The most peculiar career of Gus Frerotte

The year 1995 was a peculiar year for the Washington Redskins. The legendary Joe Gibbs had retired two years earlier after one of the most dominant 12-year coaching stretches in NFL history. Three years earlier, Mark Rypien held his hand aloft after defeating the Buffalo Bills 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI. But times had changed, and the franchise was deep into its Norv Turner and Heath Shuler era.

Deep, like in a bad way.

The era had gotten off to a bad start. Taken with the third pick in the 1994 NFL Draft, Shuler was expected to bring greatness back to the franchise. At Tennessee, Shuler had shattered Volunteer records (most of them later erased by Peyton Manning) and earned a reputation as being a fierce competitor in the SEC. Shuler’s first contest was at the bargaining table, however, and he held out of training camp until Jack Kent Cooke came up with $19 million boxes of ziti and a seven-year contract.

Again — expectations were high in the District of Columbia.While a Redskin, Shuler again rewrote the record books, leading (using the term loosely) the team to its worst seasons ever. One game, Shuler tossed five interceptions. Eighteen games later, the Redskins had seen enough, and they turned to the man of slight build on their sideline — their seventh-round draft pick out of Tulsa.

Gus Frerotte stunned the league, coming out of nowhere, showing a true quarterback’s poise in the pocket. He wasn’t afraid to take chances, and he wanted to move the ball downfield. In 11 starts, he passed for almost 3,000 yards, tossing 13 touchdowns.

It started off as a joke, but soon fans were sporting Gus Frerotte gear in the stands.Then, in 1996, Frerotte got real serious, earning a Pro Bowl selection after leading the ’Skins to a 9-7 record, on the cusp of the playoffs. It seemed as if the team was about to turn the corner.

And then came Sunday Night Football against the G-men of New York. Frerotte breaks right, dashes into the end zone and celebrates the tying touchdown by head-butting the wall and spraining his neck, landing on injured reserve.

Good quarterback, maybe not so bright.

Since bouncing his dome off the wall, Frerotte has bounced around the league. He’s had stops in Detroit, Denver, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Miami, St. Louis and now Detroit. Whenever given a chance, Frerotte has won games — he’s just never been spectacular.

Things came full circle for the journeyman last month when, in front of 70,000 crazed fans in the New Orleans Superdome, he led the Vikings to an upset 30-27 win, throwing a touchdown and leading the team down the field in the final minutes for the game-winning field goal.

Just another peculiar start in the very peculiar career of Gus Frerotte.