He’ll Do It the Old Way: Watch and Learn

He’s the baby of the bunch, the bench becoming his highchair this season as Brian Griese chows down on everything quarterback John Elway and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak put before him.

Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf will be under center to start their NFL careers, but Griese, son of Hall of Fame Miami quarterback Bob Griese, might never make it onto the field his rookie season for the Denver Broncos.

Some believe it’s best to play a guy right away and let him learn on the job; others contend it’s best to bring a promising youngster along slowly so as not to damage him. Manning, Leaf and Griese provide a classic test case, the outcome maybe a decade away.

“This guy is going to be one of the great quarterbacks in the league for years to come,” Bronco wide receiver Willie Green said. “Three or four years from now, I think he’ll be better than Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf. That’s no disrespect to them, it just shows how good Brian is.”

Griese, selected 91st in the draft after Manning and Leaf went 1-2, is very much the competitor but said he would not switch places even though it would mean immediate playing time.

“Those two guys are going to go in and get their brains beat out, and they are going to make a lot of mistakes and get paid a lot of money to do it,” Griese said. “That’s a good way to learn, I guess, but I like my situation because I have some time.

“I wouldn’t trade my position with them. You’ve got guys who have been around 10 years and they’re the best players in the game and all they want to do is win the Super Bowl. Why would I go to Indianapolis when I could stay here and, if I’m good enough, be playing in a couple of years and have a chance to compete on that [Super Bowl] level? I wouldn’t even take all that money they got; I’m happy with what I got.”

Griese, who guided Michigan to a 12-0 mark while also being named most valuable player of the Rose Bowl, arguably had a better individual year than Elway, who won the Super Bowl.

“That’s stretching it a little,” Griese said.

But Griese does have something that has always separated Elway from the pack. “He just carries a persona with him that says ‘I’m a leader,’ ” said Kubiak, who backed up Elway for nine years before becoming a coach. “I know it was rumored that his arm was not very strong, but that is totally false. It’s stronger than anybody thought, and this kid has probably come along further in the first two months than anybody I’ve ever had.”

Obviously coming from good stock, Griese, however, was only 5 when his father, a No. 1 draft pick, finished his 14-year tour with the Dolphins after throwing 192 touchdown passes.

“I’ve seen film of him during the Dolphins’ 1972 undefeated season,” the kid said. “He looked pretty good.”

Growing up with a father who played for the Dolphins, Griese had no trouble taking sides in a national football squabble: Who’s better? Elway or Dan Marino?

“Let’s just say I was biased, and leave it like that,” he said, a look over his shoulder to make sure Elway was nowhere near.

Times changed, of course, and Elway’s Super Bowl victory has probably swung the 15-year argument in his favor. And now he has an understudy apparently worthy to one day be the star.

“I’ll tell you what he will learn from John,” Kubiak said. “He will learn how to be a leader, how to study the pro game while watching him study videotape and what he sees while preparing for competition. And he can stand behind John in practice and watch the same things John’s looking at.”

Kubiak, who watched Elway flounder as a rookie starter, said Griese “has the good road. You have Manning and Leaf thrown right into the fire, but Brian has the better road from an NFL standpoint because if you look back to the old days, this is how it was done. I can remember Danny White not playing for seven years before he got his chance.”

Joe Montana sat for a year in San Francisco, then Steve Young waited behind Montana. Brett Favre labored in obscurity in Atlanta before being traded to Green Bay, and Mark Brunell was lost in Green Bay before getting his chance in Jacksonville.

“Unfortunately, our system doesn’t allow us to grow a young guy anymore,” said June Jones, quarterback coach for the San Diego Chargers, hired to quickly tutor Leaf. “I was reading the newspaper and he’s got this big contract with a voidable, meaning he has the option to go somewhere else in a few years.

“On a good football team, a guy like this [Leaf] might not play for three or four years, but now with today’s contracts, you have to play with them and live with the mistakes.”

The Broncos are a good football team, and to remain one they must hope they have struck it rich with Griese, who will get a different education from Manning’s and Leaf’s.

“What am I going to do, come in and beat out John Elway?” Griese said. “Learning the game is my challenge this year, while those guys probably get their lunch handed to them. Looking at the talent that’s here, that gives me a better chance to be successful when I play, but now it’s up to me to get ready.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Thrown Into the Fire

Since 1983, 11 rookie quarterbacks have thrown at least 250 passes. A look:

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Player (Team, Year) Att.-Comp. Pct. Yds. TD-Int. Dan Marino (Miami, 1983) 296-173 58.4 2,210 20-6 John Elway (Denver, 1983) 259-123 47.5 1,663 7-14 Jack Trudeau (Ind., 1986) 417-204 48.9 2,225 8-18 Troy Aikman (Dallas, 1989) 293-155 52.9 1,749 9-18 Jeff George (Ind., 1990) 334-181 54.2 2,152 16-13 Rick Mirer (Seattle, 1993) 486-274 56.4 2,833 12-17 Drew Bledsoe (N. Eng., 1993) 429-214 49.9 2,494 15-15 Heath Shuler (Wash., 1994) 265-120 45.3 1,658 10-12 Kerry Collins (Carolina, 1995) 432-214 49.5 2,717 14-19 Tony Banks (St. Louis, 1996) 368-192 52.2 2,544 15-15 Jake Plummer (Arizona, 1997) 296-157 53.0 2,203 15-15

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