OCR Text |
Show THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Football Section, Wednesday, August 26, 1992 Page 33 diimievhmh mwfcimlto .position In NFL By DAVE GOLDBERG AP Football Writer - k EST CHESTER. Pa. Ran- I Cunningham knew it had to men. yuarteroacKs uon i wear lerscys in practice tor nothing hey're football's living, breath-target- s. n Cunningham's case, he was a tiding target when Green Bay's ce Paup dove into his lctt knee Sept. 1, tearing enough Mea nt to put him out for a season, it's the ironic part everyone ught it was Cunningham s run- g that would get him in trouble. I used to go out and just say to self. Til be fine, God protects ."' the Eagles quarterback I one hot day this July as he pared for his comeback. 'Then I started to second-gues- s self and say 'God's protected a long time and now it's my n to get hurt.' You know, the i of averages. I guess that's at caught up with me. It was just time. i was time for a lot of quarter-k- s last season, just as it was for 36. On July 24, a week into his comeback at training camp, he had to quit practice after he felt pain and arm fatigue. A few days later, he stopped throwing altogether and sought more medical advice that could result in surgery for the second straight year. Montana began throwing hard in April, six during a mini-cam- p months after the operation to reattach a severed tendon in his right elbow. He said some of his doctors had warned him he might experience a "dead arm" if he came back to soon and now he regrets not heeding the advice. "If I had to blame anybody, I would blame myself," he said. "I'm just sure I overdid it on my own." By quarterbacking standards, Montana, like Cunningham, has stayed injury-fre- e long enough to put together a good career. Troy Aikman would like to do the same. Aikman hurt his knee last Nov. 24 as the Dallas Cowboys were handing the Washington Redskins the first of only two losses they sustained all of last season. He missed the last four regular-seaso- n games and two in the playoffs, although he came in at halftime in the second.. That marked the third time in three NFL seasons that Aikman had been hurt. He missed two games with a shoulder separation in 1990 and five games with a broken finger on his left hand in 1989 after he was the No. overall pick in the NFL draft, Even in college, Aikman had his problems. Hew was recruited for Oklahoma by Barry Switzer, who promised to change from the wishbone to suit his dropback styles But he broke an ankle in his first season so Aikman transferred to UCLA. He got through one healthy season but was a disappointment as a senior, when he was expected to challenge for the Heisman Trophy. He says now that was because he had a bone chips in his right elbow and couldn't thrown deep. 1 Like Cunningham. Aikman looks at the law of averages. Unlike Cunningham, he figures it works in his favor. "Things happen to me. strange things," he said in camp this summer. "Maybe that is all part of my past now. I won't dwell on it." Aikman has a good example to Phil Simms, who will look at turn 37 in November, feels great starting his 14th season with the New York Giants after being considered a walking accident in the early part of his career. Simms missed parts of his first three seasons with injuries; was out for the year with a knee injury in 1982, then threw just 13 passes in 1983 when he broke his thumb against the helmet of an onrushing lineman. exempt. Two years ago. as the Giants headed toward the NFC East title, he broke a bone in his foot against Buffalo. Jeff Hosteller took over, guided the team through a Super Bowl victory over the Bills and was given the quarterback job for 1991 and, so far, this year. The only time he played .' When Hostetler broke a bone in his back last season against Tampa Bay that put him out of the final four games. Proving again that everv quarterback is a target. COLORADO SPRINGS. Colo. (AP) The top 15 turns in the preseason National Junior Association weekly tootball College Athletic poll, with first place votes in parentheses, 1991 record ana total points: 4. Ricks, Idaho in s At the time, it was the longest stretch of consecutive starts by any NFL quarterback. Not that age has made Simms - 15. Diiie, Utah AND SO ARE THE OPENER DEALS AT LOWRY DOORS Cunningham, of course. Get a throw in Timm Rosenbach of cnix, one of the NFL's better n quarterback prospects. He nt down trying to cut in a rou- practice session last August, up his knee and missed the re season while the likes of p Tupa.andChris Chandler.triedStanto maugh Craig Kupp quarterback for the Cards. Rosenbach came back with a prish, going 13 of 13 for 150 us and three touchdowns in the rds' first exhibition game this felt FREE second transmitter and a FREE Keyless Entry System! year." Rosenbach unningham. held out of Phila- phia's first game, started the t two series against Pittsburgh g. 1, ran for 13 yards on his first ry, and completed one pass in :e attempts for 0 yards. it telt good to get out there and around, he said. "It was kind razy because I didn't think I'd unnins around like that." Offer good for a limited time, while supplies last '"Plus tax. Installation available 1 Montana... oor Montana. he boyish enthusiasm that Jught him back eight weeks after or back surgery in 1986. when kas 30. may have done him in at 1 155 and we'll throw in a better in training camp did last 12 H.R Model Opener and Transmitter for just r. put 6- - 10-8- - DAV fVkY;iJCVUl IkrVUW surgery. I 7- 8- - ii kit last year seemed different. en by NFL standards. By season s end, 20 ot the 28 ms had lost their starter tor at st one game. Included were hie of the game's best. Ktart with Joe Montana, who sed all season with a sore elbow may have to be operated upon lin this year. In fact, it's looking re and more like the man who lid be the best quarterback ever w his last official pass in the PO NFC title eame in- Candle- k Park. n I - opening exhibition game season. The perpetrator was .icnix' Ken Harvey but the prin-a- l a sack, a was the same be that doesn't flex enough, sea dd 9- 5- Ellsworth C.C., Iowa 6. NE Oklahoma AIM 7. Butler County C.C., Kan. 8. College ol DuPage. III. 9. Glendale C.C., Ariz. 10. Grand Rapids J.C.. Mich. 11. Itawamba C.C., Miss. 12. W.R. Harper. III. 13. North Greenville. S.C. 14. Tyler J C. Texas fore injuring his ribs. Dicszo's John Friesz in his ii Record 1. NW Mississippi 2. Nassau C.C., N.Y. 3. Navarro, Texas Then he started 79 straight games between 1984 and 1988 be- ) J fflfflS Basle p Pgp'fl yog. TIlYXSrT Poo OPgngr, JtTH . foXl ) g?? ( pxfx 1 visa a |