Sports
Page 12 Thursday, July 23, 1981 The Michigan Doily
One shot deal
4
Diggs not worried over
By RON POLLACK
Daily sports writer to get into business, maybe His task of "learning whe
sixth in a six-part series management. That's something I'll be" is proving to be a rathe
Thisis the sixth in a series of six worry about only if it turns out that "I'm playing cornerback ri
articles examining the attempts of football isn't my cup of tea." I'm responsible for learn
recently-graduated Michigan, foot- The fact that Diggs has planned out defensive, back spots," s
ball players to make ar NFL team, what he will do if he getscut from the "They (his coaches) feel ti
their thoughts about the endeavor, Bears, does not mean that he isn't to do best at the position yo
and their new pro coach's analysis giving himself a fighting chance of should know what everyc
making the squad. He said that his doing. The more positions
of their abilities and future in the chances of making the team are "just the better."
sport. The series was written by as good as the next guy. It's just a mat- The strategy that Diggsi
Daily sportswriter Ron Pollack. ter of learning where to go and be." in his effort to survive the I
It can be said thatGerald Diggsis face- } z< .. ° x2{
to-face with a wall that represents all of
the obstacles that he will face in his at-
tempts to play professional football. k .
While he is on one side of the wall, a
spot on the Chicago Bears' squad is on
the other. If his skills can open theEm
wall's locked door, Diggs thinks that
would be great. But if this doesn't hap-
pen, Diggs won't bang his head on the
wall and try to force his way into the
NFL, but rather he says that he will see
the handwriting on it.
"If I don't make it with the Bears, I'm
going to become a working man," said
Diggs who is attempting to make the
professional ballclub as a free agent.
"It's a one-shot deal. I got a degree at
Michigan, and I'll use it. I feel that if I
don't make it with the Bears, then I'm
just not NFL material."
WHEN DIGGS says that his tryout
with the Bears is "a one-shot deal," he
means that it is probably the only chan-
ce he 'will have to make it into
professionsl football. If he is cut, the
defensive back will not seek out another
chance, although he would accept
another opportunity with one of the
league's remaining 27 teams were it of-
feredto him.
"If there's an offer, I'd take it," said
Diggs. "But if there isn't an offer, then I
won't pursue it."
The degree that Diggs said he would
use should he fail to make the Bears'
squad is in education, and the former
Michigan gridder already has an idea
of what professions he would and would FORMER MICHIGAN DEFENSIVE back Gerald Diggs (29) breaks u
"I DON'T think I'll pursue a job in out for the Chicago Bears but says that if he is cut he'll just become a"
teaching," said Diggs. "I think I'll try
NFL tryout
4
re to go and
r large one.
ght now, but
ing all the
aid Diggs.
hat in order
ure at, you
one else is
you know,
is following
Bears' final
cuts is to maintain a steady progression
in his play while he learns Chicago's
defensive system.
"Right now, I'm going day by day
just to improve each day and each
practice," said Diggs. "If I can just do
that, I can make the team. I just have to
reduce my mistakes each day. I'm in a
learning process right now. It's just a
lot of different terminology. It's like
you're a freshman in college and
everything is new and different."
Sp"xs'ntormnon rPoto
p a pass ina game against Indiana. Diggs is trying
"working man."
QB UPSET OVER FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIP:
Ferguson set to play out option
FREDONIA, N.Y. (AP)-Buffalo Bills quarter-
back Joe Ferguson says he is tired of waiting for a
new contract from the National Football League
team and is ready to test the free agency option of his
1975 agreement ifa new pact isn't reached soon.
The key issue is not his current $230,000 annual
salary, but his future financial relationship with the
team, he said yesterday. He said he wants the issue
settled "today, tomorrow-anytime quickly."
"I'VE MADE UP my mind," Ferguson said. "If
they don't want to get it settled, then they can get
ready for me to go.
"I hope they (management) can get everything
settled, because we have everything going for us," he
added. "It doesn't seem like there's been a great ef-
fort on their part."
One of the best-paid Bills' players, Ferguson said
that before he came to Buffalo, "the guidelines for a
new contract were drawn up." He said he hasn't
heard from the club since.
CLUB SPOKESMAN Mike Shaw said the team had
no official comment on Ferguson's remarks.
"He's in his option year, and we're going through
the normal procedures," Shaw said. Ferguson said,
"I'm shooting for five more seasons; and I want to be
here," he said. "It's great because I'm in my prime
and so is the team. I was worried three years ago. I
was one of the guys who wanted to get out.
"A couple of years ago, Willie Parker and I started
crossing out guys on the 1974 team photo (the last
previous Bills playoff team) and 25 or 30 were gone.
We let a lot of people go and got nothing in return.
"Now we have Jim Haslett and Fred Smerlas wan-
ting new contracts, Joe Devlin and Mario Clark
playing out their options, and myself. These are
mainstays, five people with All-Pro potential. We just
have to clear everything up."
4
4