Earning his stripes

Sporting News, The, Nov 7, 1994 by Mark Purdy

"Dave will start if he's healthy," Shula says.

But what if Bengals had beaten the Cowboys with Blake at quarterback? Would he have started then?

"We didn't win the game, so I don't have to answer the question," Shula calmly says.

Meanwhile, down the hallway, Blake is sanguine.

"I don't think I earned a start," he says. "But I think I earned a secure job on the team. That's what I was looking for."

So what is his next goal?

"I'm going to try not to let my ego get too big," Blake jokes.

Thirty years from now, this is what Jeff Blake will tell his grandchildren, about the day he almost beat the Cowboys and joked about his ego. They may even believe him. But just to be safe, he'd better save the videotape.