8-The Michigan Daily- Thursday, November 5, 1993
Purdue quarterback put on the spot.
Redshirt freshman Rick Trefzger relishes his new starting role
By MIKE PETRUCELLI
PURDUE EXPONENT
From the sideline, 310-pound Ohio State defen-
sive tackle Dan Wilkinson looks like a big man.
From behind the offensive line, he looks downright
frightening, especially if he's about to clobber you.
Two weeks ago, the guy Wilkinson was trying
to clobber was redshirt freshman quarterback Rick
Trefzgerof Purdue.
But Trefzger wasn't scared. He knows getting
clobberedispartofthe game. PartofagameTrefzger
had only seen from the sideline until recently.
The Wickliffe, Ohio, native wentfrom riding the
pine to starting against his home-state team- a
dream for Trefzger.
"I grewupwith theBuckeyes, the scarletandgray
and their tradition," Trefzger said. "(Then I was)
playing the elite of my home state. This is really
exciting. Even if I wasn't playing, if Ohio State's
coming to (Ross-Ade Stadium) it's exciting."
The excitement for Trefzger began in the third
quarter of the Purdue-Wisconsin game.
After starter Matt Pike went down with an injury,
Trefzger went from sitting on the bench to standing in the
pocket, looking for receivers to break open.
"Some of the plays I had were just reaction,"
Trefzger said. "You don't really think about them
until you watch them on film, really.
"What's fun is to make the people who are
watching get excited about what you're doing and
how you do it."
Plenty of Purdue fans were excited about Trefzger's
reaction tobeing tossed into the thickof things against the
Badges.Hecompleted14-of-19passesfr218yardsand
threw the fist two touchdowns of his collegiate career.
One particular crowd favorte was a sideann pass to
sophomore tailback Corey Rogers, which ultimately led
to a touchdown.
"Rick does these things a lot with 11-on-11,"
Purdue coach Jim Colletto said. "He threw the best
spirals I've seen him throw in weeks."
But Trefzger doesn't get excited about num-
bers. He
likes to win.
"At my
high school
we were
known for
winning
games," he
said. "We
were asmall
team that
hustled re-m
ally hard
and beat the
bigger
teams. It
doesn'tmat-
ter what Trefzger
stats you
have, just as long as there's a win on your side."
"He's excited," quarterbacks coach Tim Salem
said. "He's happy. He's enthusiastic. That's how
he looks at the game. He's not looking at it as an
overwhelming situation he's in."
Trefzger is definitely enjoying the situation
he's in. The Wisconsin game was his first contact
game since the third game of his senior year in high
school. That season was shortened when Trefzger
tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. The
injury made his future in college uncertain.
"When Rick came here he had a big leg brace
on," Colletto said. "We wondered if he was ever 0
going to recover. He's really done a good job with
that. He's more active than you think."
Although the injury took a major chunk out of
Trefzger's career, it's behind him now.
"I really don't think aboutthathappening again,"
Trefzger said. "I have it in mind because it will
always be with me. There's still some tightness, but
movement-wise I've bounced back 100 percent."
Trefzger has needed that 100 percent, and then
some, as he has played out one of the toughest
remaining schedules in the Big Ten. But toughness
isn't a problem for him.
"We do alot of live stuff in practice, butnot at the
speed like we play with on Saturdays," he said. "It's
a lot different, but it's exciting. I love that kind of
football. You feel like you're into it more. You're
getting hit. You're getting dirty. You're in the game
trying to move the ball up and down the field."
It's that philosophy that has allowed Trefzger to
stand upagainst Wisconsin'spressure, hang in there
against Ohio State's third-ranked defense and take@
his lumps against Iowa.
Salem is impressed with the way Trefzgerhandles
preparation foreach weekend.
"He reacts well underpressure,"Salem said. "But
I look forward to how he reacts to breakfast on
Saturday. If he doesn't eat his pancakes and just looks
at his eggs, I'll know he's all right."
AP PHOTO
Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux became the first pitcher to win the Cy
Young Award in consectutive years for two different teams. In 1992, he went
20-10 for the Chicago Cubs before signing with the Braves in the off-season.
Maddux captures second
straight Cy Young Award
Agent Steinberg discusses."
his profession to students
NEW YORK (AP) - Greg
Maddux won his second straight Cy
Young Award on Wednesday, join-
ing Sandy Koufax as the only Na-
tional League pitchers to win it in
successive seasons.
Maddux was 20-10 with a major
league-leading 2.36 ERA in his first
season for the Atlanta Braves, and
became the first pitcher to win the
award in consecutive years with dif-
ferent teams.
He went 20-10 with a2.18 ERA in
1992 for the Chicago Cubs, then
signed a five-year, $28 million free-
agent contract with the Braves.
Maddux got 22 of the 28 first-
place votes in balloting by the Base-
ball Writers Association of America.
He easily outdistanced San Francisco
Giants' Bill Swift and John Burkett,
and Braves teammate Tom Glavine,
whoall won moregames than Maddux
but had higher ERAs.
No pitcher was named on all 28
ballots. Jack McDowell won the AL's
Cy Young winner Tuesday and was
the only pitcher listed on every ballot.
Koufax won the award in 1965-
66, when only one Cy Young was
presented. Beginning in 1967, a win-
ner in each league was selected. Since
then, Roger Clemens in 1986-87, Jim
Palmer and Denny McLain have been
repeat winners in the AL.
