafted him. He threw nary a pass from 1984 to 1987. He threw 29 passes in 1988, 39 in 1989. His chance came, at Simms’ expense. When opportunity knocks on the door of a man with that much talent, and, above all, that much perseverance, you just know he’s going to hear it. Hostetler heard and responded.

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