Cowher, Turner On Spot After Risky Qb Decisions Pittsburgh, Washington Choices Recall Previous Controversies

Kenny Stabler had started two games in his first five years with the Oakland Raiders when, with typical brashness, he walked into coach John Madden’s office early in the 1973 season and told him he wanted the job.

Madden, as he recalled in his 1984 book, “Hey, Wait a Minute,” told Stabler: “If you want the job, fight for it. Don’t talk about wanting it. Make it happen.”

The next day in practice, Stabler showed such intensity, Madden made his decision. Daryle Lamonica, who had thrown 145 touchdowns in six years and was MVP of the AFL in 1967 and ‘69, was out.

“That’s when I learned not to be wishy-washy about a two-quarterback situation,” Madden wrote. “You can rotate three wide receivers or running backs, but you can only play one quarterback. You can’t con the second guy that he’s going to play, because he knows he’s not.”

The Madden/Stabler team became one of the most successful of its time, culminating with a Super Bowl victory in 1977. We bring you this historic footnote a few days after Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher and Washington Redskins coach Norv Turner made similar gut, or gut-wrenching, decisions.

A quarterback decision made in August can be the turning point of a season, even a career. Bill Parcells’ first season with the New York Giants, 1983, may have been doomed when he chose Scott Brunner over Phil Simms. The Giants finished 3-12-1. Parcells’ successor, Ray Handley, doomed his career when he chose Jeff Hostetler over Simms in 1991.

Cowher and Turner put their reputations on the line. Cowher ignored fans and some veteran players and chose Jim Miller over Mike Tomczak and Kordell Stewart. Turner ignored the investment of a high draft pick and a ton of money and chose seventh-round pick Gus Frerotte over Heath Shuler.

“It was a gut decision,” Cowher said. “There are so many variables that went into it, it doesn’t serve any purpose to be specific.”

The quarterback decision is unlike any other, because it’s rarely a simple case of who plays better now. The coach must try to predict, and now also consider salaries.

People not close to the Steelers’ situation thought Miller, 25, a sixth-round pick from Michigan State in 1994, was the underdog. But the Steelers were developing Miller, who has shown exceptional poise and instincts for a young quarterback, to be Neil O’Donnell’s replacement long before Stewart became a national fascination in his multipurpose role.

In June, Miller’s New Haven-based agent, Joe Linta, negotiated a fouryear contract worth up to $11.65 million. The key is an incentive clause based on playing time: Miller gets about $1.5 million each year he takes 64 percent of the team’s snaps. He had another year on his original contract, so the Steelers would not have offered the extension unless they were confident he could be the starter.

Miller completed 23 of 44 (52.3 percent) passes with no touchdowns and one interception in four exhibition appearances. The Steelers know what Tomczak, 34, can do. He is 31-22 as an NFL starter. The decision was made based on a projection Miller will be better.

Stewart, a second-round pick from Colorado in 1995, must convince the Steelers he is not better suited for wide receiver or running back.

The Redskins’ choice was trickier. In settling on Frerotte, it’s implied Turner and the organization made a mistake picking Shuler, who left Tennessee as a junior, with the second choice of the ‘94 draft and giving him a $19.4 million contract. Shuler hasn’t made it happen.

Frerotte, from Tulsa, picked 197th in that draft, is the fan favorite, in part because he is an underdog, in part because he makes $196,000 a year and in part because he has been responsible for the few shining moments Washington (9-23) has had the past two seasons.