9001170535
DETROIT FREE PRESS
900503
Thursday, May 03, 1990
METRO FINAL
1F
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1990, Detroit Free Press
LONG GETS HIS WISH AND WON'T LOOK BACK
Hell is over for Chuck Long. He goes free now. The golden boy with the
quarterback savvy who four years ago was supposed to save this franchise is
being sent to California for a third- round draft pick -- the football
equivalent of selling a Pinto through the Tradin' Times -- and the Lions are
happy to get that much. And Long? Long is so thrilled he's running around the
house like Sally Field at the Oscars. "They like me!" he keeps yelling at his
wife, Lisa. "The Rams really like me!"
This is the guy who finished second to Bo Jackson in the Heisman Trophy
voting. The guy who was hailed in Detroit headlines the day he was drafted:
"THE LONG ERA BEGINS." Yeah. Nobody knew how long. Took four years. Felt like
forever. He leaves now, like a forgotten soldier, hearing the echo of cheers
for a new savior, Andre Ware, another guy who has used that little Heisman
statue to get everybody all excited. People are saying Ware is the answer,
Ware is the future. Chuck Long, 27, must be laughing his head off.
"If I learned one thing in my time here it's that there is no future in
the NFL," he says, now that the trade is official. "Teams can't really wait
four or five years. If you don't win in two years, three tops, heads will
roll. I'm just glad this whole thing is behind me."
Why not? He had become cancer in the Silverdome. He got booed. Fans and
coaches gave up on him. The Lions tried desperately to deal him, and he
worked out for the Rams as though his life depended on it. But know this, even
as we say good-bye: Chuck Long never did anything wrong here. He was a victim
of timing, a victim of coaching, a victim of injury. But how a man goes from
first-round draft pick to clipboard holder in four years may have more to do
with lousy management than lousy athlete.
And Chuck Long might get the last laugh after all.
Golden image tarnished
Here is Long's Detroit career: 1) We love you! 2) Where have you been? 3)
Have a seat. He came late to training camp his first season, contract holdout,
and that tripped him up. He had a shining moment that November when his first
NFL pass landed in Leonard Thompson's hands for a touchdown. "I should have
retired right then," he jokes. Because that was about it for moments.
The rest was a steady slide into the mud. The Lions got worse, not better,
and people questioned Long's arm, his feet, his leadership. After hurting his
elbow in the 1988 pre- season, he was rushed back too soon by Darryl Rogers,
who was desperate at that point to save his job. Didn't work. Rogers got
canned anyhow. Long went on the injured list. The new coach, Wayne Fontes,
was never much for the slower, drop- back style. He switched to the run 'n'
shoot, and as soon as a new kid named Rodney Peete showed some promise, Fontes
threw his arm around him and said, "You're my guy." Long was treated as
though he had bad breath.
Things deteriorated. Normally an upbeat guy, he began to gripe. We did a
TV interview together once and Long asked me beforehand to "please mention I
want to be traded." When injuries to the other quarterbacks forced the coaches
to look his way, Long, hurt and embarrassed by his status, foolishly demanded
a promise: If he starts the game, he finishes the game. It was over right
then.
"You get thrown on a shelf, after being the No. 1 quarterback, and that's
really hard," he says. "It got so bad, I didn't even want to go to work. I
had to drag myself out of bed each morning."
I ask whether he is already packed for LA.
"Not yet, but soon. Let's just say we're moving out of town . . . and I
don't plan on being back in the near future."
Time for a new savior
He goes free now. He started all of 21 games here. Was he any good? How
can you tell? In 21 games? Maybe he was a bad pick. Maybe he had bad
coaching. Maybe he was hurt too much. Whatever. The irony is in LA, Long, now
healthy, will be backing up Jim Everett, the former Purdue star who got less
acclaim than Chuck in college. And Long's happy about it. He can't wait to
go. Let's face it. His chances of a Super Bowl are a lot better out there,
where the team doesn't practice in the parking lot.
The Lions? Here they sit, with a new hero. Ware. A nice kid with a ton of
statistics and that little bronze Heisman thing. Will he be the answer? You
tell me. Every coach wants to draft his own quarterback, build his own system.
Rogers tried it with Long. It crumbled. Now Fontes tries it with Ware.
And the fans sit and wait. Amid the hoopla on draft day, few mentioned
that this is the second time in four years the Lions spent the big pick on a
quarterback. Good teams don't do that. They say this is a new regime? It was a
new regime with Rogers and Long. The fact is, Detroit has a stack of passers
now, and you still wonder if this organization knows what it's doing.
Chuck Long doesn't wonder. Not anymore. I can still see him the day he
arrived in Detroit, all golden locks and youthful promise. Someone asked about
the Lions' losing ways and he shrugged as though it was a mosquito bite.
"I've won everywhere I've played," he said with youthful bravado. "In high
school. In college. I believe I can win here."
Now he leaves, quietly. It's not even a big story. Today's savior is
tomorrow's want ad. And the Lions know it better than anyone.
You listening, Andre?