Accorsi

This summer, for the first time in decades, Ernie Accorsi didn't have to worry about training camp. He didn't have to worry about the NFL draft, the salary cap, the combine or the depth chart either. With a little extra time on his hands, the newly retired Accorsi hopped into his car and hit the road for a 4,200-mile tour of the Midwest. He visited Commerce, Okla., to see where the Mick grew up. He saw the Field of Dreams diamond in Iowa. And caught a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

From a distance not always safe, Ernie Accorsi watched John Elway's awkward induction into the NFL, his quixotic rise to power, his devastating Super Bowl losses, his transcendent triumph.Now, 16 years to the day after Accorsi made Elway the No. 1 pick in the 1983 draft, he will watch the legendary quarterback complete the journey.From 22-year-old brat who wouldn't play in Baltimore to 38-year-old icon in Denver.From would-be outfielder in the New York Yankees' farm system to certain Hall of Famer with the Broncos.

Now, it's Ernie Accorsi moving to center stage, there in the middle of the spotlight. Not to dance, sing, blow a trumpet or otherwise entertain, but to perform in a more pressurized and specialized capacity. He has assumed control as general manager of one of the high-profile and most demanding of all sports franchises -- the New York Giants. He's fully equipped to handle what's required but, to be forewarned, it won't be easy.The Giants under George Young, the general manager who departs for a position as the senior vice president of football operations in the NFL office, established an almost 20-year reputation for success that promises to be difficult to replicate.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- You can take the general manager out of Baltimore, but you can't take the Baltimore out of the general manager.As George Young ended his 19-year run as New York Giants general manager to become a senior vice president in the NFL office, his Baltimore roots were fondly remembered yesterday.As Young, 67, officially announced his resignation, there was so much reminiscing about Baltimore that Barry Levinson, once Young's student when he was a high school teacher and coach in Baltimore, would have had enough material to film a sequel to "Diner."

John Elway is the official sentimental favorite of the Super Bowl tournament, with most of the football nation rooting for him to win a big one before it's too late.That leaves Baltimore fans in a tough position as Elway leads the Denver Broncos against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game today.Elway has been a public enemy around here for years, since he said he wouldn't play for the Colts after they made him the No. 1 pick in the 1983 draft -- a stand that led to his trade to Denver and probably hastened the Colts' departure a year later.

Ravens owner Art Modell slowly pulls out a long list of Ozzie Newsome's acquisitions during the past two years, and he sees the present turning into a bright future.Modell points out the free agents that his vice president of player personnel has signed who are now prominent players. Defensive end Michael McCrary. Defensive tackles Tony Siragusa and James Jones. Tight end Eric Green. Right guard Jeff Blackshear.And then Modell sounds even prouder when he talks about the past two drafts, which included Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, Jermaine Lewis, Peter Boulware, Jamie Sharper, Kim Herring"Enough?"

On the morning of April 26, 1983, the day of the NFL draft, Baltimore Colts owner Bob Irsay was trying to hold a fire sale.Even though the Colts owned the first pick in the draft, Irsay didn't want to draft the top prospect, Stanford quarterback John Elway, because of his demand for a five-year, $5 million contract.That was fine with Elway, who didn't want to play for Colts coach Frank Kush.But other teams were making lowball offers because they knew Irsay wanted to dump Elway.Irsay was ready to deal Elway to the New England Patriots for Pro Bowl guard John Hannah and a No. 1 pick when Colts general manager Ernie Accorsi objected.

Working behind a desk in a baseball office is a new role for Ernie Accorsi, yet it's a perfect fit in all aspects. It may seem odd for a man with 23 years in the National Football League to be working for the Baltimore Orioles, where the only fundamental difference is the shape of the ball.Accorsi made a switch that has only rare precedent. He talks the sports language, knows how to handle himself in diverse environments and will continue to make friends for the organization he represents.

Four months after joining the Orioles front office, veteran football executive Ernie Accorsi is leaving to resume his NFL career as assistant general manager of the New York Giants.The Giants are expected to announce Accorsi's appointment today.Accorsi declined to confirm he is taking the Giants job, saying only, "It's been offered. Obviously I'm quite interested."But Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos said yesterday that Accorsi told him at a meeting earlier in the day that he is leaving to work for the Giants.

The shuffling continues at Camden Yards. Only this time, the Orioles are hiring as well as firing.The latest addition to the club's front office is Walt Gutowski, whose resume includes stints with the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Baltimore Skipjacks, and the distinction of being the last public relations director of the Baltimore Colts. Gutowski began work this week as Orioles director of business affairs.Gutowski, 36, replaces Ernie Accorsi, who left the Orioles in July to join the New York Giants.

