Statistics from this past weekend in the NFL: Marc Bulger 36 of 48, 453 yards and four touchdowns; Tommy Maddox 28 of 41, 473 yards and four touchdowns. What do these two quarterbacks have in common, besides breaking franchise records? They were both sitting on their respective team’s benches at the beginning of the NFL season, not expecting to play at all this year. Combine the first-ever 450-plus yard passing duo with Chad Pennington, Rodney Peete, Matt Hasslebeck, Joey Harrington, Jon Kitna, Jeff Blake, Chris Chandler, Ray Lucas and Chad Hutchinson and you’ve got 11 back-up quarterbacks who went into Week 10 as their teams starting quarterbacks. While injuries have played a factor in many of these cases, the position that once involved looking pretty and holding a clipboard has clearly changed.
In the year 2000, the St. Louis Rams were the first team to stumble upon a “chosen one”: a seldom talked-about backup quarterback destined to lead his team to Superbowl victory. Due to injuries to their No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks, a former grocery store cashier was forced to step in. All he did was complete 325 of 499 passes for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns, leading the Rams to the Superbowl XXXIV title, for which that former cashier, Kurt Warner, received a brand-new $46.5 million contract.
Last year it was Tom Brady, who stepped in for an injured Drew Bledsoe and led the Patriots to the Superbowl XXXV Title. His reward: a four-year, $28 million contract extension and a little piece named Tara Reid on the side.
Now I’m not saying to go out and bet the house on the Steelers, Jets or Rams to win this year’s Superbowl just because all three teams are red-hot with new quarterbacks at the helm. But the growing story of Tommy Maddox, a former Arena Football Leaguer and XFL MVP, who hadn’t started an NFL game since his rookie year in 1992, sounds very Kurt Warner-esque. Of the three, I’m putting my money on Maddox to complete the odyssey of the chosen one.
But if Maddox, Pennington or Bulger doesn’t turn out to be the chosen one, who will it be? Could it be Jessie Palmer of the New York Giants, who, when substituted in for Kerry Collins in Madden 2003, runs the Giants offense to a tee. Or how about Ryan Leaf, who, wait … nevermind. He’ll always suck.
Whether it’s been the increase in injuries, or the shorter patience of head coaches, in the present-day NFL, quarterbacks are replaced as often as the hamburgers at New South (about once a week). The phenomenon has become so ridiculous that fans in Philadelphia are calling for Donovan McNabb’s benching after a few bad weeks. Could Koy “the whip-it boy” Detmer be the next back-up quarterback to take his team to Superbowl glory? Probably not, but I honestly wouldn’t flinch twice if he got a start over McNabb.
The future of young, no-name quarterbacks has never been brighter in the NFL; quarterback job security is at an all time low. In 10 weeks of football, 61 different quarterbacks have seen playing time. While Tommy Maddox, Chad Pennington, and Marc Bulger may not continue the streak of the “chosen one,” there’s no doubt that they have bright futures ahead and mad chedda on the way.
