shelby
01-04-2009, 07:51 AM
The Buffalo Bills' No. 2 quarterback had just seen an interception returned 58 yards for a touchdown that put his team 32 points down in the third quarter when No. 3 quarterback Gale Gilbert trotted over and patted him on the back.
"He told me what I needed to hear," Frank Reich (http://www.washingtontimes.com/themes/?Theme=Frank+Reich) recalled after the game. "He said, 'Hey, you did it in college, so there's no reason why you can't do it here.'"
Gilbert had a good memory. In 1984, Reich replaced Maryland starter Stan Gelbaugh in the third quarter with the Terrapins trailing Miami 31-0 and ignited a furious rally that produced an implausible 42-40 victory at the Orange Bowl.
And now, unbelievably, he did it again.
On Jan. 3, 1993, career backup Reich, playing only because All-Pro Jim Kelly was out with a knee injury, threw four touchdown passes in the second half as the Bills erased that 35-3 deficit and stormed to a 41-38 victory in an AFC wild card playoff game before a mostly ecstatic throng of 75,141 at Buffalo's Rich Stadium.
What are the odds of the same quarterback engineering what then were the biggest rallies in both college and pro football history? When the word "comeback" appears in dictionaries, Reich's picture should be alongside.
He threw a touchdown pass to Don Beebe and three more to Andre Reed, and the Bills switched from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 to better contain Houston's Warren Moon, who completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. Slowly and surely, the Bills rallied to take a 38-35 lead before a field goal by Houston's Al Del Greco sent the game into overtime.
more... (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/04/reich-mastered-the-comeback/)
"He told me what I needed to hear," Frank Reich (http://www.washingtontimes.com/themes/?Theme=Frank+Reich) recalled after the game. "He said, 'Hey, you did it in college, so there's no reason why you can't do it here.'"
Gilbert had a good memory. In 1984, Reich replaced Maryland starter Stan Gelbaugh in the third quarter with the Terrapins trailing Miami 31-0 and ignited a furious rally that produced an implausible 42-40 victory at the Orange Bowl.
And now, unbelievably, he did it again.
On Jan. 3, 1993, career backup Reich, playing only because All-Pro Jim Kelly was out with a knee injury, threw four touchdown passes in the second half as the Bills erased that 35-3 deficit and stormed to a 41-38 victory in an AFC wild card playoff game before a mostly ecstatic throng of 75,141 at Buffalo's Rich Stadium.
What are the odds of the same quarterback engineering what then were the biggest rallies in both college and pro football history? When the word "comeback" appears in dictionaries, Reich's picture should be alongside.
He threw a touchdown pass to Don Beebe and three more to Andre Reed, and the Bills switched from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 to better contain Houston's Warren Moon, who completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. Slowly and surely, the Bills rallied to take a 38-35 lead before a field goal by Houston's Al Del Greco sent the game into overtime.
more... (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/04/reich-mastered-the-comeback/)