Steve Deberg

Throughout his NFL career, Steve DeBerg has had an uncanny knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everywhere the veteran quarterback has gone, his territory has been usurped by younger players tagged as future superstars: first Joe Montana, then John Elway and Steve Young and finally Vinny Testaverde. Montana is headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Elway probably is, too, and it is too early to rule out the other two.

They are something to watch, these long balls launched into the blue sky, chasing history as they soar, each one carrying with it the potential of sporting immortality. After awhile, you just sit there in numb amazement, working up a grudging admiration for an act as brazen, as in-your-face defiant as this. He is simply relentless, you say to yourself. He refuses to quit--he barely even pauses.

Steve DeBerg will be twice as old as most of the rookies reporting to NFL training camps next week. DeBerg, 44, hasn't played professionally in five years and will be the second oldest player in NFL history if he makes the Atlanta Falcons' roster. George Blanda was 49 when he last suited up for the Oakland Raiders in 1975. But DeBerg isn't worried about the old-man jokes. He simply wants to play football. "I just believe as a backup quarterback I can offer a lot," DeBerg said from Atlanta.

On the field, they have run their final formation of the season. But off the field, the San Francisco 49ers continue to shift into new alignments, the only constant in the front-office being chaos. Larry Thrailkill stepped down as team president Saturday, to be replaced on an interim basis by John McVay, who is also interim general manager. McVay becomes the team's third president in less than a year. Thrailkill was brought in to replace Carmen Policy, who left to run the new team in Cleveland.

Kansas City quarterback Steve DeBerg, who missed the first 20 days of training camp while negotiating a new contract, will get his first start of the exhibition season Saturday when the Chiefs play the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium.

The article "Roll Call" (July 23) listing the famous people and the high schools in Orange County they had attended was interesting, but I saw no mention of anyone from Magnolia High School or Savanna High School. What about Brian Downing (Magnolia) and Steve DeBerg and Al Hrabosky (the Mad Hungarian) (Savanna)? I'm sure just as many people have heard of them as some of the other celebrities listed. LaVonne Maurer Buena Park

Kansas City quarterback Steve DeBerg remained hospitalized today for a broken finger and is questionable for the Chiefs' game Sunday at San Diego, the club said. DeBerg, having the best season of his career, suffered the injury in the third quarter of Houston's 27-10 victory over Kansas City on Sunday. In an extremely painful injury, the bone at the tip of the left little finger was broken and exposed to the elements.

Quarterback Steve DeBerg, a Plan B free agent, returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday the same way he left four years ago--as Vinny Testaverde's backup. The Buccaneers, who traded DeBerg to the Kansas City Chiefs to allow Testaverde to develop without the pressure of an experienced veteran pressing him, signed the quarterback to a two-year contract. DeBerg, 38, enjoyed the best seasons of his 14-year career in Kansas City, helping the Chiefs to the playoffs the past two seasons.

Bill Cosby, comedian, multimillionaire and bon vivant , called The Times' sports department the other day, offering writer Chris Dufresne an idea the quarterback-starved NFL might consider. Noticing the lack of quality quarterback play this season, and that Steve DeBerg, currently the Miami Dolphins' starter, seems to have played for about every team in the league, Cosby observed: "You've got Jacksonville, Charlotte, that makes 30 teams (after expansion).

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Steve DeBerg was released from the hospital today, but said he did not know if he could play Sunday. "It's throbbing right now," DeBerg said of the broken finger on his left hand that he suffered Sunday. "Hopefully, the pain will lessen and I'll be able to handle the pain part of it. "I'm not exactly sure I can play this week. I think we're going to be able to put something on it and protect it." Officially, DeBerg was listed as questionable.

