Bledsoe Learned From His Dear Ol’ Mom : College football: His dad is a football coach, but Washington State quarterback developed his arm by playing catch with his mother.

When Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe was a kid, he would play catch with his mother, Barbara, when his father, Mac, was away.

“When my mom was in the eighth grade, she could outthrow anybody in the eighth or ninth grade, including all the boys,” Bledsoe said. “A lot of the credit has to go to her for my arm strength.”

At a recent practice, Drew threw a football to his mother, who was in the stands, and she threw a perfect spiral back to him.

Rated as the the best NFL quarterback prospect by some, Bledsoe inherited his mother’s arm and his father’s determination.

Mac Bledsoe was an offensive tackle at the University of Washington, where he was captain of the Huskies in 1967. Although he was only 6 feet 3 and 215 pounds, Mac Bledsoe played three seasons for the Huskies. He is now a high school football coach in Yakima, Wash.

“Drew learned his skills very, very early,” Mac Bledsoe said. “He never learned to throw a football wrong.”

Said Drew: “I grew up out on a football field. I learned about football the way most kids learn language. . . . I learned what a strong safety was like most kids learn to use a fork.”

Bledsoe, whose father runs a football camp for high school quarterbacks and receivers in Spokane, began attending the camp as a toddler, mingling with NFL players such as Jim Plunkett, Ken Stabler and Fred Biletnikoff of the Raiders, teachers at the camp.

“He was in diapers when he first went to the camp,” Barbara Bledsoe said. “And my first memory of the camp was that he urinated in Fred Biletnikoff’s shoes.”

Said Mac Bledsoe: “I walked up to Fred and introduced myself. I said, ‘Are those your shoes? Well, I guess we’ll be friends or enemies right off.’ ”

The pro athletes at the camp became Bledsoe’s role models.

“Drew was able to get to know the guys on a pretty personal basis and found that most of them had a well-developed work ethic,” Barbara Bledsoe said. “There were a few jerks that came through, too, and he got to pick and chose how he wanted to grow up and be an athlete. He saw a lot of good models and bad models.”

Bledsoe, a 6-5, 224-pound junior, has blossomed into one of the nation’s best college quarterbacks, passing for 5,595 yards with 36 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in his 2 1/2-year career.

“Drew Bledsoe is as good as there is in the country,” Temple Coach Jerry Berndt said after Bledsoe passed for 214 yards and one touchdown in a 51-10 victory over the Owls. “His arm is a cannon.”

Challenged by a local sportscaster, Bledsoe threw a 72-yard pass flat-footed and without warming up while taping a TV interview last week.

Mel Kiper, NFL draft analyst for ESPN, said before the season Bledsoe could be the first player taken in the 1993 NFL draft if he renounces his final season of eligibility.

”. . . If you need a quarterback, he’s the No. 1 guy,” Kiper said. “He’s surged ahead of (Notre Dame’s Rick) Mirer.”

But NFL draft analyst Joel Buchsbaum of Pro Football Weekly says Bledsoe should not enter the 1993 NFL draft.

“I feel he needs another year in school,” Buchsbaum said. “I don’t feel he’s ready yet. He’s got a great arm and he’s a very good athlete, but he slings the ball and he needs a lot of technique work. He tends to be inaccurate and doesn’t do a very good job of seeing the whole field and looking off receivers.

“He’s a typical third-year junior. He’s got to play more and get more experience. Because of his raw potential, someone could take him very high and say, ‘We’re just going to work with the kid.’ But you’re not talking about a finished product.”

Bledsoe said he won’t think about the NFL until after the season.

“I’m not even going to address those questions until after the season,” Bledsoe said. “Right now, I’m just focusing on our games, and I’m going to let other people do the speculating.”

Bledsoe says he won’t be tempted by the opportunity to become an instant millionaire because he’s not materialistic. Until recently, he drove a battered sedan that was so filthy that he was pulled over by a state trooper who was unable to read the mud-splattered license plate. Bledsoe’s wardrobe consists of jeans and athletic shoes, which he wears unlaced.

“Drew doesn’t want to play in the NFL because of the money,” Mac Bledsoe said. “He wants to play in the NFL because he wants to play against the best.”

Bledsoe, who leads the Pacific 10 Conference in total offense and ranks third nationally, has passed for an average of 293.6 yards per game this season with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions in leading the Cougars to a 5-0 record, their best start in 11 years.

