Saturday, October 23, 1999
Unfair to compare Smith, Manning
BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The man best qualified to compare Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning to the Bengals' Akili Smith said such discussions are unfair, at least for now.
Jay Leeuwenburg, the Colts' center when Manning took all 982 snaps last season, joined the Bengals Sept. 3 off waivers and is now a backup guard. The eighth-year NFL veteran sees similarities between the young quarterbacks as they prepare to meet Sunday, but said the situations are more different than not.
“Peyton was brought in and from day one was given the starting job, period,” Leeuwenburg said. “And he never missed any training camp. Here, I think even if Akili had not held out, Jeff (Blake) would have been our starter.”
Blake started the first four games before yielding to Smith in Week Five. Manning has been the Colts' starter for all 21 games since joining the team for 1998.
“One of the big things last year with Peyton, he broke all these rookie records and had all these yards and touchdowns, but at the same time he had a ton of interceptions,” Leeuwenburg said. “That really makes it difficult for your team.”
Manning threw 26 touchdowns and 28 interceptions for the Colts, who finished 3-13 last year. This season, Manning has thrown 11 TDs and seven interceptions and the Colts are off to a 3-2 start.
Smith, 1-1 as a Bengals starter, has two touchdown passes and four interceptions. But Leeuwenburg has been impressed with Smith's two starts, an 18-17 win over Cleveland and a 17-3 loss to Pittsburgh.
“Up in Cleveland, he had no interceptions even though he had good pressure and a hostile crowd against him,” Leeuwenburg said.
What about Pittsburgh, when Smith threw two interceptions and no touchdowns?
“It wasn't even bad throws there, it was tipped balls or whatever,” Leeuwenburg said. “I don't think it was necessarily him making bad decisions.”
The jury is out on Smith's most recent decision, when he suggested this week that some teammates weren't studying their playbooks hard enough. Manning has never been embroiled in controversy.
“It's my belief,” Manning said this week, “that you have to show your teammates what you can do, lead by example.”
That, Leeuwenburg said, is what endeared Manning quickly to his Colts teammates. The line allowed Manning to be sacked only 22 times. “Particularly if you're a guy like myself who's been in the league eight years, and you see a guy who makes more money just signing his name, you don't like that to be thrown into your face,” Leeuwenburg said. “But Peyton is the type of player you want to do well for, because he's been humble about his success.”
Smith, aside from his newsmaking criticisms this week, has mostly kept quiet.
“I have not been around Akili enough to say one way or the other about him, but just from a lineman's perspective, he's handled himself well,” Leeuwenburg said. Leeuwenburg said Bengals players may reserve judgment until Smith has a full year with them, with benefit of a full training camp.
“I wasn't here with these guys, but I think the fact Akili was not in training camp might have hurt some, because he did not get to know the guys,” Leeuwenburg said. “Training camp is its own beast. You're put in the toughest mental situations and the toughest physical situations to see how you react, and guys gain confidence in how you react to those situations.”
Physically, Leeuwenburg said both quarterbacks obviously are gifted. Manning is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds to Smith's 6-3 and 220.
“Peyton is not a scrambler, but he gets rid of the ball very quickly and does not take a lot of sacks,” Leeuwenburg said. “Akili is going to stay in there and make some things happen a bit more with his athletic ability. He has the ability to scram ble more.”
Leeuwenburg prefers not to discuss his departure from the Colts, where he was a salary-cap casualty. Second-year man Larry Moore will be the man snapping the ball to Manning on Sunday, but Leeuwenburg will be more concerned with watching Smith.
“The thing I like about Akili is he doesn't make many mistakes, and he gives us a chance to win,” Leeuwenburg said. “You don't often see that in a young quarterback.”
Bengals Stories
McKeon angered by Reds' contract offer
Rose, Reds high on TSN list
Remlinger finds home with move to Atlanta
Southern Miss 'D' a test for UC
Prep football page
'Pens could write Series story
Torre soothes savage New York beasts
Minnesota seeks to end OSU dominance
CYCLONES 7, CHICAGO 2
MIGHTY DUCKS 4, KENTUCKY 4
Champ Falk makes state tennis semis
Hall one off state golf lead
