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Commandeering a local television station's videotape equipment, Gill and Rozier wandered the sidelines conducting mock interviews until, suddenly, through the view finder Rozier saw a stern closeup of Osborne. Gill stuck out the microphone and demanded to know, "Why have you been running up the scores?" Before OsI borne could answer, Rozier announced, "Sorry, out of film," and they raced away laughing. To be blessed with three preeminent players at once—four, including Offensive Guard Dean Steinkuhler—is an amazement to Osborne. He has that one. player coaches forever dream about, only three or four times over. "I will be surprised if we go down as the best or as one of the best teams of all time," he says. "But, offensively..."
For a professional opinion, Bobby
Beathard, the livestock judge of the Washington Redskins, has been consulted. "Fryar is what we call a burner, unbelievable speed," he says. In fact, the Redskins did not credit the clocking provided by the school. "He runs a 4.28 forty [yards]," says Beathard with a chuckle. "That's our time." Plus he enjoys collisions. "Not to take anything away from Rozier," Beathard says, "but Fryar should be considered more of a prize in the National Football League, a game breaker. Not quite a burner, Rozier is an excellent back who breaks tackles and does a lot of good things on his own, sometimes makes his biggest plays out of nothing. On a great team, you have to look closer to see how good a player is. Back when Charles White was winning the Heisman at U.S.C. [1979], he was really just an average back on a top team, a tough kid who went about as far as the blocking took him, though not much farther. Rozier would still be a top back on an average team. As for Gill, he's short [6 ft.], but a skilled athlete, and not just a runner, a real passer."
The way Gill explains their smooth relationship, each possesses something of his own. Mike is going to win the Heisman, Irving is coveted most by the pros, and Turner is the option quarterback with all the options. "I wouldn't have played
football if I couldn't have played quarterback," he says, "and I won't be converted to anything else just to make the N.F.L." Gill says this resolutely, not arrogantly. "Look at me as a quarterback, and if I'm not good enough, that's it. I'm independent, and I have a lot of confidence in myself. I became a quarterback frankly because I liked the idea of everything starting with me. I guess that's why I prefer baseball. It's more of an individual's sport." He is a shortstop, one who has yet to prove he can hit (a .285 batting average last season for Nebraska).
Drafted by the New York Yankees last June, Gill rejected a moderate bonus in order to return to school, and will go back into the lottery this year.