European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse Ijj1 3�j&�2 a jl>3 Bledsoe passes to whom by Terry Price -. Hartford courant e very great quarterback needs a great wide receiver. Steve Young has Jerry Rice. Dan Marino has Irving Fryar. Troy Aikman has Michael Irvin. Jim Kelly has Andre Reed. A Heck even Warren Moon has Cris Carter. A a. A. A. Whom does the new England patriots Drew Bledsoe have if Bledsoe is to become the next great quarterback he needs help. He needs a Rice or an Irvin or a Sterling Sharpe pre neck injury. Quot i would definitely like to find a receiver that can produce on that level a patriots coach Bill Parcells said. A where Are you going to get one a actually the patriots had one but Parcells traded Fryar to the division rival Miami dolphins a few weeks before he picked Bledsoe with the first selection in the 1993 draft. Parcells knew he was going to draft Bledsoe but still went ahead with the Trade for two draft picks. Parcells did not expect Bledsoe to develop so rapidly into one of the Premier quarterbacks in the National football league. Fine. But that was More than two years ago. There has been plenty of time and Opportunity either in the draft or through free Agency to get Bledsoe a game breaking wide receiver. Quot we done to have a Jerry Rice Here a Parcells Wasny there when i got Here. We do what we can. There Arentt too Many teams that have a Guy like Jerry Rice. You Guys Tell me which Guy is going to be Jerry Rice and i will draft the patriots did t have a big name receiver last season and got away with it Bledsoe completed More than 50 passes to five players in 1994. The problem is of those five Only two remain tight end Ben Coates and wide receiver Vincent Brisby. Fullback Kevin Turner Philadelphia eagles and running Back Leroy Thompson Kansas City chiefs left As free agents and wide receiver Ray Crittenden was Cut last a week.-. V patriots will open sunday with two of their first three wide receivers never having caught an nil pass. Will Moore 25, is a free agent from the Canadian football league and Kevin Lee 24, spent his Rookie season on injured Reserve. That leaves Brisby 24, who had 58 receptions and averaged 15.6 Yards a catch last season. For his part Bledsoe has remained patient with the patriots. Quot i feel really comfortable with the Guys we have catching the Ball a he said a we knew we had Brisby. Will Moore has stepped up and proved that he is definitely a player As has Kevin Parcells is banking on Brisby becoming an Impact player. A Brisby is going to be Good a Parcells said. A the wants to be Good a bad. He i wants the Ball. He wants you to throw it to him every play. He a got All the characteristics that you like in a player. He a a Little arrogant. He a a Little cocky. Quot i just think we will be of at the spot. This franchise is not dominant at 22 positions yet. We Are still in the building waiting for Shuler the Washington redskins Are not Overly discouraged with the play of second year quarterback Heath Shuler. But Shuler Dasaad a poor exhibition season completing 33 of 67 passes 49.3 percent for 410 Yards in four exhibition games. He did not throw a touchdown pass but had four interceptions two returned for touchdowns. A the quarterback is Good and then not so Good a Redskin general manager Charley Casserly said. A a he a Young. He a struggling. He finished up really Good in 1994. Hell be Casserly said not having Rookie wide receiver Michael Westbrook in Camp from the Start has set Back Shuler and the redskins. Westbrook the redskins top pick this year is expected to be Shuler s primary receiver Shuler the redskins no. 1 pick in 1994, was the a Fly slowest rated quarterback 59.6 last season. In his first six starts he had a 40.3 rating. But he improved to 84.4 in his last four. Shuler also had the highest Yards per completion average in the league 13.82. Casserly who could be in trouble if Shuler who signed for $19 million flops is optimistic about the redskins in general. A a we re a lot. Better than we were last year a Casserly said. Eagles on the run running Back Ricky Watters was signed by the eagles to be the main Man in the Backfield. He still May be but the play of Charlie Garner is presenting first year Eagle coach Ray Rhodes with a Nice problem. In four exhibition games Garner had 272 Yards Rushing on 49 carries to Watters. 150 Yards on 41 carries. A it really does change my mind with what in a going to do with them Quot Rhodes said. A both Guys Are going to get a lot of playing time during the course of the season you la see both of them in the game at the same time a lot. They both can make plays and i will put the Guys that can make plays in the game and not have them standing on the sideline. In a not stupid a the eagles finished the exhibition season 4-0. Tight jets new York Jet tight end Johnny Mitchell does not sound apprehensive about How he and Rookie tight end Kyle Brady the jets first pick will be used in the offence. A a we la be Able to take advantage of my abilities More a Mitchell said. A we Haven to done that since in be been the jets Are planning to use a lot of double tight end formations with Mitchell a first round pick in 1992, As More of a big wide receiver. Mitchells numbers have increased Drew Bledsoe Star of the pats. Every year. He had 16 receptions for 210 Yards As a Rookie 39 for 630 in �?T93, and 58 for 749 last season. But the jets still Are waiting for Mitchell to become a solid player. He had too Many drops last season and at times seemed to be Frozen out of the Jet quarterback Boomer Esiason no longer possessing the Arm strength he once had and not having a Stellar group of wide receivers the tight ends will be important to the offence. A with three tight ends Well just be Able to smash Guys a Mitchell said. A i think this offence is going to make everybody Happy. I know i have dreamed of a better situation. In a excited. I did no to imagine things would be like this. A a it a going to help me run deeper routes and other patterns but i think All in All this offence is going to help us win. And i want to win More than anything. If it takes a running game or a passing game to win in a willing to be a part of a Mike while Kyle Brady a Rookie the with s Raider Reviva Iby Bill Williamson Ventura Calif county Star the slender Gray haired Man wearing a Black Polo shirt and Gray workout shorts strolled alone eating an Apple in the parking lot of the Radisson suites hotel in Oxnard calif., during his lunch hour recently. Perhaps he was planning the afternoon activities of the Oakland raiders. Or maybe he was reflecting on the teams morning practice. Whatever Mike White was thinking you can bet he was having the time of his life doing so. A a in a thrilled to death a said the 59-year-old Rookie coach of the Oakland raiders. A a in a so excited about this season i Tell the Grandfather is enjoying a rebirth of sorts eight years after he last held the title As a head football coach at the University of Illinois in 1987. It has been a wild unlikely revival. The Bay area native admits he thought his opportunities of becoming an nil coach were slim. After All very few teams Are eagerly looking to give a coach his first pro Job a year before his 60th birthday. But five years As a diligent quarterback coach under Art Shell paid off when raiders owner a1 Davis fired Shell. White finally became a head coach in the nil and of the team he followed when he lived in Berkeley. Then in june when Davis finally ended the teams 13-year los Angeles Field trip White became head coach of the Oakland raiders. The combination be dreamer for White. A a it a strange Quot a he said. Quot i finally became a coach in the nil which i never thought would happen. And now in a coaching the Oakland raiders which i really never thought would White a known As one of the top College offensive coaches As head coach at Cal 1973-78 and Illinois 1980-87 a has changed the raiders playbook which produced a stale at Best scheme last year. And he loves talking about it. Most nil coaches dread their daily Media addresses after a Long hot Day of two practices. White seems to look Forward to the daily state of the team chats. An hour plus Media Bull session at the end of the Day is common. A they this is All fun a White said. A a it Sall part of it. I love my Scripps Howard news service. September 2-8, 1995 beyond the game a Page 7
