THE NFL / BILL PLASCHKE : Deaf Player, Cut by Broncos, Seeks Second Chance

For once in his life, Kenny Walker didn’t need a hearing person to tell him what was happening.

When he was summoned to Coach Wade Phillips’ office on final cut-down day Monday, he brought not only his interpreter, but his playbook.

Walker, the first deaf player in NFL history, was put on waivers after two seasons as a Denver Bronco defensive end.

The company line is that he was pushed out by draft picks Dan Williams and Jeff Robinson. Walker lost his starting job and had to learn to play nose tackle.

But at least one person is wondering if some in the organization simply got tired of dealing with Walker’s deafness.

“In a way, you could see it coming because of their draft picks, but . . . there are still people in this world who think when is person is deaf, he is also stupid,” said Guy Smith, Walker’s interpreter. “I think Kenny’s deafness was always a bigger handicap to other people than to him.”

Bob Ferguson, Bronco director of player personnel, disagreed.

“We have never treated him like he had a handicap,” he said. “This was strictly a talent decision. Kenny will be a great backup for somebody. We are getting younger, and he just got beat out.

“There was a lot of sadness when Kenny was cut because he is such a great guy.”

But there had been definite problems. Although Smith has been at Walker’s side during every practice and meeting since Walker arrived from the University of Nebraska, Smith could never go on the field with him.

That presented difficulties when the linebackers shouted out changes in coverages and assignments.

Because Walker was facing the quarterback, he couldn’t read the linebackers’ lips and had to be tapped on the back.

“There’s no doubt about it, there’s a very strong handicap there,” Ernie Stautner, Bronco defensive line coach, told reporters. “The rapid changes in the formations and recognizing what’s happening in the defense are tough.

“And linebackers can’t tell him. They have to come up and tap him, and they have enough to do with their own jobs.”

Big deal, said Smith.

“How come Kenny always missed fewer assignments than anybody else?” he said. “If there is a team out there who is willing to treat him like a player, and not just a deaf guy, he could be a great guy to have around.”

Walker was not claimed on waivers and has not been been contacted by any other teams. Smith, who was paid by the Broncos, also lost his job.

“I would tell anybody, if they want a hard-nosed, athletic backup, Kenny is their guy,” Ferguson said. “But how other organizations will look at him, I just don’t know.”

HE’S THEIR GUY

Most young quarterbacks gain the respect of their teammates in the huddle.

It happened for Brett Favre in a bar.

Rich Moran, the Green Bay Packers’ veteran guard, recalls a night in the summer of 1992, after one of Favre’s first practices with the Packers after he had been traded by the Atlanta Falcons.

Some offensive linemen and Favre were getting acquainted when a stranger arrived and trouble started.

“This guy walks up to me and tries to start something, nothing serious, just saying a few things,” Moran said. “Next thing I know, Brett has the guy pinned up against the wall.”

Moran said he looked at his fellow linemen, then all of them looked at their young backup quarterback in shock.

“We had not even known this guy for two days, and here he is, backing us up,” Moran said. “Stories like that filter through the locker room. By the time last season started, Brett was our guy.”

Favre, who became the youngest quarterback to play in a Pro Bowl last year at 23, heard the story and shrugged. But then, he hears nearly anything and shrugs.

“Guys expect the quarterback to get down and dirty for them,” he said. “They never expect me to make a block, but I do that, too.

“The captain is supposed to be up running the ship, but I think you ain’t a captain if you also won’t swab the deck.”

On Sunday, he will attempt to swab the Rams in the season opener at Milwaukee.

DELAY OF GAME, OFFENSE

The rule change that will be noticed most by the fans Sunday is the shortening of the time between plays, from 45 seconds to 40.

Even after four exhibitions, Falcon quarterbacks figure they will have more trouble than most.

By the time Coach Jerry Glanville debates the play, rips the play, then changes the play, which was called by assistant coach June Jones, they will have already lost 20 seconds.

Paul Tagliabue, NFL commissioner, said Tuesday that the new rule is working. He said that teams in transition, particularly those with young quarterbacks, will be the ones having the most trouble.

“(Penalties) have been occurring when you have a mix of players in the lineup who haven’t played much before, a young quarterback, people adjusting to new systems, new coaches,” he said. “We feel once the season gets going, everybody will have a smooth transition.”

The rule certainly has served its purpose of increasing the number of plays in a game. Teams averaged 152 plays in exhibitions, compared to 145 last summer.

