DATE: Wednesday, September 3, 1997          TAG: 9709030661

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

THE NFL CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE MARQUEE PLAYERS

The National Football League isn't exciting enough, it doesn't feature such an abundance of marquee talent, that it can afford to lose Jerry Rice for the remainder of the season.

With Rice's departure following reconstructive surgery on his left knee, the NFL just got a little more boring. Pro football cannot afford to get more boring.

On Sunday at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Lions and Falcons combined for 17 punts.

Dull.

In their loss to Tampa Bay, the 49ers, a franchise that practically re-invented offense in the NFL, passed for only 91 yards.

Dull again.

A pastime as predictable as the NFL cannot afford to lose colorful players.

Already missing as the NFL season got under way were a couple of fresh, gifted quarterbacks - Carolina's Kerry Collins (broken jaw) and Jacksonville's Mark Brunell (knee).

The NFL cannot replace talents such as these. With or without its best players, the NFL goes on . . . the gambling goes on. Gambling is football's lifeblood. But the quality of play, suspect in the best of times, is hurting. Nobody can argue otherwise.

Sometimes it seems as if the NFL has become a league of second-string quarterbacks, a suspect group pressed into service because of injuries to more talented, charismatic colleagues.

And when even journeymen are knocked out (Seattle quarterback John Friesz, gone six to eight weeks with a broken thumb), pro football becomes it's own worst enemy.

Is America really ready for Jeff Brohm (who?), the substitute for a loopy Steve Young when the 49ers' star quarterback staggered off with his third concussion in 11 months?

Rice was the most notable casualty in another week of NFL mayhem. But these days, more and more pro players are being carried out, if not prone on their shields, then spread out on the back of a motorized cart. Or so it seems.

When the players are not as high profile as Rice, the carnage can be dismissed by the fans and media. Out goes one piece of meat, replaced by more beef on the hoof.

For football's sake, it is just as well that most of the serious injuries are quickly forgotten. Otherwise, people might start to get the idea that football, as played in the NFL, is just too violent.

It has become too violent, don't you think? The players have grown too large and fast to expect anything but wholesale injuries week after week.

Redskins running back Terry Allen will miss Sunday's Pittsburgh game with a broken thumb. Cardinals linebacker Eric Hill is out indefinitely with a fractured ankle. Chargers quarterback Stan Humphries has a separated shoulder. Steelers guard Brenden Stai is sidelined two months with a fractured ankle. And this doesn't even take into account the walking wounded.

Play hurt? NFL players sometimes play maimed.

Miami Dolphins defensive end Daniel Stubbs missed most of the preseason with a fractured leg. He recovered in time for Sunday's opener against the Colts. Then, in the fourth quarter, Stubbs went down again. This time it was the right patella tendon. Goodbye to the '97 season.

When today's bigger, quicker players collide at incredible speeds and with fearsome force something's got to give. Too often in the NFL, that something is a tendon, bone or ligament.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu