Edition: U.S. / Global

A Quarterback Who Doesn't Like Warming the Bench

Published: August 11, 1996

JUST before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1970, candidate Jack Kemp of Buffalo, N.Y., was asked what experiences in his 13-year career as a pro football quarterback qualified him to be a congressman.

''Pro football gave me a good sense of perspective to enter politics,'' he said. ''I'd already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded and hung in effigy.''

As Bob Dole's running mate, the former congressman and former all-American Football League signal caller for the Buffalo Bills will be running as fervently toward November as he ever did toward a goal line. Critics, though, will certainly argue that he will be running from some issues with the cleverness he used to dodge snaggle-toothed linemen.

But can Mr. Kemp's pro football career be any guide to his fitness as Vice President?

Lyndon B. Johnson once voiced doubts about Gerald R. Ford, who was a center for the University of Michigan and a member of the 1935 College All-Star team. ''The trouble with Ford,'' President Johnson said, ''is that he played one too many games without a helmet.''

Richard M. Nixon, who was a third-string tackle at Whittier College, was regularly trampled on in practice, according to his former coach, Chief Newman. But the young Nixon kept getting up and sticking his nose in for more. ''Dick liked the battle, though,'' the coach said, ''and the smell of sweat.''

Ronald Reagan was a lineman for Eureka College in Illinois. He said he was little more than hamburger fodder for the big boys. ''Football,'' he said, ''went deeper'' than other sports. ''That's why you can look at that bench when the TV camera comes over and see the fellows sitting there crying. I've sat there crying.''

All three of those Presidents -- and two were first Vice Presidents -- were linemen. A quarterback, however, is a different animal: He gives orders. He doesn't take them -- unless his coach sends in a new guard on every play to dictate the course of action.

When Mr. Kemp, who is 61 and a former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was asked the other day if he would be ready to run for the Vice-Presidency, he said, ''Quarterbacks are always ready.''

This might be a problem. After all, quarterbacks are trained to throw bombs. They're nervous, and always sniffing for blitzes. And they are always getting their bells rung. How can a Vice President who may still hear faint tintinnabulations even get any sleep?

''He's not a supporting actor,'' said William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, after Mr. Kemp tried helping Steve Forbes's campaign. ''He's not a backstage player. He's a quarterback.''

Can Mr. Kemp be trusted? Remember, one of his favorite plays was the quarterback sneak. Other Kemp football achievements, include leading the Bills to a couple of A.F.L. championships, once winning the Most Valuable Player award. As a quarterback, he was able to take punishment and was considered creative and brainy, in a job wherebrains are not altogether necessary.. Some quarterbacks, after all, run onto the field with the plays written on their pants and hands.

But a smart guy knows how to make threats. When Mr. Kemp won reelection to Congress, he explained his strategy. ''I told people that if they didn't reelect me,'' he said, ''I'd come back as a quarterback of the Bills.''

Photo: Jack Kemp as a Buffalo Bill in 1966. (Associated Press) Chart listing Jack Kemp's career statistics.