| Reunited, but will it feel so
good? The Bengals are hoping that question is ultimately answered in the affirmative.
The reunion involves a quarterback and wide receiver who weren’t exactly best friends
during their previous stint on the same team. That’s not to say they were enemies,
but Gus Frerotte and Michael Westbrook were not close when they both occupied the Redskins
lockerroom in the mid-1990s.
But now, Frerotte and Westbrook are back together again in Cincinnati. Should this be
the cause of great celebrations in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky? Based on the
numbers they produced during marriage No. 1, that question should be answered with a
negative.
It remains to be seen how this duo will fare the second time around. But during the
first, neither Frerotte nor Westbrook was an all-star. Frerotte broke into the NFL in
1994, and eventually started four games that season for the 'Skins. The following season,
Westbrook came on board in Washington. In 11 starts that season, Frerotte completed just
more than 50 percent of his passes and racked up 2,751 yards with more interceptions than
touchdowns. What was Westbrook’s contribution as a rookie? Thirty-four catches for
522 yards and one TD.
In 1996, Frerotte started all 16 games, completing 57.4 percent of his passes as he
totaled 3,453 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. What was Westbrook’s
contribution? Thirty-four catches for 505 yards and one TD.
In 1997, their last season together, Frerotte completed just more than 50 percent of
his throws in 13 starts, and racked up 2,682 yards with 17 touchdowns and 12
interceptions. What was Westbrook’s contribution? Thirty-four catches for 559 yards
and three TDs.
If you can say one thing about the Frerotte-to-Westbrook tandem, it was consistent.
Each year, Westbrook caught 34 passes and always fielded between 500 and 560 yards.
Are you getting excited Bengals fans?
Westbrook was signed, in part, so that he could serve as a veteran role model for the
younger receivers on the Bengals roster. That’s somewhat curious considering
Westbrook’s previous reputation as a bad boy. There have been on-the-field blunders,
such as drawing a costly penalty for removing his helmet on the field to argue a call. And
there have been incidents in practice, like the time he pummeled teammate Stephen Davis.
But sources say that Westbrook has matured, so maybe he can teach the youngsters how not
to act by pointing to some of his own transgressions.
In an interesting coincidence, Frerotte’s résumé is not without it’s own
pitfalls. Who will ever forget the famed head-butting of the wall after scoring a
touchdown? That silly act seriously injured Frerotte’s neck, sending him to the
sideline.
There’s yet another interesting coincidence in this signing. Westbrook was the
fourth overall player taken in the 1995 draft. One of his new teammates, WR Peter Warrick,
was the fourth overall pick in the 2000 draft.
Westbrook has grown up quite a bit since his early days in the league. And he has
become more productive. While he has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that were
attached to him when he was drafted, there is still time to redeem himself. If he can
catch 50 passes for the Bengals this season and teach a few tricks to guys like Warrick,
Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmanzadeh, Danny Farmer and Ron Dugans, his signing will have been
a success.
But remember, he never did catch more than 34 passes in a season when Frerotte was
doing the pitching. |
