The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 43

Pittsburgh Press, Jon. 2, 1981 D-3 ruise Brothers Chargers Create Monster 1 "'ft LOUIE KELCHER FRED DEAN GARY JOHNSON They will aim their clavrs at Buffalo quarterback Joe Ferguson. Chargers are holdouts for the advantages of the four-man line; the Bills have joined the growing fad of using a three-man line. "You have to do with the personnel that you have," Kelcher said "We not only have four starting linemen but we have guvs like Wilbur Young (6-6, 290), John Lee (6-2, 259) and Charles DeJurnett (6-4. 260) who have done well when they get in there." There is a good chance that the reserves could be pressed into service.

Dean has been held to limited workouts because of a groin injury. Jones has had an arch problem and left practice early Wednesday. Dean's season has been the toughest. The former Louisiana Tech star had just worked himself in shape after his holdout but pulled a groin muscle the next-to-last week of the season. The day that he learned he was going to the Pro Rowl, his daughter, Aminata Elonda, died from a heart defect.

His attorney, Dave Perrine, says that Dean is under great stress. But the Bruise Brothers have confidence in their subs and they have confidence that they will stay a four-man line forever. "Who are you going to tell that they aren't going to play?" said Kelcher with a growl. No argument, Louie. Ah, to be young and carefree again.

The Steel Curtain remembers those good, old days. The good, old days like Super Bowl IX when L.C. Greenwood stuffed Minnesota quarterback Fran Tarkenton so often that it was said after the game the frustrated Tarkenton threw his helmet toward his locker but it was deflected by Greenwood. "I think back to the Steel Curtain when it was in its prime and realize what an awesome group they were," Kelcher said. "They were the best.

But they were a different breed. It is a different era now. We are still growing and are still a young team. We are building our own defense. "A lot of people compare us to the Steelcrs, but this is a different game now.

We are different. I guess they think that I am Joe Greene and Leroy Jones is L.C. Greenwood. But we are our own team." In other words, the Charger line is trying to make a name for itself. The Bills could keep the Charger line in the closet with a victory tomorrow.

They, too, have a young defense. It ranked first in the AFC. The Chargers were third overall, seventh against the run. Yet the two defenses are built around different philosophies. The By JOHN CLAYTON Press Sports Writer SAN DIEGO It's not easy being a monster.

Frankenstein was named for his creator. The Loch Ness monster was named for its domain. Call it a failure to communicate, but nobody asks monsters what they want to be called. A few months ago San Diego Charger fans tried to name the team's monstrous defensive line, which averages 6-4 262 pounds. The fans were asked to mail their requests.

Somebody suggested "The Border Patrol" because of the neighboring Mexican border, bat that woald have caused riots in the city's Mexican communities. There was the Power Line, the Crunch Bunch, the Sack Pack and a strange one, the Sea Wall. A few Chargers suggested "First and Five," because of the linemen's tendencies to jump offside on first down, while another suggested Redneck and the Ink Spots because of the racial mixture of Louie Kelcher, a white Texan, with three black players from Louisiana and Mississippi, but that was certainly too touchy. Finally, two Charger administra tors walked into the locker room after practice one day and asked the linemen to choose from a list of 15 finalists. The winning entry was "The Bruise Brothers." The author won a trip to Lake Tahoe, but the linemen wish he had taken the name with him.

"We are starting to see signs in the stadium saying 'Bruise "Kelcher said. "We just kind of shake our heads and wince. We just chose it to pick one. All of us couldn't care less if we have a name. A name is cute, but it doesn't do the job on Sundays." Whatever they are called, they will aim their claws at Buffalo quarterback Joe Ferguson tomorrow in the American Conference playoff game here.

A monster by any name is still a monster. During the regular season, the Charger line led the league in quarterback sacks with 60. Because of their dominance, Charger linebackers don't blitz. "We nave fonr gays from different areas and they are all shapes and sizes," Kelcher said. "We really try to come together on the quarterback.

We learned just to read while we are on the ran instead of sitting back and reading at the line of scrimmage." Bowl, a feat that the Steelcrs accomplished when L.C. Greenwood, Joe Greene and Dwight White played in the Pro Bowl following the 1974 season. The neglected member of the line is Leroy Jones, a 6-8, 260-pounder who recorded 12 sacks. Rule changes have tried to cage wild linemen in recent years. The league has taken away trie ncaa slap, allowed offensive linemen to extend their arms to hold and allowed blockers to clip when the back isn't near.

That hasn't slowed the Charger line. Conventional weapons would be needed. Kelcher is a 6-5, 282-pound monster who was a consensus All-Pro in 1978 but injured his knee in last year's pre-season. The knee is fine now, and Kelcher had 5M sacks and was third on the team in tackles (89). Gary "Big Hands" Johnson is 6-3, 252 pounds and had almost as many quarterbacks in his hands this season (17) as the entire Stfeler defense, which had 18.

Mean Fred Dean, the midget at 6-2, 230, has survived a three-month contract holdout and the death of his 5-year-old daughter to record 10 sacks. All three were selected to the Pro OPEN DAILY 10-10 SUNDAY 12-5 SERVICE HOURS DAILY 9-9 SATURDAY 9-6 SUNDAY 12-5 The Saving Place Vikings Catch Eagles With Tank Near Empty Ml Fri. and Sat. Sale CLEARANCE Front End Alignment Sale Price 13,88 5 Computer Wheel Balance Available Pur Reg. Penn State graduate Scott Fitzkee will replace the other wide receiver, Charley Smith, who caught 47 passes this year.

