Dartmouth's football team may be struggling this year, but the Big Green football factory is all the National Football League seems to be talking about this week. That's because, with their top two quarterbacks out because of injury, the Minnesota Vikings are turning to former Big Green standout Jay Fiedler '94 to guide the NFC Central leaders in their contest this weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The injury bug bit Minnesota last weekend as starting quarterback Randall Cunningham suffered bone chips in his right knee while backup quarterback and former starter Brad Johnson broke his right thumb and will be out for a month. As a result, the Vikings are turning to Fiedler to lead the NFC's top-rated offense.
"I'm excited," Fiedler said. "It's been a long time, five years since I came out of college. Everyone dreams of getting their first start in the NFL, and this is it for me. I'm real excited for the chance."
Cunningham currently is listed as questionable and his status will be reevaluated on Thursday or Friday, ESPN's Chris Mortensen told the Dartmouth. Cunningham is expected to return next week for the Vikings home game against Green Bay.
If he gets the call, Fiedler will become only the second Dartmouth quarterback ever to start a game. Jeff Kemp '81 was a starter for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles in his long NFL career. But despite having thrown just four passes in his career, Fiedler has the luxury of just being part of a high-flying Vikings offense that includes Cris Carter, Robert Smith and rookie sensation Randy Moss.
"I think its fair to say that Jay has more weapons at Minnesota than he ever had here at Dartmouth," said Big Green Head Coach John Lyons, who coached Fiedler during his junior and senior years.
Despite being the third-string quarterback for most of the season, the Vikings have a lot of confidence in Fielder.
"Jay is very athletic, makes good decisions and has a strong arm," Vikings offensive coordinator Brian Billick said in an interview with The Dartmouth last night. "He has been in our system now for weeks and knows the offense. He has great weapons around him, so we aren't going to change our playbook or do anything different than we have in the previous weeks."
This weekend will not be the first time Fiedler has been at the helm of the Vikings juggernaut. He was two-for-four for 29 yards in a mop-up role against Washington on Oct. 18, his regular-season debut. He played without throwing a pass late in the win at Detroit the following week.
"He played very well in the Washington game when he played over a quarter, so we expect much of the same this week," Billick said. "We have a lot of confidence in Jay's ability, and we like the fact that Jay is very self-confident in his ability."
While his NFL statistics may not even take up a line in the Minnesota Vikings program, Fiedler's name is engraved in Dartmouth's record book. Aside from leading the Big Green to two Ivy League championships and earning first team all-Ivy honors in his final two seasons, Fiedler owns nearly every Dartmouth passing record there is. In three seasons as the Big Green's signal-caller, he racked up 6,684 yards passing and 58 touchdowns. He also owns the top four passing games in Dartmouth's 117-year history, including a 419-yard, four-touchdown effort against Yale in 1992.
After graduating from Dartmouth in 1994, Fiedler was signed as a free-agent by the Eagles, where he spent two years as the Eagles No. 3 quarterback before being cut after the 1995 season. He played with the Bengals briefly during the summer of 1996 but did not make the final roster cut and was out of football for two years before being signed by the Vikings this past off-season.
Minnesota knew of Fiedler because the Vikings quarterback coach, Chip Myers, had seen Fiedler play while at Dartmouth. Myers was a former assistant coach of current Cincinnati Bengals coach Bruce Coslet, whose son, J.J., was a teammate of Fiedler's at Dartmouth in 1993.
However, the Vikings released Fiedler as one of their final cuts this summer, but resigned him two weeks into the year when Johnson, who opened the season as the starter, fractured his right fibula. Now, eleven weeks since being cut for the third time, Fiedler has reached the highest point of his professional career.
"Fairy tale, isn't it?" he said. "It's been great. I've had a lot of ups and downs. Right now my roller coaster is riding up to the top."
Lyons expressed his happiness at Fiedler finally getting a shot to fulfill his dream of being a starting quarterback in the NFL.
"This is what he's worked for his entire life," Lyons said. "Jay's got great skills and is a very smart player. He's had a tough road the past few years but has stayed with it, pursuing his dream. I'm just excited that he's finally getting the opportunity to do what he set out to accomplish."
The Vikings have the luxury of starting Fiedler because of Green Bay's loss to Pittsburgh on Monday night, which means the Vikings are now two games ahead of the Packers. If Cunningham was questionable and this were a must win game, Mortensen believes that Cunningham would be listed as the starter if he were capable of taking the field. But for now, Minnesota is counting on Fiedler to lead them to victory on Sunday.
Fiedler becomes the second Ivy League product to start at quarterback this season. Princeton graduate Jason Garrett started six games for the Dallas Cowboys after Troy Aikman broke his collarbone in the second game of the season. Along with the two signal-callers, there are seven other Ivy League products playing in the NFL this season, including one other Ancient Eight graduate on the Vikings. Harvard offensive lineman Matt Birk was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round of last year's NFL draft.
"I think that having Jason and Jay playing this season shows that a good quarterback can emerge from any level of college football if they work hard enough," Lyons said.
While Fiedler has little chance of moving up on the depth chart once Cunningham and Johnson return, his performance this Sunday could enhance his value around the league. Current Buffalo Bills quarterback Rob Johnson played only one game as a backup before being signed by Buffalo to a five-year, $25 million dollar deal.
"It's unlikely Jay will ever be able to move up the depth chart in Minnesota, so this is really his chance to prove to the other 29 teams that he can play quarterback at this level," Mortensen said.
But all of those are issues Fiedler will deal with in the future. Right now, he just needs to go out and enjoy himself says his former coach.
"If I were to talk to Jay, I would tell him just to go out and have fun," Lyons said. "He's been waiting for this day his whole life, so he should enjoy it."
