tk13
11-07-2004, 02:13 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/10118559.htm
Passing glory
Turning the page of KC's QB saga, Green appears to be Dawson's heir apparent
By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star
With his first pass of the year, Trent Green set a course for his season and perhaps his Chiefs career.
On a late-summer night in Denver, Green faced a decision that can come to define a quarterback and perhaps will define this one. Eddie Kennison was open deep in the Broncos secondary, but Green had Denver's Raylee Johnson bearing down on him with little chance for escape.
Option 1: Try to avoid Johnson and live another day. Option 2: Attempt a throw to Kennison and deal with the consequences.
In choosing the latter, Green wound up flattened under 270 pounds of defensive lineman. No matter. The job was done, the 57-yard pass complete to Kennison, setting up the Chiefs for what would be the game's first touchdown.
It's plays like that that have the Chiefs thinking finally, 29 years after Len Dawson retired, that they might have a worthy successor to their Hall of Fame quarterback.
“There are quarterbacks with great stats who throw the ball well and manage a game well, but the thing that separates them is the courage in the pocket in the face of a pass rush,” offensive coordinator Al Saunders said. “That's one of the things most NFL quarterbacks can't and won't do. It's why he's special. That's what puts him in the Pro Bowl.”
The Chiefs have been able to mine the occasional good season from one of their quarterbacks in those 29 post-Dawson years. Joe Montana, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac and Bill Kenney all played in a Pro Bowl game, too.
Some Chiefs quarterbacks had individual skills as good as or better than those of Green. Montana was an unparalleled leader. Rich Gannon had thorough knowledge of the offense. Grbac had the big arm. Steve DeBerg was as tough as they come.
None was the complete package or did it for the Chiefs over the long haul like Green, in the middle of his fourth season in Kansas City.
“He is,” said Dawson, who as the Chiefs' radio analyst has watched plenty of mediocre quarterbacks come and go, “the real deal.”
Green has been one of the league's best quarterbacks since his rocky Kansas City debut season in 2001. He sparked an offense that led the NFL in scoring the past two seasons, including a franchise-record 484 points last year. He passed for 4,039 yards last season, second in the NFL. He entered the 2004 season with the league's ninth-highest career passer rating at 86.1.
And he is poised to end his career here after signing a seven-year contract with the Chiefs in February 2003.
“Joe Montana took us to the AFC championship, but he was only a two-year player for us,” said Lamar Hunt, who founded and still owns the Chiefs. “Trent has got us into a level of respectability.
“Nobody else has produced the statistics Trent has. We've had some draft picks that were extremely well thought of, but they didn't pan out the way Trent has.”
***
Any Chiefs quarterback who excels will inevitably be compared to Dawson, who played 14 seasons for the franchise, was named MVP of Super Bowl IV and has a bust in Canton.
When he retired after the 1975 season, Dawson had left an indelible mark on Kansas City. He still holds Chiefs records for touchdowns (237), passing yards (28,507), attempts (3,696), completions (2,115) and regular-season starts (159).
Green, meanwhile, is the Chiefs' all-time leader in passing efficiency (85.4 rating) and completion percentage (60.9), and he is gaining on Dawson in many of the statistics that only longevity of career can provide.
The Chiefs aren't the only team that has been waiting for decades to find an heir apparent. Some teams — the Bears, Saints and Lions among them — are still looking, while others like the Buccaneers and Falcons have never really had a quarterback name that will go down in history.
But that's part of what's hard about holding Green — or any modern-day quarterback — up to Dawson or his peers. It's impossible to compare quarterbacks from different eras by statistics because the rules have changed so much in favor of the passing game. In Dawson's day, offensive blocking techniques were much more limited, while defenders could all but mug receivers before the ball was in the air.
Dawson's numbers might be prettier than Green's if he played with today's rules, in a wide-open offensive system like Green does and behind a skilled offensive line like the Chiefs have.
“Lenny's numbers have to be judged for what they were in his era,” Hunt said. “At the time he retired, he was one of the highest-rated quarterbacks in the game. Now he's quite a ways down, but the game has changed so much. There's so much emphasis on the passing game. All quarterbacks are completing a higher percentage of their passes for more yards and more touchdowns.
“Len had an incredible career. I'm sure he would have done very well in today's game.”
***
No comparison of quarterbacks is complete, of course, without a championship count. Dawson was with the Chiefs for three AFL titles and led the Super Bowl victory over Minnesota after the 1969 season.
The Chiefs haven't had a sniff of a championship since Dawson retired, and Green was a loser in his only playoff game last year against Indianapolis.
“Quarterbacks are ultimately judged by championships,” Hunt said. “Len did win three in much smaller leagues, eight or nine or 10 teams. Hopefully, Trent will get a chance to show us what he can do in that regard.”
