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.
While everyone else is stunned,
Ryan takes his arm for granted.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything
other people haven’t done. 1 was
blessed with a good arm and body
I’ve had good mechanics and a good
conditioning program.”
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