Dolphins' Frerotte hungry to start
BY HARVEY FIALKOV
Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 24 2005
It's been nearly eight years since Gus Frerotte, then the Redskins' starting quarterback, celebrated a rare rushing touchdown by head-butting the end zone wall at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in a nationally televised game against the Giants.
ESPN's SportsCenter had a field day with the blooper shot of a groggy Frerotte, who literally knocked himself from a 7-7 game. Frerotte started the next week with a concussion before breaking his hip.
Ever since, it seems as though Frerotte has been figuratively banging his head against the wall trying to shake the backup quarterback label attached to him.
Playing for his sixth team in eight years, Frerotte handpicked the Dolphins in March, passing up an offer from his hometown Broncos simply because he knew that he may never have a better situation to reclaim a starting job.
"Obviously, it was the best place for me to go and compete and hopefully compete to play," said Frerotte, who has started six games in the past four seasons after starting 40 games from 1995-97.
"I wasn't satisfied just standing there, watching and putting my hat backward and headphones on and alling the plays in. That, to me, is not what I do this for. A lot of guys are satisfied with saying, 'Man, I'm third string, I just made the NFL, that's good.'
"But after being in the NFL for so long, there's just something about being out there between the white lines and playing the game and getting the bumps and bruises and throwing the touchdowns and having the hard times, the ups and downs and all that. That's what it's all about, and that's what I want to get back to doing."
Frerotte realizes that incumbent quarterback A.J. Feeley has already forged a rapport with the players in the locker room. But Frerotte's familiarity with the offense, a vertical passing attack guided by his former coordinator (Scott Linehan) and receivers coach (Charlie Baggett) while at Minnesota, gives him a built-in edge.
"Gus is a little more familiar with this offense, so his learning curve is a little bit less, so I think he feels a little more comfortable a little more quickly," coach Nick Saban said. "I would bet, not that I'm a gambling man, that at some point in time we're going to need both these guys to play well during the season."
Surely, Saban doesn't want a repeat of last year's quarterback fiasco, in which former coach Dave Wannstedt waffled between Feeley and Jay Fiedler.
"Regardless of whether one quarterback plays or the other, it's the one who executes and manages the game the best who is going to play,'' Linehan said. "Certainly, you're going to have familiarity with the person you have been around longer. There are no favorites in coaching."
Start in Washington
Frerotte was an unheralded seventh-round draft pick out of Tulsa but beat out Heath Shuler, Washington's No. 3 overall pick in 1995, for a starting job.
Frerotte came of age in 1996, getting the Redskins off to a 7- 1 start before a porous run defense led to a disappointing 9-7 finish. Frerotte, who threw for a career-high 3,453 yards, went to the Pro Bowl.
In '97, he threw for a career-high 17 touchdowns but seemed to fall out of favor with coach Norv Turner shortly after the infamous head-butting escapade.
"I remember he was trying to fire us up and create enthusiasm," said Dolphins punter Matt Turk, a teammate of Frerotte in Washington. "He got creamed in the press, who blamed him for taking himself out of the game... It just snowballed.
"I remember watching him in practice and in games, thinking where did this guy come from? I didn't hear of him in college, but he looked as good as anyone on the field throwing the ball and making good decisions.
"Things happen in a guy's career and he gets labeled, where he gets in a situation and the guy he's playing behind doesn't open the door for you to get in. .. This is the perfect situation for Gus. There's no telling how good Gus can be."
After the Redskins chose Trent Green over a banged-up Frerotte in 1998, his odyssey began. He went to Detroit, where he started six games in place of an injured Charlie Batch and led them to the playoffs.
"I was the offensive MVP in Detroit, and they wanted Charlie, so I wasn't going to stay there to be his backup," Frerotte said.
It was off to Denver, where the Broncos were banking on third-round pick Brian Griese to usher in the post-John Elway era. Frerotte took over for an injured Griese and led the Broncos to a 4-2 mark, including a team-record 462-yard outing.
After a wasted 2001, Frerotte decided he had a better chance of starting for the hapless Bengals. Despite coming back from offseason shoulder surgery, he beat out Jon Kitna and Akili Smith, and started the first three games in which Cincinnati was outscored 84-16. Coach Dick LeBeau chose Frerotte as his scapegoat and demoted him to No. 3.
"That was a bad experience," Frerotte said. "You could play your best football, but if guys don't want to play, don't have that sense of urgency. .. It was like Sunday was just, 'Lets get through this and get out of here.'-''
So Frerotte got out of there to Minnesota. For the first time in his career, he knew going in that he would be a backup -- in this case to blossoming star Daunte Culpepper. It didn't take long to prove he could still be the man, replacing an injured Culpepper in most of three games -- all victories.
Against the Lions, he threw a pair of 72-yard completions, one to Randy Moss. In his first start as a Viking, Frerotte set a team record with a 157.2 passer rating, throwing four touchdowns in crushing the 49ers 35-7.
Last season Frerotte threw one pass behind Culpepper, the league leader with 4,717 passing yards.
"I get in there and get to throw the ball to Moss, and finally after nine years you're throwing 70-yard balls like I could throw ..... it's amazing and so much fun," Frerotte said. "I don't know why it's taking me so long."
Smart move?
There had been whispers that Frerotte, who turns 34 on July 31, has lost some arm strength.
"He's got plenty left. Gus has a big arm," Vikings coach Mike Tice said. "Gus and Scott have a great relationship, and I anticipated the move. And frankly, I think it's a great move for the Dolphins."
Don Strock, who backed up two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Bob Griese and Dan Marino with the Dolphins for most of his 15-year career (1974-88), said he fought the stereotype but didn't have the option of seeking out starting jobs before the days of free agency.
"A trade had to be involved or you had to give up picks, and high ones for a quarterback," Strock said. "When I played with [David] Woodley, I was more concerned with finishing than starting.
"But Gus is a veteran guy who has been under the gun before and he did it for [Linehan] up there, so it's a huge plus and opportunity for him to shine."
Feeley, who did show guts behind a horrific offensive line last season, has praised Frerotte for sharing his knowledge of a complex system.
But if push comes to shove, Frerotte wants the ball on opening day against the Broncos, so his three growing children can watch more fitting ESPN highlights of their dad.
"I'm going to be on ESPN until I'm dead," Frerotte said, laughing. "I just laugh about it and stay away from walls now."
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