PRO FOOTBALL / BILL PLASCHKE : Laughter Dies as Marks Brothers Go Separate Ways

GREEN BAY, Wis. —  For 10 seasons they dazzled the NFL with their grace and swagger. Dan Marino threw the passes, but his receivers immortalized them.

Mark Clayton leaping over a linebacker to grab a ball out of the sky. . . . Mark Duper racing down the sidelines, cradling a ball over his shoulder while two men dived at his heels. . . .

And all those touchdowns! They never just scored, they danced and pointed and laughed at the inevitability of it all.

Six points were never so much fun for Miami Dolphin fans as when they involved one of their beloved Marks Brothers.

“The hell with the Dolphins,” Mark Clayton said this week.

He walked slowly across a parking lot outside Lambeau Field, the home of his new team, the Green Bay Packers.

He had lost his smile, abandoned the strut and was trying to get past the memories.

The Marks Brothers have broken up. As quickly as they raced their way to NFL acclaim, this record-setting duo of wide receivers has been reduced to two aging players looking for homes.

“If you don’t realize this is a business, man, you’re just fooling yourself,” Clayton said. “Look at you, man. You could get fired tomorrow from a newspaper and never know what hit you. It happens, man.”

Clayton used the word fired because, to him, that’s how it feels.

With the beginning of unrestricted free agency earlier this year, the Dolphins suddenly had no use for him or Duper.

It is no secret that without Marino, neither would have been a superstar. But with Marino? Marino and Clayton are the NFL’s top scoring combination with 79 touchdown passes, and Duper is the Dolphins’ all-time receiving leader.

Clayton, a free agent, was allowed to leave without even receiving an offer. Duper was cut by the Dolphins before the start of training camp.

“You can never get too comfortable in this game,” Clayton said. “You’ve got to know, the business will get you.”

Clayton signed a one-year deal with the Packers and is expected to be their third option on passing downs, behind Sterling Sharpe and Jackie Harris. He was so upset when he arrived that, until he started playing full speed, the Packers wondered whether he was going to retire.

Duper signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, then was released again last week. Amid complaints by quarterback Randall Cunningham, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles a few days ago.

“He is probably not as fast as he was,” Mike Brown, Bengal general manager, said of Duper.

Neither is Clayton, who was never exceptionally fast anyway.

“Yeah, he’s probably lost a step or two, although he still has incredible athleticism,” said Ron Wolf, the Packers’ general manager.

This is what ultimately happens to receivers in the NFL, even the best ones.

Their lives revolve around beating cornerbacks by a couple of steps. So they had best not lose those steps. And if they do, they had better keep their mouths shut and hope nobody notices.

Duper was a goner anyway, but if Clayton had zipped his lip, maybe he would still be in Miami.

“I had called down to Don Shula this summer to talk about a trade, and he asks what we need, and I say a wide receiver,” recalled Wolf. “He says, ‘Why don’t you sign Clayton? He’s pretty much burned his bridges down here.’ ”

Shula was remembering the big stink Clayton made last season about not getting the ball enough. Clayton was so upset, he tossed his helmet and threw a tantrum at halftime late in the season at San Francisco.

It didn’t help matters that a year earlier, Clayton, while fuming about Shula’s control of the organization, referred to Shula as “the fat man.”

The Dolphins replaced the two veterans with Irving Fryar, Mark Ingram and pass-catching back Keith Byars. Last season, they added tight end Keith Jackson.

Add the receiving yardage of those four it is still 2,693 yards short of the Marks Brothers’ 17,512.

“How about this uniform,” Clayton said, forcing a smile as he grabbed his new green and mustard-yellow shirt. “Actually, I think it’s starting to look pretty good on me.”

One day, he might even mean that.

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Yes, on the 16th anniversary of the death of “the King” this week, Elvis moved to No. 1 at quarterback on the San Francisco 49ers’ depth chart.

But no, Elvis Grbac will not start in the season opener at Pittsburgh in two weeks, not as long as Bill Musgrave can breathe despite his bruised ribs.

And don’t forget Steve Young, who, while recovering from a hairline fracture in his left thumb, has found himself at odds with Coach George Seifert.

“I’m definitely going to be ready to play in Pittsburgh,” Young said, citing a doctor’s report as proof.

Countered Seifert: “I think it is better than we might have expected. But it’s not like he’s ready to go.”

Poor Seifert is so confused, once last week he referred to Young as “Joe.”

