Giving It Another Ryp Late In Nfl Career, Rypien Wants One More Shot At Glory

Well, Mark Rypien, what happens to you next?

It was a big-picture question, offered because the Cleveland Browns have unsettled his future by making him available to National Football League expansion teams.

But Rypien volleyed with a short-term answer: “Well, I’ve got a rec basketball game in Coeur d’Alene tomorrow, and after that maybe a little snowmobiling.”

Fact is, as it stands, Rypien honestly can’t forecast much beyond the range of the recleague hoops schedule.

“Really, it’s all up in the air,” the Washington State and Shadle Park High product said. “I’ve got an option clause in my contract with Cleveland that calls for lots and lots and lots of money, and if they exercise that, I’ll be happy to stay there.”

Rypien pocketed $917,000 last year, but his contract reportedly calls for his income to inflate to $2 million if the Browns choose to keep him.

Considering the NFL atmosphere, and the fact that Rypien’s star may be past its zenith, it’s unlikely they’d meet that sticker price.

A two-time Pro Bowl participant and MVP of Super Bowl XXVI with the Washington Redskins, Rypien got only three starts (two victories) for the Browns season as he understudied Vinny Testaverde.

Rypien, 32, is one of several quarterbacks exposed to the expansion draft, including Arizona’s Steve Beuerlein, the Rams’ Chris Miller, Dallas’ Jason Garrett, the Jets’ Jack Trudeau and Denver’s Will Furrer.

If health and big-game experience were the combined criteria, though, Rypien probably would be considered the pick of that litter.

Either Carolina or Jacksonville would have to pick up his current contract, but Rypien said his agent, Ken Staninger of Missoula, “would tell them that we’re willing to negotiate with them.”

“What it comes down to is, I want to play, wherever it’s at,” Rypien said. “I’d like to keep it going a while, give it another run and maybe get back to another Super Bowl.

“Right now, I’m kind of part of a dying breed,” Rypien said. “A lot of the dinosaurs are in their last stages. There’s a shortage of quarterbacks who have taken their teams to the promised land.”

Quarterbacks for expansion teams, often operating behind inexperienced lines, are easy to identify - the crutches, slings and casts give them away.

“You might go in and get beat around a little bit, but I’d rather wake up Monday morning feeling the aches and pains of playing than to be all fresh and able to go out and swing my driver easily on Monday morning because I did nothing but stand around all day Sunday.”

Rypien, having returned to his home in Post Falls, said the experience in Cleveland was positive, and in many ways what he expected.

“Cleveland was so appealing because they had a team that I felt - and I was pretty correct - that had a chance to go to the playoffs and maybe to the Super Bowl.”

Rypien certainly did his part to get Cleveland in the playoffs, filling in when Testaverde sustained two concussions at mid-season.

And although the Browns finished 11-5 and advanced to the playoffs, Testaverde had 18 interceptions to go with his 16 TDs.

Through his nine pro seasons, Rypien has been uncanny in his ability to make the proper comments about teammates.

All the way back to when he shared time with Doug Williams - when Washington, D.C., shirt-makers printed T-shirts of the two linked arm-in-arm in harmony - Rypien has never been less than entirely supportive of a colleague.

But this season was difficult.

“I think the world of Vinny, but I’m not sure he’s the answer to take the team to the next level,” Rypien said. “(He’s) one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the game, but on Sundays, it doesn’t always seem to come together. I think a lot of that is mental, for whatever reason.

“I know, in my case, once you’ve played a lot, it’s really difficult to have to sit back and watch; that gets very hard to take.”

It was most difficult in the 29-9 playoff loss to Pittsburgh when Testaverde struggled mightily. In three games against the Steelers, Testaverde threw eight interceptions.

“I watched that Pittsburgh game and it kind of irritated me not getting a chance to play,” Rypien said. “It’s not like it was the first time Vinny struggled against that team. I was kind of eager and anticipating maybe getting to go in in the second half and try to make something happen.”

But the call never came.

With a handicap of between a 1 and a 3, Rypien plans to play in six Celebrity Golf Association events this summer, and has joined Drew Bledsoe, Jack Thompson and Timm Rosenbach to headline a golf tournament next summer at the Coeur d’Alene Resort course - proceeds from which will go to supply minority scholarships to Washington State.

He makes it clear, however, that he is not ready to retire to the golf course fulltime.

“Really, the last years a guy is effective is up to 35 or 36, and then all the beatings you take wear on you too much,” Rypien said. “I really think I’ve got three or four more years (to play), so I want to get in someplace and get going on helping somebody win some football games.”