Joe Theismann, quarterbacking the Toronto Argonauts. Courtesy Toronto Argonauts

I want to make it clear from the start that I have no regrets whatsoever about going to Canada to play professional football.

I know there are skeptics who won't believe this, particularly since I could have been with Miami in the Super Bowl. But what good is being in the Super Bowl if you're' sitting on the bench?

I'm not conceding anything to Bob Griese, but my chances of beating him out as the Dolphins' starting quarterback were about one in ten. Coach Don Shula told me I would have been given every opportunity to win the starting job and I feel I probably could have been the backup quarterback, at least. But Bob Griese is a great quarterback who's been a top pro for four or five years and the likelihood of me, a fresh rookie from Notre Dame, becoming the starting quarterback over Bob was practically nil.

So I decided to play for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League. And I think the wisdom of my choice is evident by what I did to help Toronto get into the Grey Cup.

In case you don't know it, the Grey Cup is the CFL version of the Super Bowl, and although we lost the game, 14-11, to Calgary, I was happy to have been a part of the first Argonaut team to play in the Grey Cup in 21 years.

I'm still being criticized by a lot of people for going to Canada. I've often heard it said, "He's afraid to play in the NFL." I know I'm not and anyone who knows me will vouch for that. I love challenges and I love competition. That's why I originally went to Notre Dame when I could have gone to any number of less demanding colleges.

But it was not simply a matter of competing that led me to the CFL. Ultimately, it was a decision based on opportunity and economics. I was faced with the situation of either having an opportunity to start and getting more money by playing for the Argonauts or sitting on the bench and being paid less in Miami. I chose to make more money, signing a two-year contract plus bonus.

Maybe it would have been different if I had been drafted by an NFL team which needed a quarterback more than Miami did. But now that I've played a year in Toronto I'm not the least bit sorry. The business opportunities for a young man just coming out of college are really great. I know what the Dolphins said they would do for me in the offseason isn't comparable to what I'm doing in the offseason in Canada. So I have reaped some fringe benefits I hadn't seriously anticipated last spring.

Yet the money alone didn't dictate my choice. I had heard the Argonauts were unhappy with their two. quarterbacks, Don Jonas and Tom Wilkinson, and that one or both probably would be traded. One of the Argonaut officials told me confidentially: "We haven't got a proven quarterback and we really think you're our man. If yon have the talent we believe you have you'll be our starter." As it turned out, the Argonauts traded both Jonas and Wilkinson but they didn't just hand me the job. I had to compete for it against Greg Barton and that wasn't easy.

Greg came to Toronto in much the same frame of mind that I did. After sitting on the Detroit Lions' bench for three years he played out his option and the Lions traded him to Philadelphia. But instead of going to the Eagles -- who had all but promised him the starting job -- he decided on Toronto.

Our competition was fierce but it was extremely valuable, I think the more you compete the better athlete you become. If there's a little force behind you, pushing you along, you work that little bit extra that means the difference between good and great. And in Toronto, Greg was the force behind me. I knew that if I were to slack off and look lousy Greg was good enough to take over and all of a sudden I would become a second-string quarterback.

The Hawk -- that's what we call him because of that nose -- was a great teacher, too, and, surprisingly, he was free with his advice. We have become great friends and we even room together on the road.

As a matter of fact, the Hawk and I even look alike and we've passed for twins many times. But we're completely different in personality. He's a quiet individual and I'm outgoing -- subtlety has never been one of my strong points -- and this is probably why we get along so well.

But we look so much alike that one time last season in Edmonton we fooled a reporter named Wayne Overland. Wayne had never met either one of us and when he came into the room I was shaving so I asked Hawk to do the interview. I had briefed him about my background and he sat with Wayne for 20 minutes pretending he was me. Finally, I came out and said, "Okay, Hawk, I'll take over now." Wayne gave us the dirtiest look I'd ever seen and I don't think he's forgiven us to this day.

Anyway, Greg and I were so evenly matched when the season started that the Argonauts alternated us on every series of downs. I won't say I was pleased, exactly, but I was happy to be a starting quarterback and we were winning. Then Greg hurt his finger and I became the fulltime starter for the rest of the season.

