Warriors' Precocious Passer -- Only A Sophomore, Qb Ready For 2Nd Year

EDMONDS

He's one of those rare football players who looks as if he's swaggering even when he stands still - not what you might expect from a great slapstick comedian's namesake.

Such is the lot of young Peter Sellers.

Hardly a clone of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, the character the late actor perfected for a series of Pink Panther films, this Peter Sellers is the incumbent quarterback at Edmonds-Woodway High School.

He looks the part of a quarterback. At 6 feet 2 and 180 pounds, he has the stature, and with a right arm his teammates describe as "a gun," he has the tools.

It's only when you talk with him at length that the bravado begins to slip - but it's a very minor slip.

"It's different coming into camp knowing that the job is yours - that it's yours to lose," Sellers says. "The bottom line is that you have to go out there and get the job done."

As he talks, he rolls and unrolls the blue bandana he wears to soak up sweat beneath his green helmet.

It's as if he doesn't know what to do with his hands when they're not gripping a football.

The slight show of nerves belies the cool, confident exterior Sellers tries hard to present.

But then, he has three seasons left at Edmonds-Woodway in which to perfect his persona.

Sellers was called up from College Place Middle School early in the Warriors' season last year and thrust into the Western AA Conference season as a freshman - a ninth grader playing against defensive linemen three years older than he.

He didn't flourish, but neither did he flounder.

"I'd known about him for a long time and knew he was a player," said senior running back Joe Petersen. "I knew he had the tools to be able to come in and play.

"He was nervous that first time he got in the huddle, but he did all right."

Sellers tried hard to show confidence last year, but the bravado did little to replace a lack of experience. He lost his job during the league season, only to regain it by the final games. During the first week of practice in his sophomore season, Sellers has shown how much he learned from last season's lessons.

"I can see some real changes in Pete," Coach Mike Anderson said. "He's much more ready to take on the job."

His teammates agree.

"I worked with him this summer," senior cornerback Dan Langley said. "He was always asking what he could do to make himself better. We lifted weights together; we went to a speed camp and he's made himself faster.

"Last year he was pretty weak. He was big, but he wasn't that strong - except for his arm.

"He put on 20 pounds since last year. This year, if someone plans on bringing him down, they'd better be ready because he's strong enough to make them pay."

The weights have not hampered his strong right arm.

"I've always been able to throw," Sellers said. "Either with a football or pitching in baseball. I love to throw."

That love of aerial football clashed with the Warriors' run-dominant offense last year, and when the time did come to take to the air, Sellers' enthusiasm caused him to rifle passes that threatened to shatter his receivers' hands on cold November nights.

"He's a gunslinger all right, and he's still a young 'un and he knows it," Langley said.

"But he's learning. He's learning how to throw the touch pass and not just fire it in there."

This season, as Edmonds-Woodway moves up to Class AAA, the Warriors will shift their emphasis from a straight running game, highlighting Petersen, to a short passing game that will allow Sellers a chance to throw.

"I like it," said wide receiver Nate Tyler, a senior. "Pete throws a good ball to catch. It's usually right there and it comes in with something on it."

Sellers said he takes a measure of inspiration from Washington State University quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who was thrown into the middle of last year's Pac-10 Conference season as a freshman.

"I just knew they were going to put him in right away," Sellers said of Bledsoe.

"When you have someone with that kind of talent, you know they're going to put him right in. I think he's going to have a great year."

Does Sellers feel the same way about himself?

"Yeah, I think so," he said, a boyish grin breaking through the cool quarterback's facade. "I think so."