Flirting With the NFL (or, Standing Pat)

The rookie quarterback was sitting on a bench beside Steve Grogan at the New England Patriot training camp when John Hannah, the man Sports Illustrated called the best offensive lineman ever, approached.

"You guys really play football over there at Harvard?" Hannah asked the rookie while keeping a straight face.

The rookie did not know whether Hannah was serious, but he didn't exactly wish to rile 280 pounds worth of Alabama human flesh. Later, when Brian Buckley learned that John Hannah has a strange sense of humor, he would be able to laugh. They would kid each other about which was superior--the Crimson of the north of the Crimson Tide of the south.

The question is, what was last year's starting Harvard quarterback doing in a National Football League camp?

"It was quite an adjustment." says Buckley, who acquitted himself well and might have made the Patriots had the club not signed eight-year veteran Tom Owen. "Let's put it this way: Throwing against guys like Rick Sandford and Mike Haynes was a little bit harder than reading Columbia's defense."

Buckley was cut halfway through the NFL exhibition season without getting a chance to play in a game. Patriot coach Ron Erhardt had him slated to play the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in New England's second pre-season match, but decided not to insert him with a 17-16 lead.

"That's the only thing that gnaws at me," Buckley says. "If I'd gone in, who knows what could've happened?

"I think I could've been successful. But whether I'd have gone one-for-seven or six-for-seven, at least I would've got a feel for whether I should keep pursuing football."

Buckley's high point came at a live scrimmage, the only time a coach wasn't telling him what plays to call. As is the custom at Patriot training sessions, first stringer Grogan and his backup Matt Cavanaugh each went in for 25 plays, while the lower-echelon quarterbacks took six snaps.

All Buckley did during his six plays was complete Iour of four passes against the first-string defense, the last a 65-yd, touchdown bomb to Carlos Pennywell. "I've never seen guys with such speed and hands," Buckley says of the Patriot receivers. "Harold Jackson, Stanley Morgan--they were great professionals to work with."

Buckley stuck with the Pats for more than a month. Still, getting cut hurt. "In the Ivies, you see maybe 15 defensive looks. The New England coaching staff gave me a sheet with 48 defensive alignments to memorize. It was an awful lot for a rookie to absorb.

"But if I could've gotten into a game..." his voice trails off. "I thrive on pressure situations. I was geared up all during camp for that moment." It was a moment that n ever came.

For now, Buckley is staying in shape in case the delicate knees of Grogan and Cavanaugh give way. His running ability is well-suited to the Canadian Football League, which is played on a wider field with three downs instead of four. The Calgary Stampeders, who have had more than their share of quarterbacking problems this season, own his Canadian rights and have mentioned the possibility of bringing Buckley north for a 14-day trial.

But Americans in the Canadian game are often caught in the shuffle because of rules which require each team to carry only 14 imports on its roster. And in the meantime, anything can happen with the Patriots, as their peaks and valleys of the last few seasons attest.

Buckley is also investigating job opportunities in the advertising and commodities field, which are far removed from the football field.

But he has no regrets about taking a longshot at the NFL. "It was a big thrill being with such a professional organization and program. I enjoyed working with the athletes, and I learned a lot about the Patriot offensive system."

Was it tough to get accustomed to New England's sophisticated pro system? "Naw, their offense was actually a lot easier than Harvard's."

Buckley's primary blocker last season, big Mike Durgin, was an early cut of the Houston Oilers. Other Ivy football players, however, have fared surprisingly well recently in their trips through the NFL meat grinder.

Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Nick Lowery, a Dartmouth grad, is now widely considered among the most reliable point producers in the league. Two other familiar Big Green names--Jeff Kemp (son of Republican congressman and former Buffalo Bill quarterback Jack Kemp) and Dave Shula--who last season helped wreck Harvard have gained spots on NFL rosters.

Kemp, a quarterback like his budget-balancing, tax-cutting daddy, has caught on with the Los Angeles Rams. He ran into a good deal of luck, as the Rams' quarterbacking ranks were depleted by Vince Ferragamo's defection to Montreal, Bob Lee's tender throwing arm and 'Bama grad Jeff Rutledge's leg injury.

Several pro scouts rated Buckley's potential higher than Kemp's when the two guided their respective Ivy squads last fall. Ironically, the Pats helped Kemp's cause by inflicting the injury on Rutledge in the first pre-season match-up.

Shula, son of Miami Dolphin coaching genius Don Shula, has made the Baltimore Colts as a punt returner and substitute receiver. Shula is noted for his excellent hands and precise pass routes, but is small and slow by NFL standards. How long he manages to stick with the Colts, who were coached into the Super Bowl by his papa, remains to be seen.

The Chicago Bears are probably the strongest beneficiaries of astute Ivy League scouting. Harvard's Danny Jiggets '76 plays offensive guard, and although he no longer gets much action, he has helped spring Walter Payton to many long gains in his career. Yale grad Gary Fencik, a safety with the Bears, is being heralded as one of the hardest-hitting and most effective defensive backs in the NFL.

And there is the usual smattering of Ivy Leaguers hanging on as backups, floating from team to team in an effort to attain the national stature that doesn't accompany Ivy glory. Harvard's Pat McInally '75, punter and substitute receiver with the Cincinnati Bengals, offers a good example of a superb Ivy athlete who has never achieved proportionate prominence in pro ball, but nonetheless manages to make a living in a highly competitive business

Another player who has ties to the Ivy League even though he went to Notre Dame was a late cut of the Cleveland Browns. Joseph Restic Jr., punter and defensive back, headeo back to dental school at Penn.