9002120807
DETROIT FREE PRESS
901112
Monday, November 12, 1990
METRO FINAL
1D
MITCH ALBOM
SEE ALSO METRO EDITION, Page 1D
Copyright (c) 1990, Detroit Free Press
NO MIRACLES FOR ANDRE; NO EXCUSES FOR DEFENSE
Andre Ware stood on the sideline like a man who had just been scolded. He
crossed his feet. He uncrossed his feet. He folded his arms. He unfolded his
arms. His jaw was tight. He stared out into space.
"Depressed?" he would say later, after being benched in the Lions' 17-7
loss to Minnesota. "Yes, I was depressed." Ware, like most young people, felt
the lights would always turn green for him. He figured once he got past the
politics of who sits and who starts -- and after all, why shouldn't he start,
why else were they paying him all that money? -- well, then things would fall
into place. Things would be good. Things would be like the old days, when he
was making quarterback miracles in college and high school.
Welcome to the big leagues, kid. Just 30 minutes after Ware burst through
the NFL curtain and into the big room, he was told to sit down. He was
watching another man quarterback the team. And while he would not use this
word, the feeling he felt was failure. It hurt. So he looked down, he looked
away; when coaches approached and whispered encouraging words, he nodded but
he did not look at their faces. Inside, he seethed. What do they know?
It is no secret I never thought Ware should have started this game. But
the mistake was not his. The mistake, I felt, was with Wayne Fontes' decision
to start him in the first place. It created bad feelings. It embittered Bob
Gagliano, it made Rodney Peete wonder about his future. And, even worse, it
was playing craps with Ware's confidence. The plain fact is, the kid probably
wasn't ready. Fontes admitted as much when he removed him after the first half
Sunday following two interceptions and no points.
"Andre was missing a lot of open men,'(at) Fontes would say. "He wasn't
seeing things that well." Translation: he wasn't ready.
But the failure Ware felt, he should not feel alone. Had he looked
carefully from that sideline, he would have seen a Lions defense that could
not shut down the Vikings when it had to. Over and over, third down after
third down, fourth down after fourth down, the Vikings converted. They stayed
on the field. Sure, the Lions' defense allowed only 10 points -- a heavy
improvement over last week's Disaster In The Dome. But let's remember, these
were not the Washington Redskins. These were the Minnesota Vikings, a team
that, going in, had: 1) a worse record than Detroit; 2) A coach who is on the
chopping block; 3) A "star" running back whose most recent Sports Illustrated
article was entitled "I Am Not A Dog"; and 4) A placekicker who just got
indicted for smuggling heroin.
Five weeks ago, the Lions beat this team in Minnesota. Yet Sunday, at home,
they could not shut them down. What does that tell you? The Lions let Rich
Gannon scramble, they let Anthony Carter catch passes, they let some guy
named Allen Rice break tackles. Third down turned to first down. Over and
over.
"You only have to look at my face to see how much that bothers me," Fontes
admitted. "That's what's killing us now. I cringe. I'm hoping it might be
third down-and-40, and they might make that, too."
And here, Lions fans, is really where the problems lie. Put a sock in the
offensive talk for one moment. You build NFL winners with defense. Always
have. Chicago Bears of the '80s. Pittsburgh Steelers of the '70s. Green Bay
Packers of the '60s. It's as old a lesson as there is. And right now, the
Lions' defense, on good days, is adequate, on bad days, it's awful. And no
matter what the day -- even though it makes some plays -- it never seems to
make the play. The big sack on third down. The crushing hit that forces a
fumble. The interception that preserves a victory. Chicago Bear hits. New York
Giant hits.
Those things are the margin of victory.
The rest is just playing out the clock.
None of which makes Andre Ware feel any better. He answered questions
after the game like a school kid explaining his side to the principal. "I had
just started feeling comfortable and confident. . . . I felt I should have
stayed in. . . . He (Fontes) is worried about my confidence, but to do me like
that, well, that shakes me more than anything. . . ."
Frustration. Anger. Depression. Andre, like a good kid, had brought his
mother up from Houston for this game. After all, she was with him for the NFL
draft and he was a first- round selection. Happy moment. She was with him for
the Heisman Trophy announcement, and he won. Happy moment.
But life is not all happy moments. That's the first lesson of adulthood.
And for all the recent fuss, let's remember: Andre Ware is only 22. He's
really just a kid.
You want grown-up problems? Take a look a few lockers down. Here was Bob
Gagliano, holding his infant son, Gage, looking into the child's soft face and
trying to forget what had just transpired on the football field. Sunday was
another nightmare for the 32-year-old Gagliano. Once again, he answered the
bell for Fontes -- even though he felt like saying, "You want a relief
quarterback? Look in the Yellow Pages" -- and he led the Lions to their only
touchdown. But two ill-advised passes ended in the arms of Vikings defenders.
Interceptions. One was returned for a touchdown.
"And what do you think people will remember tomorrow?" he said, sighing.
Unlike Ware, Gagliano is no kid. Unlike Ware, he doesn't have a
multimillion-dollar contract. He has a wife and son to support, maybe a few
years left in this league. Sunday, when he took the field, the fans booed.
Bob Gagliano did not bring his mother to the game.
"This is really frustrating," he said.
"I'm really frustrated," Ware said.
"It's frustrating," Fontes said.
And the season continues. Fontes has opened Pandora's box now. Should he
let Ware continue his education or return to Peete to try to win? The defense
once thought it was the strong point of this team, but now it ranks near the
bottom of the league. Ware has felt the first serious bump in his football
joyride. Gagliano wonders about his future. Peete is nursing a bad hamstring.
The point is, everybody's got problems.
That's pretty much the story of the Lions, isn't it?
Mitch Albom will sign copies of his new book, "Live Albom II," at 7:30
p.m. Wednesday at B. Dalton, Livonia Mall, and 6 p.m. Friday at Community News
Center, Ann Arbor.