Play-Calling a Dilemma for Quarterbacks

A draw poker player doesn’t look elsewhere to decide how many cards to keep. A chess master doesn’t have someone telling him what moves to make.

An NFL quarterback does. He doesn’t get much chance to deal the cards, much less play them the way he sees fit.

Few quarterbacks are given the responsibility of calling plays, mainly because few coaches want such critical decisions -- decisions that can, in the long run, cost jobs -- in anyone else’s hands.

There are the exceptions, of course, and those exceptions are making a strong argument for a return to the days of true signal-callers. Nobody is saying that Jim Kelly and John Elway are on the level of Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr -- at least not yet. But their experience and savvy and athletic skills, combined with the type of offense their teams run, have made them descendants of the classic quarterbacks who made their own calls. And usually got it right.

“The best thing about calling the plays is that you’ve got a feel for the game on the field and you can call the plays that best fit the way you see the game,” says Kelly. “We have an offense built to the skills of the players in it, and the no-huddle means making quick decisions. It wouldn’t work and it wouldn’t take advantage of what Thurman (Thomas) and Andre (Reed) and James (Lofton) can do best if I didn’t call them.

“I get to call the plays I like and I get to run an offense that is fun because everyone has input.”

The no-huddle almost certainly couldn’t work under any other system but having the quarterback call the plays. Its quick tempo requires snap decisions before the center snap. By the time a play might be signaled in from the sidelines, the edge the no-huddle gives an attack would be gone.

The Bills are the only NFL team running the no-huddle on a steady basis, although Cincinnati, Houston, Tampa Bay and several others have it in their repertoire. One reason it hasn’t been copied extensively is that no one has Buffalo’s collection of talent. Another is that there aren’t many Kellys around.

And some quarterbacks don’t want the duties.

“I’d rather leave that kind of responsibility to someone else,” Detroit’s Rodney Peete says. “I’ve got enough other stuff to worry about.”

“It works out better this way with the coaches calling the plays,” adds Chicago’s Jim Harbaugh. “They have the game plan in front of them and they watch more film. I’d welcome it, but I think they are better prepared.”

“There are some pluses and minuses to it,” says Giants third-stringer Matt Cavanaugh, a 14-year veteran and a perceptive student of the game. “You get a real feel for what everyone on the field is thinking and also for what you want to throw. The negative is you don’t get as good an overview from the coaching staff. Sometimes they see a lot more things than you can.”

Is it a dying practice?

“No, times are a lot different now,” Cavanaugh says. “The game is more complex. Back then we didn’t break down-and-distance into third-and-three-to-five or second-and-six-to-10. There is a lot more to it now.”

Jeff George of the winless, offensively inept Colts, has another worry, one that has precluded him from even thinking about changing the play with an audible.

“If you get to audibles at the line, guys are wondering if we’ve gone to a run,” George says. “It gets real confusing. Right now, I’m just calling a play (that’s been sent in) and not worrying about the audibles and just going with what’s called. It’s easier for me. I’m making less calls.”

Elway is making more calls than ever before -- and loving it.

“The plays that are getting called are the ones I’m real comfortable with,” Elway said.

“That was the main problem last year -- the plays that were coming in that I didn’t feel comfortable with. Sometimes I had no confidence in the play. Now, the game plan is done Tuesday. We go over it Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, we put in anything we want to add. If there’s a play I want, it goes in on Friday. If I don’t like a play, I don’t have to call it.”

The Broncos’ Dan Reeves is one of those rare coaches willing to adjust his system to fit his players. Particularly a star player coming off a mediocre season.

“I thought this was something that might stimulate him,” Reeves said. “A lot of times you get in a situation where it’s the same thing over and over again. The same routine gets to be a drag. This gets him involved in the thing to where the game is exciting and fun for him. I’ve seen a new enthusiasm on his part.

“He’s got a great football mind, and I think it’s just going to get better. Watching him, I see an excitement in him that I never saw the last couple of years. It’s got to be exciting for him. People need to be challenged, particularly people who are tremendously talented, like John is.”

Coaches need to be challenged, too, before they are willing to relinquish any control. Allowing your quarterback to call plays is like making him an assistant coach and putting him in charge, during the game, of the critical part of the offense.

“The game has become so sophisticated, back when the quarterbacks called the plays, they weren’t substituting personnel in and out,” says Jim Fassel, QB coach of the Giants. “The quarterback would now have to ask for personnel to be sent to him and all that. So the game has gone beyond where the quarterback simply calls his own plays.”

Not quite. Even such inconsistent quarterbacks such as Vinny Testaverde, Jim Everett and Dave Krieg have, at times, done it. As have stars Dan Marino, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham and Boomer Esiason.

“Calling your own plays is one of the greatest attractions in the game to a quarterback,” says Joe Theismann, who did so for four season with Washington. “This has to be exciting for John (Elway), and it should show in his play.”

“The offensive linemen are happier because the game goes quicker,” adds Terry Bradshaw, who called his own plays. “The wide receivers are happier because the quarterback listens to their suggestions. Everyone, especially the quarterback, is happier.”