Fifty years ago, an undersized defensive back named Andy Nelson climbed into a car alongside a 25-year-old, fresh-faced quarterback. Was it a Pontiac? A Chevrolet? Tricky thing about time: Just as easily as it can help shape a legacy, it can fade a memory. Nelson and his friend drove together to Memorial Stadium, where they would catch a bus to the airport, where they would board a plane for New York, where they would make history just a couple of days later. If there were only a way to get into his head.

Milt Davis knew how to read people - both on and off the football field. As an All-Pro defensive back for the Baltimore Colts, he outfoxed receivers, twice led the NFL in interceptions and helped the club win two world championships. As a pro scout, Davis judged prospects with the best. But it was his touch with everyday folks that will be remembered most, those who knew him said. "When you did your goodbyes with Milt on the phone, the last thing he'd say was 'Be noble,'" said Ernie Accorsi, former Colts general manager.

Tomorrow's draft will mark the 25th anniversary of what, in my opinion, was the greatest NFL draft of all time - except in a few places, notably in Baltimore. Many football fans recall the 1983 first round as the The Great Quarterback Draft - the one that produced John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly, Hall of Famers all. Three other quarterbacks were selected in that first round - Ken O'Brien, Todd Blackledge and Tony Eason - and even among that lesser group, O'Brien was a Pro Bowl selection and Eason took a team to the Super Bowl.

He is the Barack Obama of football, a fresh-faced comer whose rapid rise has put him smack in the crosshairs of Baltimore's coaching search. Three years after retiring as a player, is Jason Garrett ready to run the Ravens? Those who know the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator say he is. Garrett, a Princeton graduate, has the smarts, the savvy, the winning smile. He knows when to teach - and when to learn. He is, they say, the brain without the Brian. See the clipboard in his hand?

This summer, for the first time in decades, Ernie Accorsi didn't have to worry about training camp. He didn't have to worry about the NFL draft, the salary cap, the combine or the depth chart either. With a little extra time on his hands, the newly retired Accorsi hopped into his car and hit the road for a 4,200-mile tour of the Midwest. He visited Commerce, Okla., to see where the Mick grew up. He saw the Field of Dreams diamond in Iowa. And caught a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

Twenty-one years after he lost John Elway, Ernie Accorsi found Eli Manning. The New York Giants can only hope the two quarterbacks deserve to be linked in the same sentence one day. Accorsi, the Giants' general manager, acquired Manning yesterday after a calculated gamble and some nifty maneuvering in the first round of the NFL draft. Unable to agree on terms of a trade with San Diego before the draft, Accorsi had to watch the Chargers take the Mississippi quarterback with the first pick.

Ernie Accorsi remembers the ill will created in 1977 when Baltimore Colts wide receiver Roger Carr stayed out of camp until the week before the season started. "Players were anonymously sniping at him," said Accorsi, the New York Giants general manager who worked for the Colts back then. "We had a chance to win. We had won two straight division titles. We put him in the game [at Seattle] and his touchdown put the game away. "He caught a bomb from Bert Jones. I think there were 45 guys hugging him on the field.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - If hurt has to look like something, it may look the way Kerry Collins did after Super Bowl XXXV. Ernie Accorsi, the New York Giants' general manager, approaches Collins in the locker room and sees his face. What do you say to a quarterback who throws four interceptions in the biggest game of his life? Accorsi pats Collins on the back and beckons Collins' agent into the room, circumventing rules, figuring Collins needs someone to talk to. Wellington Mara, the Giants' co-owner, walks over to Collins to console him. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Mara says.

It was simultaneously endearing and appalling, this idea of requiring a potential mate to pass a test of football trivia as a condition of matrimony. The concept forms a climactic scene in the movie Diner, when a character solemnly submits his fiancee to a rigorous exam on Baltimore Colts history. The bit delightfully conveyed the struggle between maturity and immaturity that is the crux of the film. It is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie, which was released 20 years ago and made pop culture heroes out of a clique of Forest Park High School grads upon whom the film was loosely based.

If the Ravens should stumble in the playoffs, they will have someone to blame besides the quarterback for failing to win back-to-back championships: Bert Bell. It was Bell, then the owner of a woeful Philadelphia Eagles club, who in 1935 suggested the radical idea of a reverse-order draft. To strengthen weak franchises, the last-place team would pick college players first and the first-place team last. The scheme devised by Bell, who went on to be NFL commissioner, became a first for a professional sports league.