Ditka Goes With Wuerffel, 99th

Last week, Mike Ditka was willing to bet that Danny Wuerffel, the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from Florida, would be gone by the 100th pick, earlier than many people predicted.

Ditka made that prediction come true on Sunday, taking Wuerffel for the New Orleans Saints with the 99th overall pick, the third choice of the fourth round.

“I think the greatest criteria for evaluating anyone is on what you’ve done,” Ditka said of Wuerffel, who led Florida to the national championship.

“This guy is a winner. He’s a true winner on every level he’s ever played. I know you’re going to hear all these socalled experts that say ‘he can’t, and he can’t and he can’t’ but you’ve got to look at all the cans. His strong points certainly far outweigh anything he can’t do.”

Wuerffel will join a team that has just traded for Heath Shuler and has veteran Jim Everett as its starter. In the long run, he may compete with Shuler, the third overall pick by Washington in 1994, for the starting job.

And the seventh round set up an oddity when the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Colorado quarterback Koy Detmer, who will join his brother, Ty. Ty Detmer will compete with Rodney Peete for the starting job, and Bobby Hoying, a draft pick last year, is also on the Eagles roster.

The draft ended with the selection of Army quarterback Ronnie McAda by Green Bay, who may end up as a running back once his military obligation is fulfilled. He was the 240th player chosen.

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