Saturday, August 03, 2002
Spurrier's first QB choice on the spot in Japan
By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer
OSAKA, Japan — Washington Redskins quarterback Sage Rosenfels was asked by a Japanese reporter to look into a camera, raise a fist and shout, “Yattaro dei.” It means “Let's go.”
Rosenfels tried several times, but he never quite got it right.
It will really be time for Rosenfels to go Sunday (Saturday night EDT) when the Redskins play the San Francisco 49ers in the American Bowl — and he'd better come close to getting it right.
Rosenfels is starting coach Steve Spurrier's first exhibition game, getting the first honor in a three-way quarterback contest. Spurrier is giving Rosenfels the chance even though the second-year player has never played in a regular-season game.
“That's the next step right now for Sage,” Spurrier said. “A lot of players have not played in that environment.”
Rosenfels will play the first half and Danny Wuerffel will finish the game. Shane Matthews gets the night off and will start next week at Carolina. Wuerffel and Matthews played for Spurrier at Florida, giving them a natural advantage.
Even with the intriguing quarterback derby, the spotlight will be more on the coach than on any player. Spurrier, who has a five-
year, $25 million contract, will finally get to test the Fun 'N Gun in the big-time pros.
“It will be interesting to see what he can do at the NFL level,” 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia said. “I don't think he'll hold anything back.”
Spurrier didn't have exhibition games at Florida, so he's been all over the place describing his feelings and his game plan. Overall, however, he has minimized the game's significance, preferring to save his real competitive juices for the season opener Sept. 8.
“It's kind of like a bowl game,” Spurrier said Friday after practice at the Osaka Dome. “Sometimes those bowl games don't mean a heck of a lot in college. You keep score. There's going to be a winner and loser.”
Spurrier said he will play everyone, try to win and throw in a trick play here or there, such as a reverse to Japanese receiver Akihito Amaya to delight the home crowd. The coach dismissed the notion of holding something back, even though the Redskins and 49ers will meet again in Week 3 of the regular season.
“No, we're not going to line up in the 'I' formation, toss it right and run it up the middle,” Spurrier said. “We're going to try to give our players a chance to make some plays.”
As usual, Spurrier is running contrary to the usual NFL line. San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci, for example, said he's restricting his game plan because of the upcoming rematch and will use only plays that Spurrier has seen already — from last year's films.
Even if it were possible to dismiss the hype surrounding Spurrier's debut, the game would still mean more to the Redskins than the 49ers.
With its starters essentially set for the season, the best story lines San Francisco can offer are the competitions for kicker (Jose Cortez vs. rookie Jeff Chandler) and backup quarterback (Tim Rattay vs. Cade McNown vs. Brandon Doman). Garcia and the rest of the starters will be done by the end of the first quarter.
Spurrier can only wish he were so lucky. In addition to the quarterback battle, he has a dicey offensive line and a hodgepodge of receivers with no clear leader.
The Redskins will count it a major success if any combination of guards Rod Jones, Kipp Vickers, Ross Tucker and Alex Sulfsted can keep the backfield clear. Eight receivers are in the chase for a roster spot, led by Rod Gardner and Jacquez Green, but none has looked like consistent game-breakers.
The NFL's previous games in Japan have been played in Tokyo, but the league chose Osaka this year because of the popularity of college football in the area. The dome is actually a baseball stadium that looks on the outside like RFK Stadium with a roof. On the inside, the stadium looks as if it's sitting under the spaceship from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Each team has a Japanese player assigned for the game: Amaya for Washington and Masafumi Kawaguchi for San Francisco. Mariucci likes Kawaguchi so much he asked commissioner Paul Tagliabue for an exemption that would allow the linebacker to stay with the team through training camp. Spurrier followed with a similar request for Amaya.
Tagliabue granted the exemption and lauded the players.
“It's a tribute to them and their ability and hard work,” he said.
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Spurrier's first QB choice on the spot in Japan
