San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Fouts not surprised by Herbert
Sez Me …
Back in COVID April, for some inexplicable, stupid reason, CBS sacked analyst Dan Fouts from his blind side.
He really hasn’t been given a good explanation as to why.
He was told they were reshuffling their NFL broadcasting deck, but he was the only card removed. Guess that’s what happens when he doesn’t have Russ Washington, Ed White, Donnie Macek, Doug Wilkerson and Billy Shields protecting him.
Dan being Dan — if he threw a pick, he’d keep throwing — he isn’t terribly upset he’s unemployed in a pandemic year. It’s given him a chance to watch a lot of ball, and that includes The NFL Team That Used To Be Here That He Used To Play For.
The Hall of Fame quarterback lives in Oregon and is a University of Oregon guy. So he knows another University of Oregon guy, rookie Justin Herbert, who currently is quarterbacking the Judases/l.a. Lodgers/ Backup Singers, and may be doing so for the next 15 years — and who knows, perhaps the next 20 the way modern QBS are lasting.
Given how it began, with Herbert an 11th-hourand-59-seconds decision to start vs. the Chiefs, and what he did that day and has done since behind a JV offensive line and the loss of his No. 1 tailback — even though he hasn’t won — I can’t recall a freshman quarterback playing at this particular all-around skill level.
It does not happen in the NFL.
“It doesn’t surprise me because I know him well,” Fouts says. “This kid is extra smart, a brilliant young man. His last year at Oregon he was tutoring students. He stayed at Oregon (for his senior season) and you can’t undervalue that. He wanted to learn more about himself.
“All the tangibles are there. He has great bloodlines. I knew his grandpa (Rich Schwab, an Oregon receiver in the early 1960s) real well. You have to give the Chargers’ coaching staff a lot of credit (QB coach Pep Hamilton is one of the best), for getting him comfortable throughout. I’ve always been big on ball placement. So many of his passes are absolutely perfect. You don’t see that in a rookie. His upside is gigantic.”
So Fouts still watches in his civilian clothes. He’s one of the best analysts, and his CBS game-calling partnership with Ian Eagle was a fine mesh. There will be another job, if he wants it.
“It pisses me off, but if ever there was a time for a gap year, this is it,” he says. “To go through everything people have to go through with this virus … I actually feel blessed not working.
“I’ll go back if there is the right deal for me. But this disease is so dangerous. You have to take it seriously. You can’t be blind to how dangerous it is, no matter who you are. Fred Dean just died from COVID, and he’s the toughest guy I’ve ever known.”
I never covered Fred Dean, a great player. Fouts, yes. And he was the toughest, most intense, often-themost-difficult, respected/ feared, in-charge athlete I’ve been around.
He was to be admired. Bill Walsh wasn’t wrong when he called Fouts “the greatest competitor I’ve ever coached.”
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