By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Oct. 17, 1998
SEATTLE -- If at first you do succeed, don't get cocky.
As the 1997 college football season rolled to a close, Brock Huard, all 6-foot-5, 225 pounds of him, was a classic NFL prospect out of the University of Washington program. Granted, he didn't quite fit into the same category as Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf.
But with such a fine heritage of quarterbacks coming out of the UW program -- Warren Moon, Mark Brunell, Chris Chandler, Billy Joe
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"He was going in the first round," said one NFL personnel director. "I'm not sure how high, but a lot of people liked him. He's big, has a strong arm and great touch. Everybody liked him then. Now it's tough to get a read on him."
THIS NFL GURU DIDN'T SAY NOBODY likes him now. And yet, as Washington was blowing past Cal on Saturday afternoon 21-13, Huard was standing on the sidelines watching as Marques Tuiasosopo was running the offense.
Huard elected to stay with the Huskies, separated his shoulder, and now doesn't even look like the quarterback best suited to run a team that is fighting for a bowl bid. With Huard on the sideline, this looks more like an option, running team, than the pro-style passing team that Huard returned to run.
"If he's ready, he will start for sure (against Oregon State next week)," Washington coach Jim Lambright said. "Both have individual strengths. Now we can build an offense to complement the one who's playing at a particular time."
Things have changed. Huard was fabulous in Washington's opening night upset of Arizona State, a team which has proven to be overrated ever since. But the 787 yards and six touchdowns in three and a half games hardly set Huard apart from the list of quarterbacks coming out this season such as Daunte Culpepper, Cade McNown, Joe Germaine and Donovan McNabb.
Still, Huard found it humorous anyone would think he made a mistake returning to the Huskies.
"I'm not looking at that at all because I made the right decision," said Huard, who has two QB brothers, Damon (Miami Dolphins) and Luke (North Carolina Tar Heels).
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Brock Huard's chances of going in the first round of the NFL Draft have fallen significantly. (Allsport)
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"No, absolutely not (do I second guess my decision). Not playing just makes me even more thoughtful of the opportunity to play Saturdays and I'll be back next week. This is still my team."
MORE THAN A STATEMENT, it was a proclamation. Huard was almost defiant in his defense of this team being capable of running both style offenses. Like Lambright, he contended this makes their offense stronger.
That makes little sense on this young, confused team. Tuiasosopo ran for two touchdowns in the first 9 1/2 minutes of Saturday's game. The rest of the game, the offense was ineffective. He had a 39-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw and another on a 1-yard dive. The 14-0 lead stood up only because the defense was sensational, recording 13 sacks of Cal quarterback Justin Vedder.
Huard partially separated his left (throwing) shoulder in the second quarter of a loss to Arizona two weeks ago that all but ended the Huskies' hopes of being invited to the Rose Bowl or any other appearance in the Bowl Championship Series. Since then, the Huskies have also been more explosive offensively with the run-oriented Tuiasosopo than they were with a classic drop-back passer like Huard.
Consequently, this may cut into Huard's playing time the rest of the season and his value in a 1998 NFL Draft that will be filled with quarterback prospects. Both he and Lambright downplay the possibilities. Huard returned for a number of reasons, and one was to strengthen his 6-5 frame and the other to build on his leadership capabilities.
Now 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10, Huard's Huskies have no more margin for error. They've got an improved Oregon State team coming in next week, then the final four add up to war. They play at USC, at Oregon, play host to UCLA, then finish at Pullman against archrival Washington State.
BROCK HUARD IS CHUCKLING NOW that anyone would consider he hurt his viability in the NFL Draft by returning for this season. Alrighty then big guy ... there are five games left to make or break your season and perhaps your future prospects.
Fortunately, he is not downplaying that.
"I was mentally ready to go today, but only in an emergency," Huard said. "There are five weeks to go and I know this is my team, so it's my responsibility to get things going on offense. We peaked the first week on offense and it's my job to get it back there. If anything, these last couple of weeks have helped the offense become diversified. That should help me."
Meanwhile, the NFL scouts sit back and watch. Chances are, none of them find this turn of events in Huard's career midway through this season as laughable. That's not to minimize the 4,600-plus career passing yards and the school-record 42 touchdown passes he has thrown.
Come April, when the 1999 NFL Draft unfolds, we'll see who's laughing.
Mike Kahn is CBS SportsLine's executive editor.