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Show Page B12 - THE DAILY HERALD, Provo, Utah, Tuesday, September 20, 1994 Mitchell asked to lead Lions back tto Promised Land By RICK GOSSELIN Dallas Morning News Free agency has been good to some of the biggest names in the NFL. Also some of the little ones. Perennial Pro Bowlers and future Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Ronnie Lott. An Monk and Reggie White hae changed teams in the two years since the NFL opened its window of free agency. Quarterback Scott Mitchell never has been to the Pro Bowl, nor is anyone counting the years until his induction into the Hall. But what you can count is his money. His stack rivaK those of White, Lott and everyone else who has sprinted to the pay window. The Detroit Lions gave Mitchell, who led Springville High to a state championship, then starred at the Unhersity of Utah, a check for S5 million last spring just to sign his name on their contract. It is the largest signing bonus in the brief history of free agency. His total compensation was SI 1.1 million over three vears. the best deal in the Class ofW. n investment That huge actually said more about the Lions than about Mitchell. This was a team desperate for a difference-make- r a team at quarterback willing to gamble millions on a player who had started only seven games in his NFL career. "If you look at the reasons why this team has not succeeded for Y - imm --'. (7 "swb ssj O! I Prv' -- 3 s. J J ..- - It 0 n 7 """" U free-agenc- y r f w 'il' PKJ n i: f ',: tm i vim j 1 the w 1 ' "There were some peohistory ple telling me Detroit was a quart-"- . and ; erback graveyard," he said signed on with the Lions. Now the Lions feel, maybe for the first time since Layne, that the ' pieces have been assembled for a ; run at another championship. AH of the pieces. "We're not expecting Scott to carry this team from the first whistle on," Schmidt said. "We don't need him to be the second coming of Johnny Unitas. We know we still have some other tools. We've got Barry Sanders, a good receiving corps, good football players. "What we need along the way is somebody in that position to take this team down the field and score when we need it." "I want people to say, 'Somehow we're going to find a way to win because we've got Mitchell,' " Mitchell said. "I've always done better when people have counted on me." AP Photo big-tim- Former Springville High and University of Utah star Scott Mitchell, now with the Detroit Lions, looks for a receiver as line up the ladder and allow this team to reach its potential," Schmidt said. "We've won our division two of the last three years without good, consistent play from our quarterback. I don't care how we won it or w ho played. If we get it (consistent play from the quarterback), how good can we be? I don't know. That's what we wanted to find out." men David Lutz (73), Kevin Glover (53) and Doug Widell (67) block the New York Jets' Coleman Rudolph (92) and Alfred Oglesby, the Lions their three incumbent quarterbacks, who all were eligible for free agency. They took the longest, hardest look at Kramer, who directed the Lions down the stretch in both of their playoff years in the 1990s. But the Lions decided to keep looking. The Lions then focused on Warren Moon and Scott Mitchell. e Moon had experience and Pro Bowl skills but 37 years on big-gam- So at the end of the 1993 season. right, during an exhibition game in August. The Lions hope Mitchell can deliver an NFC Central Division championship. land touchdown. But that didn't unnerve him. Mitchell showed the Dolphins and months later the Lions in their film study some moxie that day when he completed 10 of his next 16 passes for 1 16 yards and his first two NFL touchdowns, rallying the Dolphins to a 24-1- 4 victory. Mitchell then won his first two NFL starts, torching Kansas City for 344 passing yards in the second his body. Mitchell had great size 230 pounds), and when he finally hit the field last season after three years in Dan Marino's shadow, he showed he had great potential. When Marino's season ended with an Achilles' tendon injury in Mitchell became the man at Miami. His first pass in relief of Marino was intercepted and returned 97 yards for a Cleve mid-Octob- end." But division rival Minnesota also had zeroed in on Mitchell and offered him a contract in the $10 million range. But the Lions blew away the Vikings with the signing bonus double what Minnesota had on the table. So Mitchell closed his eyes on whatever number of years, first and foremost is the fact we have e not had a quarterback here since the last time we won a championship.-' Lions vice president Chuck Schmidt said. That would be 1957, in an era when the Detroit quarterback didn't even wear a face mask. He was Bobby Lay ne. who steered the Lions to three NFL titles in the 1950s and secured his own spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mitchell wasn't even born then. He's only 26. But he knows all about Lay no. His stay in Detroit has been a history lesson on the Lions. 'We "That's all I've heard haven't had a quarterback here since Bobby Layne.' " Mitchell said. Layne was voted to his third and final Pro Bowl with the Lions in 1957. He was traded to Pittsburgh in 1959. and the Detroit franchise has been cursed at the position ever since. The Lions have only sent one quarterback to a Pro Bowl in the 35 years since Layne departed. That was Greg Landry . who went to the 1972 game in an obvious down y ear for NFL passers. Landry finished 1th in the league in passing, completing 50 percent of his throws with only one more touchdown (18) than interceptions (17). one, and was named the AFC Player of the Month for October. In his eight games, Mitchell completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,773 yards. He threw 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions and finished ninth in the NFL in passing with an efficiency rating of 84.2. The more the Lions investigated Mitchell, the more they liked him. "He practiced with one of the great quarterbacks (Marino) and worked with perhaps the greatest coach of all time (Shula)," Schmidt said. "We scouted him thoroughly and analyzed him without being able to find any holes. When we talked about Scott Mitchell, there was no question mark at The Lions are counting on Mitchell in 1994. No, he doesn't have to be the next Unitas. The next Layne would do just fine. Open A Home Equity Line And You'll Be Set. 1 4. i What little success the Lions have had since Layne s departure has come despite the play by their quarterbacks. Detroit has won only . X ( three division titles in the past 35 years, and each time its passers were negative factors. -I- n 1983. Eric Hippie threw 12 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. But Billy Sims rushed for 1.040 yards, and the Lions went 7 to w in the Central. In 1991, Rodney Peete and - y r " iiwiim )T tb. -' - iii t S n,r 9-- Erik Kramer split the starting duties and combined to throw 16 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. But Barry Sanders rushed for yards, and the Lions went 12-- 4 to capture the Central. In 1993. Peete. Kramer and Andre Ware shared the starting job and combined to throw 15 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. But Sanders rushed for 1,115 yards, and the Lions went 10-- 6 to again w in the Central. "We've suspected over the last couple of years that we had to get better, more consistent play out of the quarterback position to move Mike Irish-bor- n won the Mc-Tig- ue ht championship from Battling Siki in Dublin on St. Patrick's Dav, 1923. Or We'll Give You Your Choice Of Another Great Gift. I remote. 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