I'm honest enough to admit I might feel differently about Canadian football if I would have had to alternate the entire season with Greg. And I really don't know how I'm going to react next year if we alternate again. I think you have to recognize that there are players who are better than you but you have to say to yourself: "I'm the best at my position," and then go out and prove it. Some people call that cockiness but I call it confidence.

I feel I am the best at my position and it's up to me to go out every year and prove I'm the best. I've kind of established a reputation in Toronto and now I have to show I deserve it. I intend to go out and become the undisputed No. 1 quarterback next year. Now I also have the advantage of a year's experience as a pro and believe me there's no substitute for experience.

The unique graduating class of 1970 -- Jim Plunkett (#16) of Stanford, Rex Kern (#10) of Ohio State, Joe Theismann (#7) of Notre Dame, and Archie Manning (#18) of Ole Miss -- posed for a SPORT cover before heading on to the pros. Class of 1970 $135.00

I thought I was ready, mentally and physically, for my first professional season but to be honest I wasn't even ready for my first game as a starter. That was in our second exhibition game and I was somewhat stunned by what happened. It was entirely different from what I had expected. Remember, I had been playing football for 12 years, from the Pop Warner League in New Jersey up through two Cotton Bowl teams at Notre Dame, and almost always I had been a starter playing on a pretty high level of competition.

So, we were playing the Montreal Alouettes who were the defending CFL champions. Greg had started our first exhibition game against Winnipeg and I had only gotten in for a few plays. Against Montreal I dropped back to pass for the first time and when I turned around all I saw were white jerseys. Here they had the blitz on with all their linebackers plus their front four pouring in on me. Steve Smear, who used to play at Penn State and is Montreal's middle linebacker, and probably one of the finest in the league, just zeroed in on me and, boom, the lights went out.

I had been hit once or twice in college -- I remember getting the wind knocked out of me against Michigan State -- but this was really the first shot I ever took. When my head cleared, I said to myself: "Geez, this is professional football! They play for keeps." I stayed in the game but it was just one continuous beating. And as I soon discovered, the Montreal game was just the beginning.

In the middle of the season, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats taught me another lesson -- to keep my big mouth shut. You have to understand that there's a notorious rivalry between Toronto and Hamilton. The cities are close to each other but different in personality, just like our teams.

Any time the two teams play it's a rough, tough game and in our first meeting they were absolutely wild. I got beat up pretty good and I shot my mouth off like an idiot. We defeated them but I came out in the papers and called them dirty players. I said, "They are cheap-shot artists who don't know what the game is about. They think it's a street fight and I think there's more to pro football than a street fight."

That really angered them and they made all kinds of promises to get me -- and they did. Two weeks later we played them again, only this time the game meant more to us than any other. By beating Hamilton we would clinch the Eastern Division title and get into the CFL playoffs.

Now, remember, Toronto hadn't been in the Grey Cup in 21 years and everybody was claiming the Argonauts couldn't win the big ones; something like what people in the States used to say about the Dallas Cowboys. So this game was our biggest of the season, even bigger than the Grey Cup turned out to be, because if we had lost to Hamilton people would have said, "Well, they're the same old Argonauts. They choke under pressure."

The game developed into another all-out street fight and the Hamilton guys really came after me. The officiating didn't help me much either. They kind of let things go. I think there were a total of 14 roughing penalties called on Hamilton and I was involved in about eight of them.

Once I was running on Hamilton's cornerback, John Williams, and when I tried to put a move on him he gave me the old "clothesline." That was my introduction to the "clothesline" and I was groggy for a while.

But we won the game, and then later in the playoffs beat Hamilton in a two-game series for a spot in the Grey Cup against the Calgary Stampeders. However, by this time the Grey Cup was almost anti-climatic. I'm not saying we went into the Grey Cup game mentally or physically down. It meant a lot to us, but just getting there was an accomplishment for the Argonauts.

I got worked over pretty good in the Grey Cup, too. Just before the half I was tackled from behind. Somebody got into my face mask and hit my nose and my eyes filled up with water. I couldn't see right, so I went out and discovered I had a broken nose. I went back in but the coach took me out in the third quarter to try, I guess, to change the tempo of the game. He put me in again in the last two minutes but we fumbled near their goal line and lost 14-11. It was kind of a disappointing end to a successful season.