Dawson undoubtedly would like to see that as much as anybody. Since he walked off the field and into the broadcast booth, Dawson hasn't been shy about criticizing the Chiefs quarterbacks — namely Green's predecessor, Elvis Grbac — when they haven't gotten the job done.
You can't say that about Green too often. Teammates laud his leadership skills, but two other qualities set him apart. For one, Green is an accurate passer when he's given ample time.
“That's the thing that maybe impresses me the most about Trent,” Dawson said. “You still have to be accurate. I don't care what era you were in. The more accurate you are, the more successful you're going to be. You can't compare statistics from different eras, but you can compare accuracy.”
Green is also, as the play in Denver showed, willing to accept a big hit if it means a big play. He did it again last week against the Colts.
Linebacker Jim Nelson came on a blitz and was unblocked up the middle on one play late in the first half. Green saw him coming but stood in to complete a pass to Derrick Blaylock.
Nelson was also penalized for roughing the passer.
Dawson said: “He handles the pressure. When he's back there and there's pressure on, he just steps up and throws it. A lot of guys would start tap-dancing back there. They're looking around for a way to get out. He's not that way.”
***
The Chiefs wondered about Green's durability when they traded for him, but it's never been an issue. He's been the most durable of quarterbacks in team history, despite his age of 34. That's not when teams expect their quarterbacks to be playing at the top of their game. Green Bay's Brett Favre just turned 35 and has battled recent retirement rumors while he's played through extreme pain.
But unlike Favre, Green missed out on five-plus seasons of pounding while sitting on the bench in San Diego, Washington and St. Louis. As a result, he's stayed amazingly healthy and hasn't missed a start since joining the Chiefs — a streak of 56 straight games, counting last year's playoff.
That's a franchise record Green broke early this season when he passed Dawson, at 51. Green is still far behind Favre (197) and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (103) when it comes to consecutive starts in the league, but the Chiefs already have come to count on having him every week.
“That's probably the thing I'm most proud of,” Green said.
Green is becoming more like Dawson away from the game, too. He's a spokesman for various products and services around Kansas City, has a local radio show and dabbles in national TV when his schedule allows.
So he's got the numbers, the leadership skills, the confidence he needs and the undying support of his team. There's only one thing Green lacks that will make him the equal of Dawson in the hearts of Chiefs fans.
“I feel good about what we've been able to accomplish as an offense these last couple of seasons, but ultimately, we all want to go further into the playoffs,” he said.
“The ultimate goal is the Super Bowl. That hasn't been done yet. There's still a lot of work to do.”
Passing glory
Turning the page of KC's QB saga, Green appears to be Dawson's heir apparent
By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star
With his first pass of the year, Trent Green set a course for his season and perhaps his Chiefs career.
On a late-summer night in Denver, Green faced a decision that can come to define a quarterback and perhaps will define this one. Eddie Kennison was open deep in the Broncos secondary, but Green had Denver's Raylee Johnson bearing down on him with little chance for escape.
Option 1: Try to avoid Johnson and live another day. Option 2: Attempt a throw to Kennison and deal with the consequences.
In choosing the latter, Green wound up flattened under 270 pounds of defensive lineman. No matter. The job was done, the 57-yard pass complete to Kennison, setting up the Chiefs for what would be the game's first touchdown.
It's plays like that that have the Chiefs thinking finally, 29 years after Len Dawson retired, that they might have a worthy successor to their Hall of Fame quarterback.
“There are quarterbacks with great stats who throw the ball well and manage a game well, but the thing that separates them is the courage in the pocket in the face of a pass rush,” offensive coordinator Al Saunders said. “That's one of the things most NFL quarterbacks can't and won't do. It's why he's special. That's what puts him in the Pro Bowl.”
The Chiefs have been able to mine the occasional good season from one of their quarterbacks in those 29 post-Dawson years. Joe Montana, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac and Bill Kenney all played in a Pro Bowl game, too.
Some Chiefs quarterbacks had individual skills as good as or better than those of Green. Montana was an unparalleled leader. Rich Gannon had thorough knowledge of the offense. Grbac had the big arm. Steve DeBerg was as tough as they come.
None was the complete package or did it for the Chiefs over the long haul like Green, in the middle of his fourth season in Kansas City.
“He is,” said Dawson, who as the Chiefs' radio analyst has watched plenty of mediocre quarterbacks come and go, “the real deal.”
Green has been one of the league's best quarterbacks since his rocky Kansas City debut season in 2001. He sparked an offense that led the NFL in scoring the past two seasons, including a franchise-record 484 points last year. He passed for 4,039 yards last season, second in the NFL. He entered the 2004 season with the league's ninth-highest career passer rating at 86.1.
And he is poised to end his career here after signing a seven-year contract with the Chiefs in February 2003.
“Joe Montana took us to the AFC championship, but he was only a two-year player for us,” said Lamar Hunt, who founded and still owns the Chiefs. “Trent has got us into a level of respectability.
