Looking for a home

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Nomad Justin gets start

Sunday, November 22, 1998

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Paul Justin: 'Have bed, will travel' (AP photo) | ZOOM |

The man at work closely resembles the man at play.

"In the offseason, I just travel. I don't really make a home anywhere," Paul Justin said. "Seriously. I travel anywhere and sleep at friends' places. 'I'm in. You got a couch?' "

If life is a journey, then today marks another adventure for the Bengals' new starting quarterback.

Playing for his fifth team in his third professional league, Justin could take a step toward settling down and finding a football home with a strong effort against the Baltimore Ravens. A poor performance would threaten to keep him on his vagabond's path.

The remaining Bengals fans who care about what happens at Cinergy Field probably memorized Justin's itinerant past shortly after coach Bruce Coslet named him to replace Neil O'Donnell on Wednesday.

INFOGRAPHIC

Justin's football travels

Chicago drafted Justin in the seventh round in 1991 from Arizona State and placed him on its practice squad. He didn't play in the NFL in 1992 or 1993, though he spent part of the latter year with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League. He managed to hook on with Indianapolis' practice squad in 1994, played the following spring for the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World League, then started in seven of 19 appearances for the Colts spanning 1995-97. The Bengals obtained him on March 26.

Never knowing where or when his next opportunity might arise leaves Justin appreciative of this one.

"It means a lot. I don't ever take it for granted any more," he said. "I prepare 100 percent, as much as I can, just to get this one game going."

Coslet promoted Justin from No. 3 on the depth chart with the hope that he could galvanize the league's 20th-ranked offense that's averaging 16.7 points a game. But, Coslet said, "Being thrust into the limelight right now is really not that fair to him," noting the lateness of the season and the relatively few snaps Justin has taken with Cincinnati's first-team offense.

Those are coaches' worries. Not Justin's.

Justin's background features one consistent theme: Wherever he went, people sensed his winning traits.

Larry Marmie, Justin's head coach at Arizona State, saw Justin's willingness to face any challenge - the same drive that has spurred him to continue his NFL career despite modest success.

"He was a fierce, fierce competitor, to the point where you'd refer to him as a linebacker-personality type of guy," said Marmie, now the Arizona Cardinals' defensive backs coach. "He was very vocal. He demonstrated great leadership with the guys around him, just by the way he played and went about his business. He was a fiery type of guy."

Coslet said he noticed that Justin watches practice so intently that he often stands as close to the action as possible when he's not in a drill. Marmie says Justin was this way a decade ago.

"In practice, he demonstrated things that you as a coach would like to see for the upcoming game," Marmie said. "He practiced with a purpose, to develop the confidence in the game plan for things that were going to happen on Saturday."

Justin knew that languishing on practice squads and playing Arena ball wouldn't prepare him for much, so he made the most out of his Frankfurt experience, as many players do. The World League, now known as NFL Europe, has jump-started dozens of pro careers. "It's a great place for players at a lot of positions, but it's more important for a quarterback," said Oliver Luck, NFL Europe's president. "You get to be a leader, control the clock and do all the things that come with playing quarterback."

Luck recalled the imposing field presence Justin cast with his 6-foot-4, 211-pound frame: "He took a number of hits and kept coming back."

Justin rebounded often enough to pass for 2,394 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 games. He then earned Most Valuable Player honors in the 1995 World Bowl by throwing for 435 yards and three touchdowns in a 26-22 victory over Amsterdam.

Luck also remembered something more intangible yet perhaps more important - Justin's leadership skills, which he'll need to thrive as a Bengal.

"Each of these quarterbacks has a team they're not really familiar with," Luck said. "Having a guy who can be an effective and vocal leader and the integrator, if you will, pulling the players together, can be so critical."

Luck says that Justin will give this largely meaningless Ravens-Bengals game some international impact.

"He'll have fans watching over in Germany, I'll tell you," Luck said. "I know they're aware that Paul's getting a shot."

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