Minor aches have pat his offensive line into a slump, and running back Wilbert Montgomery has been injured off and on most of the season. Placekicker Tony Franklin is in a slump. He has missed eight of 12 field goals, six of them from inside 36 yards. The Eagle offense will depend on Ron Jaworski, rated the best quarterback in the NFC, throwing only 12 interceptions while passing for 3,529 yards. The exceptional Eagle defense has given up fewer than 14 points a game even in these score-inflated times, and the playoffs are where the defenses begin to dominate.

The Eagles' 3-4 is centered around linemen Carl Hairston, Dennis Harrison and Charlie Johnson, plus middle linebackers Bill Bergey and Jerry Robinson. The Viking defense is much more suspect, ranking 12th in the conference overall and 12th against the pass. The Vikings matured when quarterback Tommy Kramer did. Once accused of the usual young quarterback sin forcing the ball into the pass coverage Kramer threw only two interceptions in the last seven games. And the Vikings do pass.

They often use three wide receivers, including dangerous Ahmad Ra-shad. Kramer threw more passes than any other NFC quarterback as the Vikings averaged 230.5 passing yards a game. Running back Ted Brown, the Vikings first-round draft choice in 1979, not only ran for 912 yards, but he and running mate Rickey Young are very sure-handed the Vikings have lost only three fumbles all year. If the young Vikings keep their poise and their turnovers down, we'll see just how much gas the Eagles have left. By DAN DONOVAN, Press Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia may have run out of gas and Minnesota didn't get into gear until mid-season, which makes tomorrow's game much more interesting than the first meeting between the two teams.

On paper, the National Football Conference playoff game is a mismatch roughly equal to the 42-7 Eagle win last Sept. 14. Viking Coach Bud Grant accused Eagle Coach Dick Vermeil of running up the score that day. Since then, Grant has carefully nurtured his young Vikings into a team that won six of its last seven games and the Central Division. The Eagles ran op an 11-1 record, then lost three oat of their last four games and barely beat the Dallas Cowboys for the Eastern Division championship.

Workaholic Vermeil, a disciple of George Allen, is being accused of the same thing Allen was peaking his teams too soon. Vermeil, an enthusiastic, motivational coach, has been accused of pushing his players so hard, they have little left for the playoffs. In his defense, the three teams the Eagles lost to during the last four weeks are all in the playoffs San Diego, Atlanta and Dallas. The Eagles lost to San Diego and Atlanta by a combined four points and went into the Dallas game knowing they only had to lose by fewer than 25 points to win the championship, a task that seemed easy to a team that hadn't given up 25 points in a game all season. The Eagles did fall 25 points behind the Cowboys, but "rallied" to lose by only eight, 35-27.

Vermeil is less worried about mental exhaus- tion than he is about physical injuries, especially offense. Wide receiver Harold Carmichael missed most of the Dallas game with a bad back, watching while his 127-game pass catching streak evaporated. A78x13 Plus F.E.T. 1.63 Ea. 'KMS 50' Polyester Cord Mud Snow Tires Bias ply blackwalls Engineered for city Self-cleaning tread and country driving SIZES REG.

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"It would be determined on the basis of schedule difficulty. And, of course, the bowl results could have a great bearing on picking those four playoff teams." Both of these would still depend to a certain extent on the polls. But, if carried to completion, the winner of the college super bowl would be the national champion with few or no questions asked regardless of final records. It may not be the final answer, but it's better than what exists. And if Notre Dame would have beaten Georgia, it would look just that much better.

(Continued from Page D-l) bowl games have been completed," Paterno asks. "Then you would have the two winners play the I weekend of the Super Bowl in kind of a college super bowl the day before." I Of course, a playoff system would mean the transfer of prestige from the majors bowls. Or I would it? "Tell me how many people outside of Baylor and Alabama were interested in the Cotton 5 Bowl," Paterno asked. But, he adds, "With a playoff system, that game becomes more meaningful." Paterno's playoff setup is not the only one floating around out there just beyond earshot of the major bowl committees. 18.88 SYSTEMS AVAILABLE Sale Price Installed a I witn txenange The Arrestor Muffler Installed Zinc coated.

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Miami Vs. VPI: A Peachy Matchup ATLANTA (UPI) The 13th annual Peach Bowl today shaped up as a contest between Miami's passing game featuring quarterback Jim I Kelly and Virginia Tech's ground-oriented attack led by tailback Cyrus Lawrence. Hurricanes Coach Howard Schnellenberger has praised Kelly, a 6-foot-3, 204-pound sophomore from East Brady, as one of the most promising quarterbacks of all time. "Jim Kelly is an outstanding young quarter-! back who has made great strides in the year and a half he has been our starter," said Schnellen- berger. "There is no question that he is ahead of George Mira's pace when he was at Miami and I think he rivals or is on a par with Joe Namath, I whom I had at Alabama as a sophomore." Lawrence, a 5-9, 196-pound sophomore, broke the VPI rushing record this season with 1,221 yards although he played in just 10 games.

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