But playing in the Grey Cup was really the highlight of my football career so far, even a bigger thrill then playing in those two Cotton Bowls against Texas. I don't think anything in the States compares with the Grey Cup, not even the Super Bowl. The game really divides the nation. It's East against West. If you're an Ottawa fan, say, and you don't like the Argonauts, you'll still support them in the Grey Cup because they're the Eastern team, and the same thing is true of people in the West getting behind Calgary. (Of course, I'm not really certain about the sentiments of those Hamilton fans this year.)

The excitement builds up throughout the week and you feel the electricity in the air as the game gets closer and closer. Both teams are mixed up in all the festivities and the people don't hesitate to display their emotions. It's really more than a football game-almost like a National Holiday.

Canadian football, itself, is an entirely new experience for a kid from South River, New Jersey, or for anyone brought up playing American football. The rules are strange and take a little getting used to.

To start, there are 12 men on a team, giving you an extra back. Then there's the field. It's a lot wider and a little bit longer with two 50-yard lines and deep, deep end zones. Matter of fact, when I went back to Notre Dame in November for the Southern Cal game I was shocked at the size of the field. It looked like a little match box compared to what I had been playing on.

However, I think the bigger field is better suited for a quarterback like me, one who is more mobile or likes to run, than it is for the classic dropback passer. (I must confess, however, that you can get a helluva lot more tired trying to run away from those big people than you can on an American field.)

But I think the true advantage in the field lies with the receivers because there is such a vast area that the defensive players must cover. Picture if you will what it is like to isolate Gene Washington one-on-one. You know he can burn you badly. But imagine adding another seven-and-a-half yards to the area he has to work in and you realize it makes him almost impossible to cover.

Joe Theismann is chased down by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Courtesy Toronto Argonauts

Then, in the CFL, you have just three downs to work with. This is the rule I detest the most. In the States, if you have second down and one, you pretty well have what we call a waste down -- you have a chance to gamble and maybe go for the bomb. In Canada if you have second down and one you've got to make it or you will have to punt. It changes the thinking of a quarterback and it makes you utilize every play and every second of the game more so than in the States.

There aren't any time outs, either. It's all running time except in the last three minutes of each quarter when they give you a three-minute warning and start timing in a way similar to American football. That is, in the last three minutes if you throw the ball out of bounds or the receiver or runner goes out of bounds then the clock stops. But if it's a running or passing play in bounds, the clock continues to run unless it is a first down; then the clock stops until the ball is marked for play.

There's an advantage in the three downs and running time rules for a team that is losing. because the game can change around so quickly. Our game with the Edmonton Eskimos is a perfect example. We played them out in Edmonton, which is God's Country, on a Thursday. We had played British Columbia just three days before, on a Monday, and we were a tired team.

With just five minutes left, we were behind 14-2 and Edmonton had the ball. In American football that would be a desperate, almost insurmountable situation for a team that is losing. Anyhow, we forced them to punt and drove from about our own 40 to score, getting a couple of first downs on the way.

Remember, now, you can only hold the ball for three downs, not four. So, after we kicked off, they tried to pass and one of our defensive halfbacks intercepted the ball with about two minutes left. We scored again with about a minute remaining and suddenly we're ahead 16-14.

But the game's not over, yet. Edmonton comes back up the field and their kicker gets set to try a 56-yard field goal. He had kicked a 60-yard one earlier in the season so we were apprehensive. The kick was long enough but missed the uprights by only about a foot. We gave them a single and we won 16-15.

That single is another crazy rule and it helped us win our first league game against Winnipeg. A single is given when a punt or missed field goal isn't run out of the end zone. Well, the score was tied 20-20 and we didn't have time to get our field goal kicker in, so Zenin Andrewishyn, who played at UCLA, punted the ball over the end zone and we won, 21-20.

Weird? No, just a sample of the different CFL rules.

Perhaps the most damaging rule in the CFL is one that has nothing to do with playing but rather with organization -- placing limits on the number of Americans a Canadian team is allowed to have on its roster. Of the 32 players, only 14 can be Americans.

