Jurgensen Becomes Mentor For Frerotte

One serves as sort of an unofficial patriarch for the Washington Redskins, a Hall of Fame legend who chomps his cigar on the sidelines during practices and spreads his football wisdom on television and radio.

The other is an ambitious young quarterback, looking for ways to channel his auspicious talents for a rebuilding team.

Together, Sonny Jurgensen and Gus Frerotte have formed a budding friendship, one that has immeasurably aided Frerotte’s development during his first two years in the NFL.

“I don’t know if he took a liking to me or what, but we started talking and we haven’t stopped,” Frerotte said. “He’s been a great guy to have around.”

Though he has kind words and advice for Heath Shuler, Jurgensen leaves little doubt he is a Gus Man when it comes to the Redskins’ quarterback dilemma. He and Frerotte talk several times a week, reviewing the highs and lows of the previous game and how to improve the next time around.

“It’s advice. It’s a friend,” Frerotte said. “It’s just him relaying his thoughts to me. You take them under consideration and you think about them and you put it back there somewhere, and when that situation comes up that he was talking about, you say, ‘Ah, I can use that here.’ It’s not a coach, it’s different.”

“I guess I just try to keep his head on straight,” Jurgensen said. “I don’t get involved with (the details of the game plan). He’s got great coaches to do that. I just talk to him about playing the position.”

Jurgensen said he saw something special in the seventh-round draft pick from Tulsa at the start of training camp last year.

“The first time I saw him practice, I thought he had a big arm,” Jurgensen said. “I was impressed. He throws the ball well. He was accurate. He had a good feel for being in the pocket.”

Jurgensen became an ad hoc mentor, explaining the intangibles that became second nature during his career with the Eagles and Redskins from 1957-74.

At first, Frerotte wasn’t always a believing student.

“He was getting ready to play Buffalo,” Jurgensen said, “and I was standing on the side of the field two or three days before that, and I told him that if he wanted to impress the coaches, the thing to do was to throw the ball away. And he said ‘What?’

“(Quarterbacks coach) Cam Cameron came over and he said, ‘Cam, you won’t believe what he just told me, he told me if I wanted to impress y’all, to throw the ball away.’ And Cam says, ‘He’s telling you right.’

Sure enough, in the game at Buffalo, Frerotte threw one out of bounds under a heavy rush.

“He came back and told me,” Jurgensen said. “He said ‘I thought of you when I did that.’ That’s something you have to learn, something you have to know when to do.”

This year, Jurgensen’s advice has taken on a new dimension. With the departure of John Friesz, the Redskins have no veteran quarterback around to help shepherd the development of Frerotte, Shuler and thirdstringer Trent Green.

“I had (Norm) Van Brocklyn, but he was playing at the time I was observing him,” Jurgensen said of his early days with the Eagles. “But they (the Redskins quarterbacks) don’t have anybody to observe now playing the position.”

Jurgensen’s involvement, which may seem awkward to the casual observer given that’s he retired, a member of the media and has no official role in the organization, has the full blessing of the Redskins coaching staff.

That’s probably because Jurgensen doesn’t make a big deal of his friendship with Frerotte. There is, for example, no perception by anyone at Redskin Park that Jurgensen is trying to muscle in on the coaching staff, or abuse his role as an ex-superstar or member of the media.

“Everything he’s done has been positive,” Cameron said. “He’s a got a way about him. For some guys in that situation, it would become unfavorable. But Sonny’s handled it in a way that has become positive for Gus. I think every young player sometimes needs someone to bounce ideas off of.”

“Sonny’s not a guy that gives you a casual observation,” Cameron said. “He watches film and players. He spends his time studying the game, and I appreciate him for that. I’ve learned a lot from him the last two years.”

Since taking over the starting job from Shuler, Frerotte has won praise for his poise, footwork and arm strength. Not surprisingly, Jurgensen said the major missing ingredient was experience.

“The game will slow down the more comfortable he gets in the pocket and the more he plays, because he has the arm and the ability to play in this league,” Jurgensen said. “I want him to do well, I want them both to do well, but Gus has seized an opportunity and run with it.”