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Old Campaigners. Once, it was assumed that a young quarterback had to spend several years warming the bench before he could even begin to master the complexities of the pro game. No more. Staubach and Griese, leading the top teams in each league into the biggest game of the year, symbolize a changing of the guard—the triumph of youthful field generals over veteran campaigners.
Familiar names are still around, but the best of the still-active quarterbacks who reigned over pro football for the past decade are getting long in the tooth.
John Unitas, still wearing the old high-top-style cleats that he sported when he broke in with the Baltimore Colts 16 seasons ago, is 38. John Brodie, a survivor of 15 colorful campaigns with the 49ers, is 36. Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers is 38 and considering retiring. Sonny Jurgensen of the Washington Redskins is 37 and ailing. Griese, on the other hand, is only 26, and has already logged five seasons as a starter. Staubach is 29 and "in the best physical condition of my life."
With the ranks of the oldtimers dwindling, the search for more Grieses and Staubachs has intensified. What the pros are looking for in their "dream quarterback" is aptly described by Minnesota Viking General Manager Jim Finks: "The future star quarterback will have the qualities of a single-wing tailback. He will have the size to see over and around big onrushing linemen, good strength to absorb the punishment, and speed to run past the defensive linemen and linebackers."
From All Sides. Some teams have already realized that dream. Indeed, there are four other young quarterbacks whose exploits come close to matching those of Griese and Staubach: the New England Patriots' Jim Plunkett, 24, 6 ft. 3 in., 210 lbs., has more than lived up to his Heisman Trophy notices, passing the Pats to upset victories over the Colts and Miami this fall; New Orleans Saints' Archie Manning, 22, 6 ft. 3 in., 212 lbs., the sensational roll-out passer and scrambler from Ole Miss, was so spectacular as a rookie that he had defenses gunning for him all season long; Pittsburgh Steelers' Terry Bradshaw, 23, 6 ft. 3 in., 214 lbs., finding his groove in his sophomore season, sparked the Steelers to their best winning season in five years; Buffalo Bills' Dennis Shaw, 24, 6 ft. 3 in., 205 lbs., the A.F.C. Rookie of the Year in 1970, fired eleven touchdown passes this season.
To be sure, Plunkett, Manning, Bradshaw and Shaw caught it from all sides as they learned their trade during on-the-fieid training. Or, in some instances, flat-on-the-field training. Bradshaw, for example, suffered the humiliation of being tackled for a safety in each of the first three games he started; it took him two more games before he threw his first touchdown pass. "The plain truth is," he says, "I didn't know how to attack a defense, how to set one thing up by using another."
Bob Griese knows, and his knowledge borders on the mystical. Take the blitz. "It's funny," he says. "Sometimes you can look into their eyes and you can tell they're blitzing." Buffalo Safety Pete Richardson is bugged by the Griese gaze: "He always seems to know which way I'm going. It's like he's looking into my head."