But it doesn’t figure to shorten the game. The average time of exhibitions this year, 2:59:31, is only nine seconds shorter than last year, and three minutes longer than in 1991.

ON TOP OF HIS GAME

Nobody is starting the regular season in better condition than Buddy Ryan, the new defensive coordinator for the Houston Oilers. His mouth has been in midseason form for weeks.

A sampling:

On the Oilers’ chances: “It will be an all-Texas Super Bowl--if Dallas makes it.”

On Mike Ditka’s new job as a TV commentator: “He ought to do a good job. He’s been an actor for a long time.”

On a one-day salary walkout by defensive tackle Ray Childress: “I hope he comes back, but I don’t write the checks. If I did, I’d give myself a raise for the fine job I’m doing.”

On the Oilers’ decision to try sneaking rookie kick returner Patrick Robinson through waivers, only to lose him to the Cincinnati Bengals: “I hope he returns one right up our . . . . It was a mistake. There wasn’t any question about it. We not only hurt ourselves, we helped them.”

What Ryan didn’t say is that his son Jim is Robinson’s agent. And that his son Robert was Robinson’s position coach at Tennessee State.

FASHION SECTION

So the New England Patriots will play their first regular-season game in their new uniforms Sunday at Buffalo. Big deal.

Of the 10 teams that have changed their uniforms since 1966, only two posted markedly improved records the next year, with only one team going to the Super Bowl.

That was the 1981 Cincinnati Bengals. With tiger stripes on their helmets and pants, they went from 6-10 to 12-4 and a Super Bowl defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in January of 1982.

The Patriots, alas, have no stripes. Their new logo resembles a guy with a bad haircut taking a nap.

THE FALCON AND THE SNOW JOB

Look for some illegal chucks in the secondary Sunday when the Falcons visit the Detroit Lions.

Tim McKyer, former Falcon cornerback and loudmouth, showed he has not lost his form since signing with the Lions. He started a feud by immediately deriding one of the Falcon heroes.

“I guess Deion (Sanders) never got beat,” he said. “Matter of fact, Deion doesn’t get beat--he just quits on the play. Seen it a bunch of times. But I get the rap, right? You explain it. Nobody puts me in the same category as Deion, but I know for a fact that I’m as good or better than Deion, and I’ll prove it.”

This angered Andre Rison, Falcon wide receiver and Sanders’ friend.

“I can’t believe he made the comments he made about Deion,” Rison said. “Somebody that sorry, to say that kind of stuff about Prime, he’s got to be crazy. I don’t even see why Detroit picked him up. He’s terrible. He can’t cover. They must have been awful desperate.”

So what will happen when they meet Sunday?

“If he tries to check me, it’s going to help my incentives,” Rison said. “But I’m getting in the paint anyway. Write it down, two TDs at least. Maybe three. He (irritated) the wrong guy and the wrong team.”

Rison was cleared to play by the Falcons after being arrested for aggravated assault Thursday morning.

QUICK KICKS

If Steve McMichael plays in all 16 games for the Bears--and he looks both strong and ugly enough to pull it off--then he will have played in more games for the franchise, 191, than any other player in the Bears’ 73-year history. . . . Miami will open the season with six first-round draft picks starting on offense--Keith Byars, Irving Fryar, Mark Ingram, Keith Jackson, Richmond Webb and Dan Marino. . . . Steve DeBerg, Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback, on his two rookie receivers from the University of Miami, Lamar Thomas and Horace Copeland: “They show flashes of brilliance and flashes of, ‘What the heck are you doing?’ ”

When Joe Montana asked the Kansas City Chiefs for No. 16, which belonged to Len Dawson and had been retired, the Chiefs said no. When Pat Swilling asked the Detroit Lions for No. 56, which had belonged to Joe Schmidt and had been retired, the Lions asked Schmidt if he would give it up. C’mon guys, what was he supposed to say? He said yes, No. 56 will be worn for the first time in Detroit in 28 years, and that stinks.

There are rumors that Don James, the Washington coach who walked out on his team, is the top candidate to become the next coach of the Seattle Seahawks when Tom Flores returns to the front office. “Some of those rumors are probably thought up in closets,” Flores said. So that’s where James has been hiding. . . . Steve Young might be sorry he persuaded the San Francisco 49ers to let him play Sunday at Pittsburgh. Harris Barton, the right tackle charged with stopping Kevin Greene, is not starting because of a knee injury.