Now, I'm not taking anything away from Canadian talent but the Canadian kids simply aren't trained as well. Hockey is their major sport and that's what they emphasize in high school and college. The average Canadian has been playing football for only six years or so, which is about half the time the American player has spent. And it's in the early ages, from 11 to 17, that a kid learns his basic fundamentals.

So the American player is better. For this reason, most of the Americans in the CFL are in your key positions such as quarterback, running back, wide receiver and maybe center. And, of course, on defense almost every deep secondary is made up of Americans.

Because of this American-Canadian distribution I'd have to agree with critics who say the overall quality of the CFL does not compare with the NFL. But that doesn't mean it's a second-rate league. The talent is there. Just look at the ex-CFL players in the NFL today, guys like Vic Washington at San Francisco, Bo Scott at Cleveland, Pete Liske at Philadelphia and Margene Adkins at Dallas. And do I have to remind you where Cookie Gilchrist and Joe Kapp started?

I get extremely angry with people who claim we're NFL castoffs or rejects. Take Leon McQuay, our star running back at Toronto. He left college before his senior year. Greg Barton says Leon is as good as Altie Taylor of Detroit and I wouldn't be surprised if he is drafted high by an NFL team. Jimmy Corrigal, our defensive end, who I compare to Bob Lilly or Alan Page, was a second round draft choice of the St. Louis Cardinals. But he chose to play in the CFL. Jimmy Stillwagon and Tim Anderson of Ohio State weren't cast off by the Packers and 49ers; they chose the CFL. I wasn't rejected by the Dolphins but chose the CFL.

Joe Theismann eludes Rudi Sims of the Ottawa Rough Riders in an October 1971 contest. Photo: The SPORT Collection

I'm not the least bit hesitant about recommending the CFL to anyone. Most rookies don't get much of an opportunity to play in the NFL, but up here you can get the game experience that sometimes takes four or five years to get in the NFL. And I know it is playing experience that will make me an accomplished professional quarterback.

Right now my main weakness is poor judgment in throwing the football. I'm a little hasty in throwing when I should eat the ball. Plus, I have to develop my play calling and learn to utilize my backs a lot more. But this can only come through game experience.

I believe I've overcome two of the major objections NFL scouts had when they discussed my potential -- my size and durability. As I understand it, those were the main obstacles preventing a team from drafting me higher than the fourth round.

Well, I'm 6-1, 180 pounds, now, and though some people may think that's still too small, I'd like to remind them that I'm taller than Bob Griese. Sure, I'd like to be 6-4, 210 pounds like a Greg Landry or Roman Gabriel but I can't change.

If you've got 6-5 defensive linemen coming at you what difference does it make whether you're 6-1 or 6-4 because you can't see over them anyway? I've always thought the object for an offensive lineman was to move the defensive lineman in order to give the quarterback a passing lane and a true vision to his target, not to give a quarterback a big target to throw over! Anyhow, my success this year as the conference passing leader proves I'm tall enough.

I've also shown I can take punishment. I know a lot of my friends have said, "I've seen you take hits I didn't think you were going to get up from." Well, I did get up-again and again.

However, I'm sure some NFL scout will find something else critical to say about me. They look for a mold and they try to fit every person into this mold. If you don't fit, you're not accepted.

Don't get the idea I'm saying all this because I want to come back to the NFL. I'm not using Toronto as a stepping stone. But if the opportunity was presented and an offer was made that would be suitable I would consider coming back to the NFL. I couldn't come back right now even if I wanted to because I have two years remaining on my contract. But if I were to play out my option and find an NFL opportunity that would enhance my future then I would possibly consider returning.

However, it would take quite a bit. First, they'd have to compensate me with a satisfactory contract. Second, they'd have to compensate for an off-season job which has the potential of giving me a very substantial income, both while I'm playing football and when I'm finished. They'd also have to compensate for the endorsement rights I have up there and all the other fringe benefits that are involved. I'm not just talking about a contract but about the connections I've made outside of football.

Of course, above all, I'd have to be assured of the opportunity to at least compete for the No. 1 job and know that I'd have a 50-50 chance.

As I said at the beginning, I went to Canada because of economics and opportunity and I would leave only because of the same conditions. But if things continue to go as successfully as they have in Canada, I'd be a fool to leave-ever.

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