Finally, Reich Plays in a Starring Role

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. —  When the final gun sounded and the Buffalo Bills had completed one of the most startling, exhilarating comeback victories imaginable, Frank Reich didn’t know quite what to do.

He had been on the Bills’ roster for five years but barely played, and had never started until Monday night, the quintessential backup. He overcame a severe case of jittery nerves to complete 10 of 11 passes in the fourth quarter, including an eight-yard flip to Andre Reed with 16 seconds left that gave Buffalo the sweetest of victories, 23-20, over the Los Angeles Rams.

Reich stood on the sideline, ran around in a little circle, sat on the bench and cried. Not a tear or two. He sobbed. Reich cried the tears of every dreamer who sees himself filling in for the No. 1 man and throwing the winning touchdown pass before adoring home fans.

“You’d have to say it was a fairy tale,” said Reich, who played his college football at the University of Maryland. “The whole thing overwhelmed me so. It was the only way I could express all that I felt. After Andre caught the pass, I didn’t know what to do. It was like I was lost on the field. Where do I go? What do I do now? I guess I was a pretty happy camper to have this happen after five years. It was definitely worth the wait.”

It’s impossible to appreciate Reich’s euphoria without understanding his early miseries. At one point in the first half, Reich had completed only five of 15 passes. One was intercepted and two straight were batted down at the line of scrimmage. One pass, about a four-yard screen, hit a running back in the foot. Reich was guiding the ball, not throwing it, and eyeballing his receivers to the point that the defensive backs knew exactly where each pass was going. The only thing keeping the Bills in the game was their defense. As the Rams held the lead, 7-0, 7-6, 10-6, 10-9, 13-9 and 20-16, the defensive players kept telling Reich to stay calm.

“Offensively,” he said, “we weren’t doing much. I kept telling myself, ‘Hang in there, Frank.’

“We couldn’t convert on third down and a large part of that was my fault. My ring finger on my right hand got hit and it was numb; I still don’t feel anything right now. At the beginning, I had never been that nervous in all my life. I guess it was just anxiety or something. But the defensive guys kept encouraging me. And Jim Kelly (the starter who suffered a separated shoulder against the Colts last week) tried to make me feel like I wasn’t playing that poorly, even though I probably was. I was discouraged a few times, but I never felt like giving up.”

The Bills were never more than a touchdown behind. Mike Lansford of the Rams and Scott Norwood of the Bills traded field goals in the rain until Reich calmed himself enough to pull his game together, finishing with 21 completions in 37 attempts for 214 yards.

“I remembered that the Rams were undefeated and had a great defense,” he said. “The 49ers couldn’t score a touchdown against them (two weeks ago) and they have Joe Montana, who may be the greatest quarterback of all time.”

When the fourth quarter started, so did Reich. He completed a 47-yard pass to Reed, a 15-yard pass to Reed, and a one-yard touchdown toss to running back Thurman Thomas on third and goal. That put the Bills on top for the first time, 16-13.

After the Bills stopped Los Angeles on fourth down, it seemed the game was over; in reality, it was just beginning to unfold. As the Bills were trying to run out the clock, Thomas fumbled with 1:33 to play. One play later, Jim Everett hit Willie Anderson with a 78-yard pass over the middle that put the Rams back on top, 20-16. Rams cornerback LeRoy Irvin said: “We thought we were magicians. We thought we had pulled one out of a hat.”

Reich went onto the field with 77 seconds left, telling himself: “Don’t force anything deep. Take the short passes until you’re almost out of time. You’ve got three timeouts and 64 yards to go. It’s not impossible and you don’t have to do anything fantastic.”

Reich followed his orders. He hit Reed for a six-yard pass, Thomas for three yards, Thomas for 17 more (after a motion penalty), Thomas for six, Thomas for 15. After using the second timeout, Reich connected with Ronnie Harmon, who gained 14 yards and got out of bounds at the eight. With 20 seconds left, he fired the ball into Reed’s belly for the touchdown, sending the Bills into a wild celebration on the field.

The most difficult thing for Reich is that he knows this is a limited engagement. Bills Coach Marv Levy talked about the “dignity” with which Reich has handled his role as a backup, a role that has allowed him to play only 10 times in five years. Kelly will be back in a few weeks and Reich will go back to holding a clipboard, just as he did for three years backing up Boomer Esiason at Maryland.

During the week Reich was constantly answering phone calls from his Maryland buddies: Esiason, punter Alan Sadler, place kicker Jess Atkinson. Former coach Bobby Ross, now at Georgia Tech, sent a telegram. They all remembered that six months ago, Reich was left unprotected and didn’t know whether the club wanted him back.

That was not the first time Reich has faced discouraging situations. In 1985, his rookie season, Reich grew anxious after being drafted in the third round, the second quarterback taken after Randall Cunningham. “I got discouraged about not playing,” he said, “and I pulled out the Miami tape.”

He was referring, of course, to the NCAA record come-from-behind victory in which Reich, with Maryland trailing by 31-0, entered the game and led Maryland to six scoring drives in the second half and a 42-40 victory.

“In a lot of ways, this feels like the Miami game,” Reich said. “Similar emotion, being overwhelmed. How many times are you that fortunate in your career?”