The Strange Saga of Quincy Carter
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN
The simplest way for a team to draw attention is to win games. Today, the 1-7 Brigade appear to be relying on a different strategy: appealing to nostalgic fantasy football players by announcing the signing of quarterback Quincy Carter. In his career, Carter displays the vocational stability of a migrant farm worker, released by four separate teams as a result of substance abuse issue.
While everyone deserves a second (or, in Carter’s case, fifth) chance, what’s the logic in signing the former Dallas Cowboy and Georgia Bulldog quarterback? After all, Carter last played professional football in 2007 for the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings of the “af2” — the minor leagues of the Arena Football League and not a symbol in the periodic table. The Brigade’s press release itself hints that Carter is risky, even attempting to use Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards as a character witness, who coached him three years, three leagues and two arrests ago.
The Brigade announced that head coach Kevin Porter will “closely monitor” Carter during the season, begging the question whether Porter will be also compensated for his time as Carter’s parole officer.
More on Carter:
* After high school, he surprised many by rejecting a football scholarship offer from Georgia Tech, playing as a minor league outfielder for the Cubs organization instead. Carter explained: “In football you have to practice every day and sometimes you can get by by just going through the motions, whereas in baseball you have to work hard and concentrate each and every day.” After discovering that concentrating completely blows, Carter later opted to go through the motions as the starting quarterback at the University of Georgia.
* After leading the Cowboys to their first playoff appearance since Troy Aikman’s departure, Dallas cut Carter before the next season under suspicious circumstances, prompting some to report he tested positive for cocaine. This saved a roster spot for Tony Romo, providing a grateful nation an opportunity to view Jessica Simpson in a garish Cowboy jersey rooting for her dreamy boyfriend.
