THE NFL / BILL PLASCHKE : Replacing Big Names Gives Them No Place to Hide
Marquez Pope was grocery shopping in suburban San Francisco the other day when he noticed a boy following him.
This has happened before and Pope knew what was coming. He ignored the boy and continued shopping.
But the kid wouldn’t quit. Finally, outside on the sidewalk, Pope turned to face the youngster and nearly dropped his melons.
The boy wanted nothing more than an autograph.
He did not want to know about Deion Sanders.
A relieved Pope signed and hurried home.
“I stay in my house these days. I don’t want to be too exposed,” said Pope, the San Francisco 49er cornerback. “There is a lot of trivia going around, and I don’t want to hear it.”
San Diego Charger linebacker Lewis Bush deals with his similar problem another way. Instead of ignoring the man he was hired to replace, he celebrates him.
Every morning when he walks to the locker-room phone to conduct a regular radio interview, he pauses in front of a memorial photo of the late David Griggs.
“Every day, I think about him,” Bush said. “Taking his place is somewhat of an honor. We were such good friends, it was like the passing of the torch.”
If only that flame wasn’t so hot.
Bush’s ability to replace Griggs as a run-stuffing linebacker is critical to the Chargers’ return to the Super Bowl.
Pope’s ability to knock down passes as did Sanders, who defected to the Dallas Cowboys, is critical to the 49ers’ return.
So far, no good.
Pope has been outrun in San Francisco. Bush has been outmuscled in San Diego.
The 49ers’ pass defense has dropped from 17th in the NFL last season to 24th. Pope has become such a target that safeties Merton Hanks and Tim McDonald have been abandoning their run responsibilities to cover his back.
While Hanks and McDonald have combined for four interceptions and nine pass defenses, Pope has no interceptions and one pass defense.
Meanwhile, the Chargers rank 20th in run defense after ranking fifth last season.
The two other Charger linebackers, Dennis Gibson and Junior Seau, have combined for 36 tackles. Bush has one.
“Am I comfortable? Day by day, I’m getting there,” said Pope, signed as a free agent from the Rams this summer and converted from safety. “When Deion signed with the Cowboys, everybody asked me how I felt. What was I supposed to say? If you’re not careful, it can drive you crazy.”
And it’s just getting started.
“Marquez is in a position now where everybody is wanting to see if he can do it . . . if he can replace Deion,” said Eric Davis, the 49ers’ other starting cornerback. “It’s going to be like that every week for him. This is not a job for the faint-hearted.”
Sounds like Bush’s job, which was to replace one of the many specially designed parts that hold the Chargers together.
Shortly after Griggs died in an automobile accident last spring, Bush was summoned by Coach Bobby Ross and offered a chance to move out from behind Seau on the weak side and fight the boars of the strong side.
Bush embraced the idea. But a big heart is one thing, and a big body is quite another. He is one inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter than the late Griggs.
“We are not dissatisfied with him at all,” Ross said of Bush. “Every week we see improvement. It’s just that sometimes he has to keep from getting buried over there.”
That is what happens when you get dropped into deep, deep shoes.
Other round pegs struggling to fit into prominent square holes:
--Trent Dilfer, quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Asked to replace competent Craig Erickson, he has behaved like a knuckleball pitcher--absolutely no idea where the ball is going. Since the first week of the season, he has no touchdown passes and six interceptions.
“This is destruction,” Dilfer said.
--Herschel Walker, running back, New York Giants. He was supposed to replace Dave Meggett as the important third-down back and kick returner. But he has gained fewer yards rushing than his quarterback, and his diminishing speed has left the Giants to start their average drive after kickoffs on the 22-yard line, second-worst position in the league.
--Kevin Williams, wide receiver, Dallas Cowboys. He has caught only two more passes than the man he replaced. And Alvin Harper won’t play his first game for the Buccaneers until Sunday.
--Winfred Tubbs and Rufus Porter, linebackers, New Orleans Saints. The two highly touted replacements for Sam Mills and Darion Conner have been both injured and ineffective in the Saints’ new 4-3 scheme. What was once the league’s proudest defense now ranks dead last, and the drunks are booing down Bourbon Street.
GOOD FITS
Then there is the list of newcomers who have improved their teams.
--Eric Metcalf, wide receiver, Atlanta Falcons. Andre Rison’s job must not have been too hard if a running back can do it. Metcalf leads the league in receiving with 30 catches, putting him on a record 160-catch pace.
