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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1989)
Paged The Battalion Tuesday, April 25,1989 Peete devastated by late pick Ryan still throwing like he’s a rookie NEW YORK (AP) — For Rodney Peete, the quick pick came a day too late. The Heisman Trophy runnerup from Southern California was the second player taken Monday in the NFL draft — on the second day. Peete expected to go in the first two rounds of the draft on Sunday. Instead, he watched seven quar terbacks taken ahead of him and la mented: “A day that was supposed to be one of the most exciting days of my life turned out to be the most devastating.” But when the draft resumed Mon day, he was the second player taken — albeit on the sixth round, chosen by the Detroit Lions one pick after the Los Angeles Raiders had taken another quarterback, Jeff Francis of Tennessee. That made Peete the ninth quar terback to go although some scout ing books had him rated second be hind Troy Aikman, the top overall pick. “I went from devastated to disap- E ointed,” said Peete, who may have >st $800,000 over four years by going from the second round to the sixth, one agent estimated. Also among those chosen was By ron Sanders of Northwestern, who was taken by Chicago on the ninth round. He is the older brother of Barry Sanders, the Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma State who was the third player taken — by De troit — in the first round. And Detroit took Jason Phillips of Houston, leading receiver in college football last season, with the second pick of the 10th round. Peete, however, remained the day’s biggest name, just as Don Mc Pherson of Syracuse — last year’s Heisman runnerup — was when he was taken last year on the sixth round by Philadelphia. Peete is black, as are McPherson and Terrence Jones of Tulane, who became the 11th quarterback taken when he went to San Diego with the final pick of the seventh round. Both were rated above many of the quar terbacks taken above them and there was some suggestion that race had played a factor. But Peete didn’t bring that up, and David Cornwell, the NFL’s di rector of minority relations, said he didn’t think it was a factor in view of the success in the past few years of such black quarterbacks as Doug Williams, Randall Cunningham and Warren Moon. “I talked to a lot of black person nel people and the feeling was that he wasn’t rated as highly as a lot of people thought he was,” Cornwell said. “A decade ago, I think you could say it, but I don’t think it’s the case now.” Willie Peete, Rodney’s father and a running backs coach for Green Bay, called his son the best quar terback in college football and sug gested bias and the fact that he was a coach’s son might have been a rea son. “I have some questions, I have some real hard questions that I don’t know if anyone can answer,” the se nior Peete said. “For some mys terious reason, many NFL teaihs hesitate to draft a coach’s son. Maybe because coaches have a problem keeping things secret.” “I know as things go along, you hear negative things about people. That’s what happened to Rodney.” Asked about racial bias, Willie Peete replied: “I hope not, not in 1989. If there is, it’s too bad. We’re in really bad trouble.” ASSOCIATED PRESS The main rap against Peete was his lack of arm strength and the fact that he seemed to fall off at the end of the season, notably in Southern Cal’s game against Notre Dame and in the post-season all-star games. But both Peete’s father and his agent, Leonard Armato, said judging him by those games was a mistake. “The teams that passed him up made a big mistake,” Armato said. “He’s always been a winner and I’m sure he will be again. His true talent will show out in the end.” In fact, his quickness and his abil ity to see the field should be an asset in the run-and-shoot offense being installed in Detroit by Mouse Davis, the new offensive coordinator and the man who originated the concept. He is certainly quicker than the Li ons’ three quarterbacks — Chuck Long, Eric Hippie and Rusty Hilger — and the run-and-shoot doesn’t re quire quarterbacks to throw deep very often. “I’m excited about going to the Li ons,” Peete said. “I couldn’t be going to a better team or a better situa- Nolan Ryan is closer to his first Social Security check than he is to his rookie card. He’s striking out the sons of batters he fanned years ago. Yet, he’s come close to no-hitters in two of his four starts this season. Is there any way to explain him? “Doesn’t he know he’s not sup posed to throw the ball that hard at that age,” said Bud Harrelson, a for mer teammate who retired at 36. “He’s making the rest of us look bad.” So what if he’s four days older than the vice president of the United States. So what if no one’s ever thrown a no-hitter at his age. The 95 mph on Ryan’s fastball mean a lot more than the 42 candles on his last birthday cake. Unlike every other player in base ball history, age is enhancing Ryan’s skills, not diminishing them. “I don’t know how many more chances I’m going to get,” he said Sunday after coming within two outs of his sixth no-hitter, “but the way I’ve been throwing, it’s certainly not out of the question that I’ll get an other shot.” After 23 seasons in the major leagues, his future is just as interest ing as his past. In his past are five no-hitters, one more than Sandy Koufax. Only three others have thrown three. In his past are 10 one-hitters, in cluding Sunday night’s against To ronto, and that’s one short of Bob Feller’s record. On April 11, Ryan took a no-hitter into the eighth against Milwaukee. Last year, he came within two outs of a no-hitter against Philadelphia. “I haven’t gotten bored with no- hitters, yet,” he said. No one’s ever bored when Ryan's on the mound. Even the opposition can’t believe what he does. “He has a God-given talent,”To- ronto’s Tom Henke said after watch ing Ryan’s performance, a 4-1 vic tory over the Blue Jays with 12 strikeouts. “I can’t think of anyone who throws as hard now as when they started.” Henke is 31, what used to be an old age for pitchers. He doesn't think he’ll be pitching at Ryan’s age “I’ll be laying bricks,” he said. 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