Q 6

PLAYBOY: It takes about two and a half or three seconds for you to get off a play. How long does that seem?

Jim McMahon: One second. I get the ball from center, drop back, take a quick peek at my blind side. Then I'll go back to looking at the field. If it's a basic pass play, you have an idea who you want to throw to when you call the play. Once you get to the line of scrimmage and see what kind of defense they're playing, you know if this is a good play for that defense. That's a presnap read. On your first or second step back, you're finding out if what you saw before is actually what they're playing. A lot of teams try to disguise it, so you're watching the secondary to see if they tried to fool you. Certain defensive backs will tip off the blitz. If they're going to blitz you, somebody has to be responsible for the guy who's blitzing. Somebody else has to pick up his receiver. And a lot of times, defensive backs will take a look at the guy they've got to cover. There was a perfect case in a game in Washington. I knew the strong safety was coming. When I went up to the line, I was looking at the weak safety, and he was looking at the tight end. So I switched my attention to the strong safety, who's supposed to cover the tight end, and he was jockeying back and forth. I knew right then that he was pulling my chain, trying to jerk me off. I knew he was coming. So I called an audible and we got a touchdown. Our receiver asked me after the play how I knew they were blitzing. I said, "Well, shit, I saw his eyes." You can pick those things up. The more you do it, the easier it gets; but you've got to see everything that's going on out there.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: You were known as a wild man at Brigham Young University. What's a wild night there, and what's the strangest rule?

Jim McMahon: For most people? A wild night is cake and ice cream. That's the mystique about Brigham Young. Everybody's got to live a certain way, and it's tough. Some guys can't handle it, and they leave. I almost left. But I knew that if I stuck around there, I'd be where I am today. I'd go through all the bullshit just to learn what I learned -- not only about football but about life in different places. It's not a bed of roses. As for the rules, they're all strange. The one I thought was interesting was that every other Sunday, girls could come into your room and you could go into their rooms. But you had to leave the doors open and keep one foot on the floor at all times. I thought, Shit, that's kind of weird. You can get pretty kinky with one foot on the floor.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: In the 1980 Holiday Bowl against SMU, your BYU Cougars were behind by 20 with four minutes left. You wound up winning 46-45. Have stranger things happened?

Jim McMahon: I had a terrible first half or it would never have come down to the last four minutes. In the second half I started playing the way I had played all year. I wasn't forcing balls, just taking what they gave me. Most of the fans had left, but the clock was still running. We were driving. We got stalled about the 50 and the coach LaVell Edwards sent the punting team on. It was fourth and two -- at that point in the game, if you punt the ball, you lose. So I told the guys to huddle up. But the punting team came on. I told them to get the fuck off the field. LaVell started yelling for me to come off, and I wouldn't do it. So we called time out and had a few words. Basically, I said, "You're giving up. Why don't you just throw in the towel right now?" The coordinator looked at him and he looked at the coordinator, and he said, "Go on, call the play." We made the first down. Went down to score and got an on-side kick. Scored again. Stopped them and blocked the punt. I told the guys in the huddle, "Look, we've come this far. Somebody catch this son of a bitch." I took a deep drop and threw it as far as I could. And Clay Brown made one of the greatest catches I've ever seen. Clay went up and caught the ball with five guys around him. No flag. We went kind of crazy.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: Do you remember every touchdown pass?

Jim McMahon: No, I remember interceptions. I'd rather get hurt than throw one. Most of the time, it's stupid judgment on my part. You have a guy open and you throw the ball to the defense. I remember playing baseball -- I've got two strikes on me and I see the ball coming right down the middle. I know it's a strike, and I fucking don't swing. Vapor lock. That really irritates me. If a guy makes a great play, that's one thing. But not too many of my interceptions have been on great plays.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: You carry an expensive briefcase. What's in it?

Jim McMahon: My wife bought that for me for my birthday. She said I had to start acting and dressing like a businessman. I said, "Why? I don't plan on working." All I have in it is my lunch. Sometimes I'll take my playbook home. Other than that, it's just messages and lunch -- a couple of sandwiches, vegetable, chips, cookies, candy bar. Well-balanced meals. My wife's a good cook. She takes care of me.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: What's the McMahon method for drinking beer?

Jim McMahon: Just enjoy it. I was weaned on Coors, but it doesn't matter, as long as it's cold. Nothing tastes better after a win than three or four or five cold ones.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Coach Mike Ditka said of you, "He shocks the shit out of me sometimes." Give us an example from a game.

Jim McMahon: In my rookie year, I made an audible that wasn't in the game plan. We were gonna run a sweep to Payton, but their whole defense was shifted to the side we wanted to run on. All they had on the weak side was a defensive end and a linebacker. So I audibled a weak-side run to the fullback: "Two, thirty-four," or something. And Noah Jackson, who was our left guard at the time, said, "Thirty-four? What the hell is thirty-four?" I said, "We're gonna run right at you. Block somebody." And the defense was listening. They were looking around like we were trying to mess with their heads. So we ran the play. The guard and tackle took care of the end and the linebacker. Wally led Matt Suhey through the hole, nine yards for a first down. After that, Mike said, "Do you have any more surprises for me today?" I said, "Make sure you're alert. I could call anything."