Marveling at life for a short, fast guy in a run-and-shoot offense, Metcalf said, “A guy can catch a ball in a zone from five to six yards out, and from there, it’s a matter of just running. With so many receivers so spread out, that creates a lot of holes.”
--Steve Bono, quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs. Life is sunny for this longtime backup to Joe Montana. Last week the Chiefs became only the fourth team in NFL history to win consecutive overtime games. Bono has been brilliant in crunch time, completing 19 of his last 23 passes against the Giants and 13 of his last 14 against the Oakland Raiders.
He’ll never be Montana, or even Steve Young, or probably even Dan Pastorini, but Bono has four fourth-quarter comebacks in only 14 NFL starts.
--Ray Donaldson, center, Dallas Cowboys. By making Cowboy fans forget about Mark Stepnoski after all of five minutes, Donaldson has proved one of two things. Either he is the best center in the history of the English-speaking world, or in today’s offenses, the position is darn near irrelevant.
--Tim Ruddy, center, Miami Dolphins. By making Dolphin fans forget about Jeff Dellenbach . . . OK, so the position is irrelevant.
--Robert Brooks, wide receiver, Green Bay Packers. His three touchdowns and 278 yards’ worth of catches prove that Sterling Sharpe’s departure is the best thing that could have happened to this team.
COACHING COUNTDOWN
It happens every fall.
Somebody demands the departure of artificial turf. Somebody else demands the return of instant replay.
And somebody swears that Wayne Fontes, Ted Marchibroda and Jim Mora are going to be fired.
We can’t predict the future of fake turf and the replays. But when it comes to those three coaches, for once, somebody is right.
Fontes: His slow start with an improved Detroit Lion team has all but assured that his eighth season will be his last.
“I’m like that big buck out in the field,” Fontes said. “Everybody is always wanting to shoot me. Everybody wants my rack on the wall. I just keep dodging those bullets.”
The only reason he has not been hit before is that he is 22-13 in games on or after Thanksgiving.
“Wayne is Lazarus,” said Bill Ford Jr., the owner’s son. “He could rise from the dead.”
That might be easier than the task he now faces.
Mora: He has also dodged a few high, hard ones during his 10 years with the New Orleans Saints, but he can’t elude this: The fans are sick of him.
They did not pack the Superdome for a game against the hated Atlanta Falcons for the first time in 10 years. They did not even fill the joint on opening day against the defending champion 49ers. Losing 20 of his last 30 games will do that to a city and coach finally headed for divorce.
Marchibroda: By refusing to announce one starting quarterback--Jim Harbaugh and Erickson are dividing time and loyalties--he has already cut his throat.
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QUICK KICKS
CURE OF THE WEEK: As part of his rehabilitation from a torn calf muscle, San Francisco 49er tackle Harris Barton is wearing magnets in his shoes.
“I have no idea. . . .” Barton said.
CAN’T-MISS LISTENING: The hunger for Bronco information is so frenzied in Denver that center David Diaz-Infante, a member of the practice squad who is not allowed to wear a uniform on Sunday, has his own radio show.
PARTY HARD: He lay motionless on the end zone grass for nearly a minute last Sunday, surrounded by concerned trainers tending to his badly bruised hip.
Then 49er safety Merton Hanks suddenly leaped to his feet and rushed off the field, prancing and shouting and pumping his fists.
Hanks said he didn’t want teammates to think he was a sissy.
“It was adrenaline that got me to the sidelines,” Hanks said. “But once I was there . . . ohhhhh .”
EVERYBODY’S FAVORITE TEAM: Tackle Stan Thomas’ career with the Houston Oilers ended after he engaged in a knockdown, drag-out brawl . . . with a teammate in the locker room.
His opponent was rookie center Hicham El-Mashtoub, and Thomas will be fired when he is taken off the injury list because he admitted he started it.
Injury list? Oh yeah, Thomas was head-butted so hard that a wound was opened and stitches were required.
IT FIGURES: Earlier this season, our hero Thomas was robbed at gunpoint by a woman who stole his Mercedes-Benz and everything in it . . . except a couple of Oiler caps.
DEATH MARCH BEGINS: After Sunday’s loss to the San Diego Chargers in a game that ended around 4 p.m., Philadelphia Eagle Coach Ray Rhodes returned to his office at 3 a.m. Monday.
BIG MAN OF THE WEEK: After a kickoff Sunday night, Minnesota Viking fullback Charles Evans punched out barefoot Dallas kicker John Baker.