*

We should have known the Atlanta Falcons would be the first to gloat at the physical misfortunes of the rival 49ers. The Falcons, who blamed injuries for ruining their chances last season, are delighted that the cast, er, shoe is on the other foot.

“First off, I thought we were the team to beat in the division anyway,” said cornerback Bruce Pickens. “But this really throws it our way.”

Added center Jamie Dukes: “That’s a lot of important bodies to lose. What it does is give everybody in the division a chance to move closer to them. And we’re already close enough that it could be the factor that pushes us past them.”

Comment: Even with the addition of Pierce Holt and Jumpy Geathers, a team with the worst defense in football last season should prove it can stop somebody before popping off.

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Shortly after Jim McMahon was formally named the Vikings’ starting quarterback, he issued a challenge to his old team, the Chicago Bears.

Specifically, he wants to beat the Bears twice to show up owner Mike McCaskey, who McMahon believes betrayed him.

“That’s the plan,” McMahon said. “And it’s not so much beating the guys on the field. It’s about beating that one guy (McCaskey) in the press box.”

The Vikings will play at Chicago on Monday night, Oct. 25. It’s one game nobody in the NFL wants to miss.

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Jerry Jones, everybody’s favorite NFL owner and hillbilly, is starting to look like the bad guy in the Emmitt Smith holdout.

The word is that Smith would settle for about $3.38 million a year, essentially Thurman Thomas-type money. So why won’t Jones come up from his $2.5-million offer to make his best player happy?

After all, Jones saved money by not giving any bonuses to employees after the Cowboys won the Super Bowl. He also ripped out the press box at Texas Stadium during the off-season and installed nine “platinum suites” that sell for $2 million a suite. And luxury box revenues are not shared among NFL teams.

Jones had better move quick. Smith has already enrolled at the University of Florida for the fall semester.

“I wonder if he signed up for Career Opportunity Day,” said Coach Jimmy Johnson.

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Just when it looks as if the Phoenix Cardinals could be the surprise team of the NFC, even without last year’s leading tackler, Tim McDonald, a free agent who signed with the 49ers, they will also have to start the season without No. 2 tackler Eric Hill and Pro Bowl cornerback Robert Massey.

Hill and Massey both ignored five-day letters ordering them to end their holdouts, so they will miss the season opener at Philadelphia. Garrison Hearst, their top draft pick, is also missing, but still could sign in time to play against the Eagles.

The sympathy here lies with owner Bill Bidwill, who has spent plenty of money for important free agents, such as Gary Clark and Steve Beuerlein.

By not lavishing bucks on players with less than five years experience, he is merely benefiting from leverage granted him under the new collective bargaining agreement.

Hill and Massey should get their bodies into the locker room and wait their turn at unrestricted free agency like everybody else. After all, Bidwill is only abiding by an agreement they ratified.

*

Quick Kicks: Sounds crazy, but featured running back in the Viking offense could be Charles Evans, an 11th-round draft pick last year who quit football twice and spent two years in the Marines. . . . The last thing the Philadelphia Eagles needed was a sudden retirement by nose tackle Michael Carter, who did not offer to return his $50,000 signing bonus. “Of course, we’re concerned,” said Bud Carson, defensive coordinator “We’re getting our . . . kicked like we were some junior high team.”

The Washington Redskins could be in real trouble with tackle Jim Lachey sidelined for the season because of a knee injury. His replacement, Mo Elewonibi, has played in five games in three years and spent his first two years on injured reserve. Mo opens the season on Monday night, Sept. 6, against Charles Haley of the Dallas Cowboys. Won’t Dan Dierdorf just work himself into a tizzy!

Five of the top six active quarterbacks in winning percentage changed teams this summer. Only Mark Rypien, who ranks third, stayed put. The others, in order, Joe Montana, .719; McMahon, .702; Bobby Hebert, .653; Jay Schroeder, .648, and Jeff Hostetler, .640. Yes, we said Jay Schroeder. . . . Just when you thought former UCLA and Ram receiver Michael Young was out of football, he has a good chance to make it with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Undrafted Ryan Benjamin of Pacific should make the Cincinnati Bengals as a third-down back. . . . How hard will it be for Rick Mirer to win the starting job in Seattle? In three years, Dan McGwire, his competition, has thrown one touchdown pass. That includes exhibition games.

Quote of the Week: Joel Hilgenberg of the New Orleans Saints on how quarterbacks Wade Wilson, Mike Buck and Steve Walsh feel when they step under center: “They all have a light touch, which is nice. John Fourcade (former Saint quarterback) was very heavy-handed. These guys let their presence be known without being too forceful.”