Thursday, September 29, 2005
'Druck' can't wait for return to the 'Burg
Randy King
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While Tech fans continue to fret about whether anybody will be able to beat either No. 1 USC or No. 2 Texas, there will be a bunch of guys in Blacksburg next weekend laughing and spinning tales about the night they kicked the Longhorns' rear ends.
As part of Tech's homecoming weekend festivities, some 30-plus members of the Hokies' 1995 Sugar Bowl champion club will congregate for a reunion. Certainly, these guys will be much closer than the Marshall-Tech contest a week from Saturday.
Jim Druckenmiller, the tough as nails, 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback for that '95 club that whipped Texas 28-10 in the Superdome, says he can't wait to get to town and see "all the ol' guys again."
Think a few might might have tacked on a few pounds the past 10 years?
"Absolutely ... first, and foremost, myself," said a laughing Druckenmiller, speaking from his hometown of Memphis, Tenn, on Wednesday night.
"Heck, no, I couldn't play. I'm too banged up for one ... and I'm probably too lazy at this point now I'm working this desk job. I never figured I would be here this fast."
Instead of still enjoying what he had figured would be a long career in the NFL, Druckenmiller finds himself just like you and me. He's in the working man's world, where the hours are longer, the paychecks are much smaller, and there are no cameras or microphones waiting at the end of the day to talk about performance.
Druckenmiller, 33, is working for Choicepoint, a company that does pre-employment screens for businesses and organizations all across the country. Currently, he's working closely with the Red Cross in regards to screening all the organization's volunteers on a national level.
"I'm working directly on a project that's helping others," said Druckenmiller, referring to the agency that's the No. 1 player in the emergency relief efforts in the wake of the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.
"That's been real nice, and at the same time, it's making me some money."
It's a play call that "Druck" never could have envisioned when he left Blacksburg in the spring of 1997 as a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers.
Druckenmiller's NFL career turned out to be a complete bust. He played in six career games, starting once, in two years with the 49ers, completing 21 of 52 passes for 234 yards, with one touchdown and four interceptions.
He would never throw another pass in an NFL regular-season game. Druckenmiller had a cannon-like arm, but he wasn't a great fit for the 49ers' West Coast offense that requires a lot of mobility from its quarterback. Additionally, Druck was often criticized by 49ers general manager Bill Walsh for his inability to read defenses.
"It was a great opportunity, but was it the right fit? It's hard to say," Druckenmiller said. "At the same time, you always like an opportunity, at least give it a try. I just don't feel like I ever had an opportunity to fail, let alone succeed. A lot of people like to say, 'hey, you couldn't do it.' I like to say, 'hey, we'll prove it.' I would have liked to have proven it."
When asked what goes through his mind anytime he hears the name "Bill Walsh," Druckenmiller let out a huge sigh.
"I just want to grit my teeth," he said. "I don't have any bad words. It wasn't a match made in heaven.
"But again, it's the nature of the business. I think I discovered that the NFL is a lot about opportunity. Right place, right time. I think there's very little that separates invidividuals who make it and those who don't, I honestly do."
San Francisco kept Druckenmiller for two years before trading him to Miami in 1999. Druck spent a year on the Dolphins' roster without playing a game. He was cut in the club's 2000 preseason camp.
Druckenmiller played one season in Vince McMahon's short-lived XFL. He finished second in the league in touchdown passes and third in passing yards in 2001 for the Memphis Maniax.
In June, 2003, just as he was about to take a job as a sales manager for a cargo trailer manufacturing company in Little Rock, Ark., Druckenmiller got a call from his agent saying the Indianapolis Colts were interested in taking a look at him. Druck's hopes of winning the No. 3 job behind Peyton Manning and Brock Huard went down the tubes when the club signed Jim Kubiak, who knew the offense after spending 1998 and '99 with the club.
Finally, the telephone stopped ringing. And for the first time in his life, Druckenmiller had to find a real job.
"That was the hardest part," said Druckenmiller, who is currently in the middle of a divorce from his wife, whom he met after coming to Memphis to play for the Maniax.
Does he get any solace from the fact he did what few guys do? How many ever play in the NFL, much less be a first-round draft pick?
"Being the competitive individual I am, no," he said. "I love to play the game. I'm not satisfied with just making the NFL. I think it's a wonderful thing for being there, but am I satisfied? No, I can't say that.
"I enjoyed the opportunity, but at the same time I would have liked to have definitely had a longer career and actually gotten to play more than one game [the start]," added Druckenmiller, laughing.
The guy who threw 34 touchdowns while going 20-4 as the Hokies' starting QB in 1995 and '96 still watches football every weekend. It's Druckenmiller's only touch with the game now. He checks out the Hokies every chance he gets.
"I'm glued to the TV every Saturday and Sunday," he said. "I was a little disappointed last weekend. They took off the [Georgia Tech] game regionally in the middle of the third quarter because it was such a blowout. So I was upset, to say the least."
Druckenmiller said he was really impressed last Saturday by Marcus Vick.
"I don't want to jinx him, but I think it was definitely a breakout game," Druck said. "He was throwing some perfect balls with defenders on the back ... I mean you can't get any better than that right now.
"I think Michael is the little better scrambler, but after last week I would definitely say Marcus threw the ball better than I've seen Michael at times. But you can't take away from Michael. Michael's at the next level, was the No. 1 overall pick [2001 NFL Draft], and All-Pro. I don't like to compare individuals on different levels, but I was overall impressed by Marcus last weekend."
Druckenmiller, who guided the Hokies to their only victory in four BCS bowl appearances, confessed he's somewhat amazed by how the program has developed into one of the country's perennial major players. Did he ever think Tech would get to this level?
"After my first year, hell no!" responded Druckenmiller, laughing. "I was sitting in the locker room going where in the hell am I? It was only a scholarship ... and we go 2-8-1 ... we have dismay on the field, off the field ... they were calling for [Frank Beamer's] head.
"He made some nice coaching changes and now he's surrounded by a bunch of good coaches. Coach [Mike] Gentry [Tech's strength and conditioning guru] is a key asset to that. Obviously, there's Bud Foster [defensive coordinator] ... and [Bryan] Stinespring [offensive coordinator].
"Stinespring has started to come around a little bit. I joke a little bit sometimes, saying he's too conservative. And this is probably the first year I haven't been in touch with Rickey Bustle [former Tech offensive coordinator who is now head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette]. He's probably the guy I had the best relationship with there. I don't have his numbers anymore. I had my Palm Pilot blow out of my truck!"
Sounds like the same ol', fun-loving, laidback, care-free Druck.
Now he's 33 years old and coming back to Tech for a weekend. Sounds like a heck of a party ready to happen.
"Best days of my football life happened right there," Druckenmiller said. "They were probably the most joyous, most exciting, and, at times, most nerve-wracking, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. I miss Blacksburg to this day. I love the place."
And what about Texas? Will the Longhorns lose somewhere down the road.
"It's hard to say," Druckenmiller said. "All I know is I'm coming back to celebrate a win over Texas."