Steve DeBerg will be twice as old as most of the rookies reporting to NFL training camps next week. DeBerg, 44, hasn't played professionally in five years and will be the second oldest player in NFL history if he makes the Atlanta Falcons' roster. George Blanda was 49 when he last suited up for the Oakland Raiders in 1975. But DeBerg isn't worried about the old-man jokes. He simply wants to play football. "I just believe as a backup quarterback I can offer a lot," DeBerg said from Atlanta.

Mike Singletary, who epitomized the linebacker play of his era while with the Chicago Bears, was asked in 1992 to pick his all-time team of contemporaries. When it came to quarterbacks, he named Joe Montana, Dan Fouts, Ken Stabler, Dan Marino and Steve DeBerg. "DeBerg is a magic man with the football," Singletary told The Times in 1992. "Now you see it, now you don't." Montana, Fouts, Stabler and Marino have seen or will see their busts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.

Bob Boone, Bob Boyd, Steve DeBerg, Debbie Green, Johnnie Johnson, Dan Quisenberry and Leon Wood will bring to 86 the number of inductees into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame when they are enshrined in ceremonies on April 30. Boone caught a major-league record 2,264 games in his 19-year major league career, seven of which were with the Angels. The six-time Gold Glove Award winner and Villa Park resident is a scout for the Cincinnati Reds.

Weird, primal screams began to bounce last Sunday afternoon across the back-yard fences of the wooded San Francisco suburb where I live. The faithful were communicating and the message was clear. Joe Montana was doing it again. Every time Montana completed a big pass against the Houston Oilers, the neighbors would break from their television, throw open the back door and whoop with joy. I heard them because I was standing at my back door, too. Whooping. Now, many people consider such behavior crazy.

It is a matchup of the Dolphins' league-leading offense (364.3 yards per game) against the Steelers' league-leading defense (261.4). Usually the defenses win these kinds of matchups. But Pittsburgh has to prepare for two very different quarterbacks: young left-hander Scott Mitchell and veteran right-hander Steve DeBerg. Mitchell has recovered from a dislocated shoulder. But if he isn't ready to go, DeBerg is more than a solid replacement.

Bill Cosby, comedian, multimillionaire and bon vivant , called The Times' sports department the other day, offering writer Chris Dufresne an idea the quarterback-starved NFL might consider. Noticing the lack of quality quarterback play this season, and that Steve DeBerg, currently the Miami Dolphins' starter, seems to have played for about every team in the league, Cosby observed: "You've got Jacksonville, Charlotte, that makes 30 teams (after expansion).

The New England Patriots' first four scoring threats produced only two field goals, and Steve DeBerg completed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in his debut for the Miami Dolphins as they rallied to win Sunday, 17-13. Miami, forced by injuries to start their third quarterback in the past six weeks, remained tied for the AFC East lead with Buffalo at 8-2. No NFL team has a better record. The Dolphins are 5-1 since quarterback Dan Marino's season-ending injury.

It wasn't the kind of tune you'd teach your children to jump rope to, in fact it was about subtle as "Lizzie Borden took an ax . . . " Tampa Bay quarterback Steve DeBerg heard the last chorus Sunday as the Buccaneers funneled through the tunnel leading out of Tampa Stadium. "Steve DeBerg can go to hell, Steve DeBerg can go to hell," bellowed a man in the stands who was clearly more a lyricist than vocalist. DeBerg just lowered his head and walked on by, pretending not to hear.

The New England Patriots' first four scoring threats produced only two field goals, and Steve DeBerg completed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in his debut for the Miami Dolphins as they rallied to win Sunday, 17-13. Miami, forced by injuries to start their third quarterback in the past six weeks, remained tied for the AFC East lead with Buffalo at 8-2. No NFL team has a better record. The Dolphins are 5-1 since quarterback Dan Marino's season-ending injury.

Steve DeBerg, the NFL's oldest player and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' starting quarterback when the season began, was waived after appearing in only three games. DeBerg, 39, lost the No. 1 job to Craig Erickson after the Buccaneers' season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. He played briefly in two other games and had completed 23 of 39 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown, with three interceptions.