Still Calling the Play

ESPN pundit and Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser says Sonny Jurgensen looms over everyone in the Washington, D.C., sports landscape. It's not hard to figure out why. Jurgensen spent 11 of his 18 years in the NFL with the Washington Redskins and was considered one of the best pure passers of his time. He threw for nearly 33,000 yards in his career, which earned him induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. After his playing career, Jurgensen settled into D.C.-area broadcasting jobs. He's well into another season of Redskins radio broadcasts as a commentator and analyst in Washington. Also a cigar aficionado, the Wilmington, N.C., native now calls Naples his full-time home, where he lives with his wife, Margo.

Q. What's changed in NFL passing attacks from your playing days to today?

A: It's more sophisticated. There's more movement.When I talk about movement I mean motion before the ball [is snapped]. There are more formations. When I first played in 1957, we were reluctant to go to the double wing. It took the NFL a while to get into that. [But] the biggest change is that it's a coach's game instead of a player's game. It was a player's game then because we called the plays. My rookie year I called the whole game from the line against Cleveland. Now the quarterbacks are mechanics. They execute the game plan put in by the coaches. I controlled the game, and it was more fun anticipating what the defense was going to do. That added another dimension to the game.

Q. You're starting an expansion team. Which current NFL quarterback do you pick and why?

A: You have to like Tom Brady. You have to. He's made the big plays. I like the way he plays, his demeanor. I've known Peyton Manning his whole life, and Archie [his father]. Peyton will get there [to the Super Bowl]. Peyton has a passion for the game that I don't think anyone else has. I've watched Brett Favre play, and I really enjoyed watching [Dan] Marino because of the way he improvised under pressure.

Q. You mention there are a lot of former Redskins down here. Do you get to play golf with Billy Kilmer often?

A: Kilmer lives in Coral Springs. We were together last weekend for a card show up in Washington. He hits it wildly, but we play about the same.

Q. As a quarterback, he didn't throw those perfect spirals, did he?

A: Well, that's interesting. He had a birth defect on his hands. He wasn't able to spread them very wide. I can spread them all the way out. When I first got there, I told him,

'You need to spread your fingers out more.' And he said, 'I can't do it.' So the ball would come out wobbly. Hobble, for my 'great' running style, and Wobble, that's what they called us.

Q. What's Redskins owner Daniel Snyder really like?

A: He's young, he's smart and he has a passion for whatever he's doing. He's a marketing genius, not only with the football team. He's a fan of the team and he wants to win. That's all he's ever wanted to do since he got involved. I have a good relationship with him. He smokes good cigars.

Q. How did a North Carolina boy end up in Naples?

A: I came down here for a member-guest golf tournament invitation at Old Florida Golf Club. I really liked it. I came back the next year, rented, and then we bought a place at Pelican Bay the following year. I play as much golf as my body will allow, and my wife plays plenty of tennis. It's funny. There's a whole Redskins community down here, including the guy I was traded to the Redskins for [Norm Snead]. I run into fans all the time. In fact, I flew back here the other day from Washington and spent most of the flight signing autographs and answering questions about the upcoming season.