The only other pitcher to win the
award fordifferent teams was Gaylord
Perry - in 1972 with the Cleveland
Indians and 1978 with the San Diego
Padres.
Maddux, 27, is the top winner in
the majors with 107 victories in the
last six seasons.
He also won three straight Gold
Gloves and is one of the best-hitting
pitchers in baseball.
Men's tennis finishes out
fail season in South Bend
By DAN McKENZIE
FOR THE DAILY
The Michigan men's tennis team
will play its last match of the fall
season in South Bend, Ind., this week-
end. This will be the Wolverines' first
match since coming off of a success-
ful showing at the Volvo All-Ameri-
can Tournament two weeks ago.
"The time off was a real advan-
tage to us at this stage of the season,"
Michigan coach Brian Eisner said. "I
feel we made alot of progress over the
two weeks, and we'll have to wait and
see how it affected us."
Senior Dan Brackus, listed as the
37th-best player in collegiate tennis
by the Intercollegiate Tennis Asso-
ciation, will be joined in the tourna-
ment by juniors Grady Burnett and
Adam Wagner, and sophomores John
Costanzo and Peter Pusztai. This will
be Costanzo's first singles match of
the season, after battling back from a
shoulder injury.
"We have very high expectations
entering thistoumament,"Eisnersaid.
"We think we're going to do very
well. Dan will probably be seeded
number one in the tournament, and
we also think that Grady and John
could get seeded. We're expecting
good things." '
After the Rolex Tournament,
Michigan will take two months off
before traveling tothe Volunteer Clas-
sic at Knoxville, Tenn. on Jan. 14.
By DARREN EVERSON
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
Despite having a stable of athletes
that includes some of the wealthiest
and most popular names in football,
Leigh Steinberg talked little of the
fame and fortune that he's found
through being a sports agent. Instead,
the one-time dorm counselor spoke to
students at Hale Auditorium yester-
day about the importance of giving
back to the community.
Steinberg is an attorney who spe-
cializes in sports law and lives in
Laguna Beach, Calif. However, his,
practice attracts clients on a nation-
wide level. Athletes such as Dallas
Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman
and former Michigan wide receiver
Desmond Howard have hired
Steinberg to represent them in con-
tract negotiations with their respec-
tive teams as well as with other finan-
cial endeavors.
What these players receive is rep-
resentation from the agent who was
responsible for providing San Fran-
cisco 49ers QB Steve Young and At-
lanta Falcon cornerback Tim
McDonald with the highest salaries at
their respective positions in football.
In return, Steinberg asks not only
fora salary percentage (typically four
percent in football), but also for his
clients to make a contribution to the
people and institutions that made them
successes.
"It's been our requirement and
our practice that each of the athletes
serve as role models and retrace their
roots," Steinberg said. "Some 47 of
our players have established scholar-
ship funds at their high schools, with
Troy Aikman and (Houston Oilers
quarterback) Warren Moon among
them.
"At the professional level, we have
players who have established pro-
grams for less fortunate people, such
as (Buffalo Bills running back)
Thurman Thomas, who gives a cer-
tain amount ofmoney for the yards he
gains to sickle-cell anemia research."
Since Steinberg's income is a di-
rect function of his clients' high sala-
ries, one wouldn't expect him to be-
lieve that athletes are overpaid. How-
ever, he did try to justify these con-
tracts to some extent.
"It's television which is fueling
the extraordinary growth in sports
salaries today," Steinberg said. "No-
body gets angry when Madonna
makes millions of dollars for some-
thing that takes a lot less talent to do
than what these athletes do.
"Also, when you take into account
that the average football player's ca-@
reer lasts only 3.2 years and that some
like (former client and Phoenix Car-
dinals QB) Neil Lomax - who had a
degenerative arthritic hip - have to
go through life with a disability, you
start to appreciate what they do."
While Steinberg is a partner in his
own law firm (Steinberg & Moran),
anyone from lawyers to accountants
to family memberscan 'specialize' in
this field, because very little law is
involved. Due to the presence of un-
qualified - and often unjust -
agents, Steinberg's profession has
often been portrayed in a negative
light.
"Sports law has been referred to
by many as the 'sleazoid profession
of the 1980s,"'Steinberg said. "These
agents visit colleges and offer kids
money, women and cars, which is an
NCAA violation.
"Whathappens is players sign over
'power of attorney,' which gives the
agent the right to make financial trans-
actions without the athlete's prior
knowledge," he said. "We desper-
ately need regulation in this field."
As for the business and economic
aspectof athletics, Steinberg spoke of
the misconception that professional*
sports teams are in financial trouble.
"There is a long line of people
waiting to buy franchises because
they're profitable businesses. This
past year, the Baltimore Orioles, a
team that is not in amajorTV market,
sold for $175 million. This was the
highest purchase price ever paid for a
sports team. Professional sports are
incredibly healthy."
Steinberg attendedCalifomia-Ber-
keley, and it was a classmate there
who gave him his start as a sports
agent.
While Steinberg was working as a
counselor at a university dormitory,
then-Cal quarterback Steve
Bartkowski enlisted him to help the
player negotiate his contract with the
Atlanta Falcons.
All Steinberg did was negotiate*
the highestrookie contract ever, spark-
ing a practice that represents four of
the past five No. 1 NFL draft picks
anda career spanning nearly 20 years.
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