With an eye to the future, Baltimore's Canadian Football League team auditioned two Division I-AA quarterbacks yesterday for the role of understudy to Tracy Ham.
rTC Dan Crowley and Robert Dougherty, all-time passing leaders at Towson State and Boston University, respectively, rolled out and dropped back for 40 passes each in separate workouts at Memorial Stadium.
They are vying for the position recently vacated by veteran backup John Congemi, who will not be retained for the 1995 season. Congemi, who will be 31 in June, lost his job not on performance, coach Don Matthews said, but to relative age. He is six months younger than Ham.
"I told John I've got to get a young quarterback ready," Matthews said. "I told him I know he'd win the [backup] job if I brought him in."
From Fort Lauderdale yesterday, Congemi said he was caught off-guard by the news. "I'm not upset with Coach Matthews," he said. "I just wish I had the opportunity to come in and compete, and I don't. That's the only thing I regret. If he feels it's best for the team, I respect that."
The heir apparent to Congemi's job is Shawn Jones, who won his only start a year ago against Shreveport. Baltimore also signed Len Williams of Northwestern and the Las Vegas Posse in the off-season.
Yesterday, Crowley, who threw for 8,900 yards and 81 touchdowns in four years at Towson, and Dougherty, who threw for 6,471 in two years at BU, entered the picture. And if no one was declared the winner, Crowley probably had the better workout.
Crowley, 6-1 and 180 pounds, made the most of his chance. Jim Popp, Baltimore's assistant general manager, said: "He's got an extremely strong arm, moves well, and has a nice touch."