"I'm the quarterback"
Shuler feels comfortable with 'Skins
By Gary Lundy of the Knoxville News-Sentinel
April 7th, 1996

From Heath Shuler's condominium high atop Cherokee Bluff, the view is
spectacular even at night.

On a recent warm spring evening, Shuler pointed across the Tennessee River
to the bright stadium lights where the University of Tennessee was playing
a baseball game. That he would be focusing on something in the distance
seemed fitting.

His unrealized goals are still on the horizon.

After two roller-coaster seasons with the Washington Redskins marked by a
contract dispute, injuries and a quarterback controversy, Shuler has reason
to believe better times are ahead. With the NFL draft approaching on April
20, the Redskins continue to send signals they'd like to trade Gus
Frerotte.

It's the strongest indication yet that head coach Norv Turner has decided
to entrust Washington's offense-- and perhaps his own future-- to Shuler.
Perhaps that explains why the former UT quarterback is more relaxed, more
at ease than he has been since college.

"Norv has told me I'm the quarterback," Shuler said. "There have been some
tough times the last seasons, but I'm looking ahead. It's an exciting time
for me."

He knows he still hasn't won over some of those alienated by his holdout
before he signed a contract worth $19.25 million. But he offers a story
about that experience that reveals much about his personality.

One evening during his rookie holdout, Shuler turned on his personal
computer at his apartment and accessed a chat forum about the Redskins on
the Internet. Some of the comments about him were brutal.

At first, he was taken aback. Then he got an idea. He decided to have some fun.

"Yeah, I can't believe that young punk is holding out in his first year in
the NFL," Shuler typed on his keyboard. "Who does he think he is, anyway?"

It was an outlet that helped relieve his frustration and tension. He never
lost his sense of humor, signing his cyberspace notes "No. 1 Redskin."

Little did anyone else realize the messages were from Shuler himself.

Though the contract made him a millionaire, Shuler winces at the mention of
the word. He points to his jeans and tennis shoes and asks if he looks like
Mr. Moneybags.

After arriving in Knoxville on a flight from Washington, D.C., he's sitting
on the damp sidewalk in front of his condo waiting for his girlfriend to
pick him up. He says his brother Benjie, a Tennessee receiver, borrowed the
door key leaving him with no way to get in.

Neighbors wave as they pass by walking their dogs. They won't be his
neighbors much longer.

Shuler says he plans to sell his condo in a month or two and move to his
600-plus acre farm in Grainger County. Construction of stables and a
two-bedroom dwelling should be completed on the property by spring or early
summer.

The farm is a place where Shuler can relax and ride his quarterhorse, Ace.
During the off-season, he tries to come back to Knoxville at least once
every three weekends.

However, most of his time is spent training at Redskins Park in Ashburn,
VA. He shares a townhouse with a Redskins' strength coach and has to
commute only six minutes to the training facility. On a typical day he
arrives there at 7a.m., eats breakfast and plays racquetball for 90
minutes.

Another hour is spent on upper-body weight-training. In the afternoons, he
watches game tapes for an hour and 15 minutes. After that he runs.

Encouraged by Turner's show of confidence in his ability, Shuler is
preparing for the coming season with the same single-mindedness he prepared
for the draft when he came out of college.

After enduring boos from home fans at RFK Stadium and repeated on-air barbs
from Redskins' radio color announcer Sonny Jurgensen, Shuler largely
acquitted himself by leading his team to a late-season victory over the
Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys.

Jurgensen is aligned with Frerotte, but Shuler has some former NFL
quarterbacks in his corner as well.

"I ran into Joe Theismann in a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and he had
some nice things to say and was real encouraging," Shuler said. "I've also
talked to Terry Bradshaw and he's been real helpful."

Bradshaw came out of Louisiana Tech and was labeled a dumb quarterback much
of his time with the Steelers. Like Bradshaw, Shuler has been criticized
for being slow to grasp the offense. Quarterbacks who have a thick Southern
accent are often stereotyped, Shuler said.

"I'm not going to change the way I talk," he says. "I'm from Bryson City
(N.C.) and that's just the way I am."

When Shuler has been talking this spring, it often has been at youth
rallies he helped organize at churches throughout the South. More than
1,500 attended a rally in Orlando. Another is planned later this month in
Norfolk, VA.

He tells youth about his faith, and the tough times he's had as well as the
moments of glory.

His presentation starts with a 2 1/2-minute highlight tape of his career at
Tennessee followed by a 5-minute video of some of his plays with the
Redskins.

"Besides yourself, who is your favorite player?" a youngster innocently
asked him at one of his rallies.

The comment wasn't meant the way it came out. Shuler couldn't help but laugh.

"Who's your favorite player" has been the question he wanted the Redskins'
coaching staff to answer ever since he and Frerotte started competing for
the starting job.

Finally, he appears to have his answer.