Oregon State linebacker coach Osia Lewis was impressed after Bledsoe passed for 248 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yard scoring play, in Washington State’s 35-10 victory over the Beavers last week.

“This is my 11th year in the league and I’ve seen a lot of quarterbacks,” Lewis said. “Bledsoe is the best guy since (John) Elway as far as a pure drop back passer. He makes some throws that impress a lot of people.”

UCLA, the last team to hold Bledsoe below 200 yards, sacking him nine times for 70 yards in losses in a 44-3 victory at the Rose Bowl last season, plays No. 22 Washington State on Saturday at Pullman.

“I played one of my worst games against UCLA last year,” Bledsoe said. “We were flat and unproductive offensively. So, there’s a little bit of motivation for us to show that we can play well and compete with a team like UCLA.

“Last year we may have been intimidated by the UCLA tradition. But this year we’re focusing on who we are and what we have to do, rather than focusing on UCLA.”

Bledsoe wanted to go to UCLA, but Coach Terry Donahue didn’t recruit him because the Bruins had Tommy Maddox, now with the Denver Broncos.

“UCLA was the one school I sent video to that didn’t offer me a scholarship,” Bledsoe said. “But I received a nice handwritten letter from Terry Donahue, and that meant a lot to me that he took the time to write.”

Donahue probably wishes he had Bledsoe now that Maddox has left and redshirt freshman Rob Walker has been pressed into service because of a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Wayne Cook, Maddox’s replacement.

“There’s no question he’s a big-time NFL guy,” Donahue said of Bledsoe. “He may be the best player in the league at his position. But he may be just flat the best player in the league. There’s a lot of good players, but this guy’s really a terrific player.”

One of the nation’s most heavily recruited prep quarterbacks after passing for 2,560 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior at Walla Walla (Wash.) High, Bledsoe chose Washington State after visiting Washington, Stanford and Miami.

Cougar Coach Mike Price held a lavish dinner in the student union for Bledsoe and his parents in December of 1989. It was attended by the school president, the entire Cougar coaching staff and Santa Claus, who reached into his bag of gifts and presented Bledsoe with a scholarship offer.

“The room in the student union building overlooked the stadium, and they had the stadium lights on,” Barbara Bledsoe said. “As Mike Price got up to speak the snow began falling in front of those big lights, and it was a pretty spectacular background. We asked him if he’d had God arrange for the snow to fall.”

Bledsoe became entangled in a quarterback controversy as a freshman. Brad Gossen, the starter, was recruited by Coach Jim Walden, and backup quarterback Aaron Garcia was recruited by Coach Dennis Erickson, who succeeded Walden. Bledsoe was recruited by Price, who succeeded Erickson.

As Bledsoe was warming up before his first college game against Texas Christian, Jim Wacker, then TCU coach, pulled Price aside and said: “Who the hell’s No. 11 (Bledsoe)? He’s not going to play, is he?’ ”

Bledsoe didn’t play.

He sat out four of the first five games before winning the starting job by coming off the bench to complete six of 12 passes for 145 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown pass play, in a 30-17 loss to USC.

But Bledsoe wasn’t accepted by teammates who were loyal to Gossen and Garcia.

“I came in as an 18-year-old freshman out of nowhere, and they were forced to rely on me and it was a situation that would be hard for anyone to deal with,” Bledsoe said. “It wasn’t any different than what I expected, but it was a difficult situation.”

Price agreed.

“He had to mature fast,” Price said. “It was very difficult for him his first year because we had a quarterback controversy and the team was split up.”

Bledsoe, who passed for 2,742 yards with 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, took a beating last season. He was sacked 56 times as the Cougars lost seven of 11 games.

He started fast this season, breaking four school records by completing 37 of 66 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns in a season-opening victory over Montana.

Bledsoe, who had seven seconds to throw on one play in last week’s victory over Oregon State, has had better protection this season, and he has two talented receivers--C.J. Davis and Phillip Bobo--who lead the conference in receptions.

So, will Bledsoe leave school for the NFL?

“All he’s concerned about is that pass rush at UCLA and trying to read that great secondary that they have,” Price said. “He’s not concerned about anything else right now. Right now, he’s not going to be playing in the pros this weekend. He will be playing at Martin Stadium against UCLA, and we anticipate next year also.”

Bledsoe has been pretty successful for a kid whose mother taught him how to throw.