HIRED GUN

By STEVE SPRINGER

Jan. 7, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. —

They salivated over the Arm.

They shivered about the Attitude.

So quarterback Jeff George has continued his strange odyssey through the NFL, unpacking his bags, unleashing his arm and unsettling opposing defenses, but ultimately upsetting his own management, meaning it was again time to repack those bags, update that resume and hit the road again.

Who wouldn’t want a 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback with arm strength like John Elway, a quick release like Dan Marino, the ability to throw bullets off his back foot like Joe Namath and capability of reading and reacting to defenses like Joe Montana?

But, on the other hand, who would want a quarterback constantly in the swirl of controversy like Jim McMahon or Ryan Leaf, one labeled obstinate, arrogant and confrontational?

It didn’t work out for George with the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons or even the Oakland Raiders, a haven for troubled players.

So why would it work out with the Minnesota Vikings, with whom George, 32 and running out of time to fulfill his potential, signed a one-yeardeal last April for a base salary of $400,000 with incentives that could boost it to $1 million.

Viking General Manager Tim Connolly was more than willing to take a chance at such a bargain price. Besides, Connolly isn’t a big believer in labels like the one that has branded George a troublemaker.

“Unless you are in an organization, all the information is second-hand,” Connolly said. “Also, he had not been on a winning team with the exception of that one year in Atlanta. Any time you are on a losing team, there is a lot of finger-pointing. Under those circumstances, a lot of bad things happen in locker rooms. Nobody likes to lose and when you lose steadily, a lot of things get said.”

Connolly was ultimately sold when he heard George’s asking price.

“I’m sure he could have made more money elsewhere,” Connolly said. “But this was never about money for Jeff. He wanted to show what he could do surrounded by good players.”

The only question was, would George ever get the chance to show what he could do? He wasn’t exactly coming to a team in desperate need of his services.

Minnesota was coming off a 15-1 regular season, losing in overtime to Atlanta in the NFC championship game. Minnesota quarterback Randall Cunningham was coming off a season in which he had seemingly put to rest questions about his ability to lead a club to success, having returned from a one-year retirement and one season on the Viking bench to run an offense that, in 1998, scored 556 points, most in NFL history.

Yet six games into 1999, a Viking season going nowhere under Cunningham, George got a tap on the shoulder from a coach needing to take advantage of the cannon that passes for George’s right arm.

This time, George seems to finally have made the most of an opportunity, leading Minnesota to five consecutive victories and eight wins in 10 games to give the 10-6 Vikings home-field advantage for Sunday’s opening-round playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.

George threw only one pass in his first five games with Minnesota. But since relieving Cunningham at halftime of Minnesota’s sixth game, a 25-23 loss to the Detroit Lions, he has completed 58.2% of his passes for 2,816 yards and 23 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He finished the regular season with a 94.2 quarterback rating, third best in the league behind the St. Louis Rams’ Kurt Warner and the Carolina Panthers’ Steve Beuerlein.

So what’s different? Why is George suddenly living up to the expectations people have had for him since he was a prep phenom in Indiana?

Don’t expect any answers from George. He won’t talk about the past. And when it comes to the present, he talks only about his teammates, specifically explosive receivers Randy Moss and Cris Carter.

“Even times when they are not open, they are open, if that makes any sense,” George said. “I’m just fortunate to be blessed with two great ones.”

And to be in a system ideally suited to George’s talent. If the Vikings had been an expansion team last season, drafted George first and then tried to build a system and obtain personnel to suit his strengths, they couldn’t have come up with anything more tailor-made.

“This is a vertical passing game,” George said, “and that’s one that best suits me and best suits the [receivers] on the outside.”

Minnesota offensive coordinator Ray Sherman could have told you that 20 years ago. In those days, he was an assistant coach at Purdue, scouting area high school talent.

And he still remembers the day he saw the kid from Warren Central High.

“There was one play where Jeff rolled out right nearly to the sideline and then threw a strike all the way across the field nearly to the left sideline and 35 to 40 yards downfield,” Sherman said. “I never saw a college kid do that, much less a high school kid. I knew right then that this was a kid we had to have at Purdue.”

And they got him, but only for a brief time. George transferred from Purdue to Illinois after his freshman season, a bitter parting that set the tone for his career.

The long and winding road of Jeff George:

* Purdue. After arriving at Purdue with an impressive list of national high school passing records, George had a miserable first season. Injured part of the time, he threw 15 interceptions and was sacked 21 times. When coach Leon Burtnett was subsequently fired and Fred Akers came in with what George felt was a run-oriented offense, George decided to leave.

He tried to finish the school year on campus, but that was a mistake.

Outraged fellow students left a note on his dorm door calling him a traitor, threw firecrackers into the room, sold Georgebusters shirts on campus, playing off the popular movie of the time, and mooned George and his family when they showed up at a game the next season.

“It was tough on me,” George said at the time, “but I progressed, not only as a player, but as a person. I learned to face adversity. After all that, I feel I can handle anything thrown at me on the field.”

Not necessarily.

* Indianapolis. The first pick of the 1990 NFL draft after playing two years at Illinois, George signed a six-year, $15-million contract, richest for a rookie to that date. But after four seasons with the Colts, George, wanting more money, staged a 36-day holdout.

Having run out of patience, the Colts traded George to the Falcons.

* Atlanta. He lasted there three seasons, including a 1995 trip to the postseason, his only playoff appearance heading into Sunday.

George’s break with the Falcons was very public and very ugly. With Atlanta off to a 0-2 start, George was yanked out of a game by coach June Jones after throwing an interception against the Philadelphia Eagles.

George, already unhappy over another off-season contract dispute, got in Jones’ face and the two engaged in a shouting match in full view of the cameras.

George wound up on the bench, on the suspended list and, finally, on the waiver wire.

* Oakland. Here George lasted two seasons. But troubled by a groin injury in the second season, George said on a radio show in early December that his season was over. That came as news to Oakland Coach Jon Gruden.

George changed his story several days later on another radio show, saying maybe he could come back.

It was too late for Gruden, who left George on the bench until the regular-season finale.

There were other problems. Gruden didn’t like George’s lack of mobility and George didn’t particularly care for Gruden’s offense.

Goodbye, Oakland.

Hello, Minnesota.

Sherman, who had kept in touch with George through the years, was quick to vouch for him.

“I heard all the stories, but that’s just not the Jeff George I know,” Sherman said. “I knew how he was as a person.

“But you know, he’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t care what people say about him. He just lets it roll off his back.” Besides, if you can hit the open receiver and win games, who cares what your personality is like?

“After everything that has been said, for him to come in here in his first year, pick up the system and do the things he has done is incredible,” Sherman said.

So Connolly looks like a genius. But could he possibly have envisioned things turning out the way they have?

“Having this offense is like having a Porsche,” Connolly said. “You wouldn’t let just anybody drive it. Whatever happened, we knew we needed a good backup driver.”

And now that he’s behind the wheel, George may be finally finished with all the detours and on the road to vindication.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

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