The noise came intermittently, blaring from the sound system like the drone of a jet squadron. If those had been horses training at Tropical Park, as man and nature had intended, there would have been spooked thoroughbreds scattered from here to Boca Raton.
But it was only the New England Patriots, getting accustomed to the roar of 75,200 fans yelling for their scalps in the Orange Bowl Sunday.
These Patriots seem unspookable after facing down the New York Jets and Los Angeles Raiders before hostile crowds on successive weekends.
And none seemed more cool Thursday than Tony Eason, the former Illinois quarterback, who stands one game removed from playing in a bowl game much more meaningful than the last one he played in–the Liberty Bowl.
”We`re not practicing for the AFC championship game,” Eason contended.
”We`re just practicing for the Miami Dolphins. To me, every game is the same. You approach one game differently than another, you`re wasting your time. It`s just one game, that`s all.”
Just one game, but undoubtedly the most important of his career. Quarterbacks` reputations have been made or broken in games like this.
And the jury is still out on Eason, who a year ago, as just a second-year pro, became the Patriots` starter and set club records for completions and completion percentage.
Eason`s numbers are nowhere near as glittering this time around. The most glaring discrepancy is in his ratio of touchdown passes to interceptions.
Last year it was a brilliant 23-8, this time around a pedestrian 11-17.
”Bad decisions,” Eason explained. ”Trying to force the ball. You and the receiver not being on the same page. I could go on forever.”
Going on just a little further reveals, however, that the explanation goes deeper than that.
The Patriots have completely revamped their offense this year under coach Raymond Berry. ”There`s no doubt it`s held me back,” said Eason. ”When was the last year you guys can remember a team being in the playoffs with a first- year offense? It takes two or three years to click in the way you want it to. The first year, you`re going to have growing pains.”
The Patriots were only 2-3 when Eason was forced out of the season`s sixth game with a shoulder injury. Veteran Steve Grogan came in and won five games in a row, continuing to start even after Eason`s shoulder had healed.
Eason had no problems with that. ”I thought Steve deserved to play,” he said. ”He was playing very well and we were winning. Ever since I came here, he`s been very helpful to me. Every step of the way, and he didn`t have to. But it was good for the team, and that`s the kind of guy he is.”
He did have some problems, however, understanding how the Patriots` fans could shower him with debris as he limped off the field. ”Where I grew up,” he said pointedly, ”I used to go see the Raiders and the 49ers and I can remember games when `Snake` (Kenny Stabler) would come off the field after a losing game and get a standing ovation.”
It was with Grogan at the helm, Eason says, that the offense began to grow. ”When Steve came in we opened up. Steve was calling his own plays, and he put in what he wanted. We made progress while he was playing. We built a foundation. When I was playing, coach Berry`s plan was to stay simple because it was such a new offense.
”Last year we were very similar to the Raiders. You run at people. You sit in the pocket a long time. Your receivers run downfield and work on the defensive backs.
”This year, you`re not going to hold the ball all day and you`re not going to just throw upfield.”
In the 27-20 victory over the Raiders that brought the Patriots to this championship game, Eason threw only 14 passes. He used to throw that many on one drive at Illinois.
”We were wide open, baby,” Eason remembered. ”We let it all hang out.
”I think playing there was a big help to me. A quarterback`s success depends on the people he`s playing with, the scheme he`s in and how well he`s coached.”
It does not necessarily depend, he insists, on the statistics he piles up. While the Patriots` fans and press were beginning to get on him before his injury, for instance, ”I was playing the best football of my life in terms of how I look at it. In terms of making decisions and carrying out the functions a quarterback does, it was going very well.
”In terms of what you people look at, the numbers on paper, it wasn`t.”
When Grogan broke his leg in a game against the Jets, Eason came back for the final four games of the season. The Patriots` only loss since then was to the Dolphins, 30-27 in the Orange Bowl.
Eason threw three interceptions in that game and was bombarded with hate mail. Most of it has gone unread because, ”We haven`t been home for awhile. It`s like a road show; we`re on a concert tour from one city to the next.”