“Nobody else has produced the statistics Trent has. We've had some draft picks that were extremely well thought of, but they didn't pan out the way Trent has.”
***
Any Chiefs quarterback who excels will inevitably be compared to Dawson, who played 14 seasons for the franchise, was named MVP of Super Bowl IV and has a bust in Canton.
When he retired after the 1975 season, Dawson had left an indelible mark on Kansas City. He still holds Chiefs records for touchdowns (237), passing yards (28,507), attempts (3,696), completions (2,115) and regular-season starts (159).
Green, meanwhile, is the Chiefs' all-time leader in passing efficiency (85.4 rating) and completion percentage (60.9), and he is gaining on Dawson in many of the statistics that only longevity of career can provide.
The Chiefs aren't the only team that has been waiting for decades to find an heir apparent. Some teams — the Bears, Saints and Lions among them — are still looking, while others like the Buccaneers and Falcons have never really had a quarterback name that will go down in history.
But that's part of what's hard about holding Green — or any modern-day quarterback — up to Dawson or his peers. It's impossible to compare quarterbacks from different eras by statistics because the rules have changed so much in favor of the passing game. In Dawson's day, offensive blocking techniques were much more limited, while defenders could all but mug receivers before the ball was in the air.
Dawson's numbers might be prettier than Green's if he played with today's rules, in a wide-open offensive system like Green does and behind a skilled offensive line like the Chiefs have.
“Lenny's numbers have to be judged for what they were in his era,” Hunt said. “At the time he retired, he was one of the highest-rated quarterbacks in the game. Now he's quite a ways down, but the game has changed so much. There's so much emphasis on the passing game. All quarterbacks are completing a higher percentage of their passes for more yards and more touchdowns.
“Len had an incredible career. I'm sure he would have done very well in today's game.”
***
No comparison of quarterbacks is complete, of course, without a championship count. Dawson was with the Chiefs for three AFL titles and led the Super Bowl victory over Minnesota after the 1969 season.
The Chiefs haven't had a sniff of a championship since Dawson retired, and Green was a loser in his only playoff game last year against Indianapolis.
“Quarterbacks are ultimately judged by championships,” Hunt said. “Len did win three in much smaller leagues, eight or nine or 10 teams. Hopefully, Trent will get a chance to show us what he can do in that regard.”
Dawson undoubtedly would like to see that as much as anybody. Since he walked off the field and into the broadcast booth, Dawson hasn't been shy about criticizing the Chiefs quarterbacks — namely Green's predecessor, Elvis Grbac — when they haven't gotten the job done.
You can't say that about Green too often. Teammates laud his leadership skills, but two other qualities set him apart. For one, Green is an accurate passer when he's given ample time.
“That's the thing that maybe impresses me the most about Trent,” Dawson said. “You still have to be accurate. I don't care what era you were in. The more accurate you are, the more successful you're going to be. You can't compare statistics from different eras, but you can compare accuracy.”
Green is also, as the play in Denver showed, willing to accept a big hit if it means a big play. He did it again last week against the Colts.
Linebacker Jim Nelson came on a blitz and was unblocked up the middle on one play late in the first half. Green saw him coming but stood in to complete a pass to Derrick Blaylock.
Nelson was also penalized for roughing the passer.
Dawson said: “He handles the pressure. When he's back there and there's pressure on, he just steps up and throws it. A lot of guys would start tap-dancing back there. They're looking around for a way to get out. He's not that way.”
***
The Chiefs wondered about Green's durability when they traded for him, but it's never been an issue. He's been the most durable of quarterbacks in team history, despite his age of 34. That's not when teams expect their quarterbacks to be playing at the top of their game. Green Bay's Brett Favre just turned 35 and has battled recent retirement rumors while he's played through extreme pain.
But unlike Favre, Green missed out on five-plus seasons of pounding while sitting on the bench in San Diego, Washington and St. Louis. As a result, he's stayed amazingly healthy and hasn't missed a start since joining the Chiefs — a streak of 56 straight games, counting last year's playoff.
That's a franchise record Green broke early this season when he passed Dawson, at 51. Green is still far behind Favre (197) and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning (103) when it comes to consecutive starts in the league, but the Chiefs already have come to count on having him every week.
“That's probably the thing I'm most proud of,” Green said.
Green is becoming more like Dawson away from the game, too. He's a spokesman for various products and services around Kansas City, has a local radio show and dabbles in national TV when his schedule allows.
So he's got the numbers, the leadership skills, the confidence he needs and the undying support of his team. There's only one thing Green lacks that will make him the equal of Dawson in the hearts of Chiefs fans.
“I feel good about what we've been able to accomplish as an offense these last couple of seasons, but ultimately, we all want to go further into the playoffs,” he said.
“The ultimate goal is the Super Bowl. That hasn't been done yet. There's still a lot of work to do.”