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QB carousel In the NFL, the only certainty is uncertainty
Updated: Friday August 17, 2001 9:33 PM
Lots of quarterback news around the NFL this week and most of it revolves around the fluid state of backups. Let's start in Pittsburgh. The Steelers, at least tentatively, have decided to make upstart Tee Martin the backup to Kordell Stewart. This is a very significant move since Stewart has yo-yoed in and out of the lineup so much the last two seasons. What's surprising is that the two other competitors for the job, Kent Graham and Tommy Maddox, have a combined 13 years' NFL experience. Martin has never thrown an NFL pass. But head coach Bill Cowher loves Martin's moxie and his ability to make plays on the run. Pittsburgh, for now, will have Maddox as its third quarterback, with Graham available to any team dangling a draft pick. Which brings us to ...
Washington. Jeff George is so concerned about tendinitis in his throwing arm that he saw renowned orthopedist James Andrews last week. The Redskins fret that George will have trouble making it through a 16-game schedule. So, they've signed Tony Banks, the former Ram, Raven and Cowboy. Which brings us to ... Dallas. What in the world are the Cowboys thinking, whacking their prospective starter, Banks, three weeks before opening day? Three reasons.
Minnesota. No. Not really. No connection here. Just an observation after watching the Vikings training camp. While many contenders have poor backup quarterback situations -- most notably Washington, with Todd Husak; St. Louis, with Joe Germaine; and Buffalo, with Alex Van Pelt -- no team has it worse than the Vikings, with Todd Bouman. With the tackle position being so weak in Minnesota, along with Daunte Culpepper's penchant for scrambling, I'd argue that Culpepper enters the season as the NFL's MIP -- most indispensible player.
Patriots WR Glenn drops the ballAll Terry Glenn had to do was make one phone call and take one meeting -- one phone call, for crying out loud, one lousy meeting -- and he would be playing for New England today. Instead, he's an expatriate Patriot. When the NFL suspended Glenn for four weeks Aug. 3 for violating the league's substance-abuse policy, Glenn went AWOL. Head coach Bill Belichick reached Glenn on his cell phone. Belichick said they had to meet to discuss the situation. Glenn said he would come by to meet the coach. He never showed. The Patriots sent Glenn a letter informing him that unless he reported back to training camp he would be in violation of his contract and subject to a year's suspension. They waited for Glenn to show. He never did. Had he shown up as late as Tuesday of this week, 11 days after walking out, he could have salvaged his relationship with the Patriots and played the last 12 weeks of the season. But now, under the terms of the suspension, Glenn cannot be traded or released until at least March 2, 2002. And he can't play for New England all season. Glenn is known around the Patriots as a loner. Now he'll have plenty of time to be alone. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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