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The Jake-mobile or Elway Cross,
either image is worth keeping In my article on 22 July (see Hugh Millen critique), I opined that Jake Locker was the most athletic quarterback to come out of the Pac-10 since John Elway (Stanford, 1979-1982). This comment evoked a comparison between Elway and Locker because of their physical similarities, mainly in size, arm strength and foot speed. (See Table 1). One of my readers responded to the article linked above, and our e-mail exchange is published below. Table 1. Locker and Elway comparison (Note that Locker has one more year to go at Washington; Elway's passing and rushing statistics are based on his professional career).
-- T. M. writes I always learn something when I read your articles. I never knew that John Elway was born in Port Angeles, or if I did it was long forgotten. I have to agree with you. At this point no one could put Jake Locker ahead of John Elway, or even close. I don’t think Elway ever played high school ball in Washington or I think I would have remembered that. Didn’t his family move to the Bay Area when he was young? I remember his father coached at SJSU for quite a while and did a good job there, beating Stanford on several occasions. He later coached Stanford, but didn’t have any more success than most Stanford coaches, a little under .500 if I remember correctly. John Elway is the best college QB I ever saw play, and I saw Dan Marino play for Pitt. Elway was ridiculously talented, both running and throwing. He could throw on the run really well, and he escaped the rush very well, considerably better than Locker. As fast as Locker is, he sometimes is the victim of tunnel vision so will get sacked when he should be able to escape. Elway didn’t seem to have that problem. Both guys were victims of mediocre supporting players, Locker probably even more so than Elway. Can’t wait to see how Locker does this year, his second under Sark (Steve Sarkisian). It should make quite a difference, being much more familiar with Sark’s system and having many offseason reps with his primary receivers. If we can play some D it might be an interesting year. If Jake ever even approaches what Elway accomplished, he will be long remembered. -- My response I'm not sure Locker's career path will ever reach the dizzying heights Elway's reached. However, he's been much underrated, in my opinion, because of his lousy supporting cast. A couple of years back, some fans wanted him to play defense. Locker is a bullish runner, which Elway was not, and much faster afoot. He's definitely the second best athlete to come out of the state of Washington, if one takes Millen (former UW quarterback) literally. I was having a little fun at Millen's expense. I knew what he meant, but he didn't say it. He gave me an opportunity to draw a comparison with Elway, the topic of which is subject to debate, especially since many fans don't remember Elway's playing days at Stanford. It certainly not fair to compare Locker with the accomplished pro that Elway ended up being. Locker has the potential, but he has a long ways to go. Locker is a more humble a person at this stage in his career. -- T. M. responds Agree with everything you say except possibly the speed issue. Elway gained weight and took lots of hits in his early days as a pro. In college he was really friggin fast. He was not the tackle breaker that Locker is, but he could escape the rush with the best of them. He didn’t appear to have any designed runs, but he was really hard to catch. He could also throw on the run as well as anyone I’ve ever seen. You could be right on the speed issue in an absolute sense, because players seem to get faster and faster. In a relative sense, Elway was fast enough to make a lot of linebackers look very slow. He played for some pretty mediocre teams, although he had some good skill guys (Darrin Nelson comes to mind). Stanford’s problem in those days was in the trenches. UW always had better guys on the lines than Stanford, especially in numbers (depth). I thought it was great that you even thought of Elway as a Washington product! You are certainly correct that Locker can’t even be compared to Elway all around at this point. Will be interesting to see how he develops. I hope he gets into a good situation in the pros where he can continue to develop his skills without taking a ridiculous beating. Many felt sorry for Aaron Rodgers because (Brett) Favre kept coming back and Rodgers wasn’t able to start. However, looking at his development now, it looks like he was brought along well and now he is one of the best young QBs out there. He also has some good athletes around him and on the O-line, which is vital. -- My response As I wrote, I think Locker is the most athletic quarterback to come out of the Pac-10 since John Elway. I'm not sure that comparisons with Elway are appropriate in supporting this contention, though they are interesting and startling similar in many ways. Elway was more of a deep threat passing the ball, and he could do that on the run very well. Also, their physical similarities invite comparison. Marques Tuiasosopo (1997, '98, '99) was certainly athletic, and so was Bob Schloredt (1958, '59, '60). Schloredt was one of the last triple-threat quarterbacks to play college ball. Even Kermit Jorgenson (1959, '60, '61) was somewhat athletic in his own right, though Kermit had trouble with the center snaps. Warren Moon (1975, '76, '77) was extremely gifted. When he played at USC, Willie Wood (1957, '58, '59) displayed a great deal of athleticism, functioning as mainly a running quarterback who threw short passes to keep the defense honest. He was the first black to play quarterback in the league. But since Elway's time (1982), Locker is the most athletic quarterback to come out of the conference, which is my main contention. -- T. M. responds Given how beautifully Warren Moon threw the ball as he matured as a QB, I always wondered how many passing yards he would have ended up with had he gone straight into the NFL. But it is also possible he may have been drafted by a team that wasn’t good for his development. Who knows? Of the Rose Bowl games I have attended in person, the 1978 one may be my favorite. The 1992 game capped the best season, but that was a game where a loss would have been a total bummer. The 1978 game we were big underdogs to Michigan, and (Don) James had a great game plan, Moon executed brilliantly, and we dominated most of the game. Then the end got crazy with a Michigan passing blitz--they were supposed to be able to run it down our throat but that never happened--and we almost blew it. But that was the first RB game I attended in person and it was a great experience in all respects. Elway actually had a very rough time in his early Denver years. I remember an article in Sports Illustrated that described how some fan yelled something about the only time Elway ever connected was when he (impregnated) his wife. So who was sitting behind him? Janet Elway, John’s wife. She whacked the guy and he ended up apologizing. Talk about the odds not working in your favor. -- My response Of the two, Elway arguably had the strongest arm. His receivers at Stanford complained (bragged?) about being tattooed with the Elway Cross, the red X on their chests or on the palms of their hands being etched from the nose of the football. Just before Super Bowl XXI, which was played in the Rose Bowl in a game matching Denver and the New York Giants in 1987, I wrote about the Elway Cross in a letter published in the Los Angeles Times. A few days later, during halftime of XXI, TV color man John Madden reminisced about the Cross, using the nose of a football to show its shape -- which proves that great minds think alike. ;-) "The closer I got, the more I realized these were passes in the same sense that the Lamborghini Diablo is a passenger car. They were twice as fast as anything I'd ever seen. Even from 20 feet away, you could hear them whistle. They had no arc; if anything, they rose. He released them and they arrived, it seemed, at the same instant. My eyes bulged." (Rick Riley on Elway, 1999).
In the spirit of the Elway Cross, the Jake-mobile is still etched in my memory. Richard Linde can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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At
Picture Day 2007, I
had bulging eyes when I first stood across from what I have come to call
the Jake-mobile, his physical presence somewhat daunting.
(See photo left). In my heyday, I stood 6-foot-2, weighed 180 pounds, and was
amazed at how he seemed to dwarf me. "How is anybody supposed to tackle
this guy after he mounts a head of steam," I blurted out, camera in
hand.