FanHouse BradJohnson

Jeff George and Brett Favre came into the NFL in the early '90s, but that's where the similarities end. George, the first-overall pick in 1990, was known more for his mercurial disposition and unfulfilled potential; Favre, a 1991 second-rounder was, until last year, one of the league's most popular players and a Super Bowl champion.

Both players are currently out of the NFL, although Favre's return is imminent (because, well, that's how he rolls). The 41-year-old George, who last saw the field in '01, would gladly welcome a chance to play again. I suspect Jason Whitlock fully supports this.

Via IlliniHQ.com:

A year ago, the Cowboys used their two first-round picks on running back Felix Jones and cornerback Mike Jenkins. Neither contributed much as a rookie; Jenkins played in 14 games (starting three) and had 19 tackles, but the one he didn't make sticks out most in my mind (of course it does).

Jones, who was something of a surprise pick with Rashard Mendenhall still available, played in just six games before landing on injured reserve with a big toe and hamstring injury.

The NFL's oldest active quarterback could very well be inactive this football season. Possible retirement doesn't scare Brad Johnson.

He has actually been too busy to even think about it.

"This is the first spring I've had off since college, but I am going every which way," Johnson told FanHouse Monday afternoon as he drove to Ashville, N.C., for a golf fundraiser. "I know it could be over. That's the nature of it."

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

Heading into this year's draft, Josh Freeman was considered to have the highest upside of any quarterback entering the NFL in 2009, while also possessing the biggest downside. The Buccaneers, in need of a true franchise quarterback for the first time since ... well, they've never really had one, were not only willing to take the chance on Freeman, but they were also willing to move up two spots to get him.

The goal of every NFL team is to win the Super Bowl. Even if, through front-office hires and player acquisitions, that doesn't always appear to be the case. But of the last 15 teams to hoist the Lombardi trophy, only two featured quarterbacks not classified as "franchise caliber."

In 2000, the Ravens won it all with a kick-ass defense. Trent Dilfer's job was to give the ball to Jamal Lewis and get out of the way. Two years later: same story, different team. The Buccaneers' defense did the heavy lifting; Brad Johnson was in charge of game-managing Jon Gruden's version of the West Coast offense with short passes and handoffs.

We're a month into the Broncos-Cutler standoff, and here's what we know: Jay Cutler is a sensitive sort, and new head coach Josh McDaniels might be in over his head, at least when it comes to dealing with moody Pro Bowl quarterbacks. Yet through it all, public opinion seems to be firmly behind the organization.

I have no idea how this turns out, and at this point, I don't care; I just want it to end so we can get back to the important stuff: Terrell Owens, Michael Vick and Brett Favre's impending return to the sport he loves so much. But before moving on, I just want to point out that Jeff George, perpetually on the comeback trail, has weighed in on the situation and, shockingly, supports Cutler:

Addition by subtraction -- that's the unofficial offseason mantra for the Cowboys, at least when it comes to Terrell Owens, who was released earlier this week. He has since taken his game to Canada*, and Dallas is already looking forward to next season, at least to hear Jerry Jones tell it.

Another day, another former Buccaneers player sounds off on Jon Gruden. Following the criticisms from MIchael Clayton and Jeff Garcia, not to mention the report that fans also played a role in the Buccaneers coaching change, former defensive end Simeon Rice sounded off on Sirius NFL radio (via Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk) and tossed Gruden under the proverbial bus. And then ran him over with it. Repeatedly.

Rice started off easy: "You get what you deserve," Rice said. "That's what Jon said. He got it now. Everybody gets what they deserve."

Honestly, that was probably the nicest thing he had to say regarding his former head coach.

Even though the Dallas seems to have survived a forgettable month of Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger and are now back in the playoff race, former Cowboys running back and ESPN wordsmith Emmitt Smith is still disappointed in the team that won 13 games last year.

"Mediocre." ... "[I'm] disappointed because I saw this team being a lot better than it is," Smith said. "Chemistry has a lot to do with it. And for some reason, the chemistry of the Cowboys this year has been thrown off a little bit.

"Either there's too much salt in the gumbo or not enough meat in the gumbo. Something's wrong. Whatever it is, they need to get it corrected. It's just been a blah kind of season for me."

Bottom line: there's something wrong with the gumbo. Smith is right, though, chemistry has been an issue; according to an unnamed PFW.com source, "a faction of the players that feels that Pacman Jones' presence could throw off the chemistry and positive swagger that the Cowboys have worked hard to regain."

Smith also points out that Dallas beating San Francisco and Seattle -- two teams they were supposed to beat -- is hardly reason to assume they've fixed the midseason problems. In fact, it sounds like he's still hung up on how a promising 2007 campaign ended so abruptly.

Obviously, Tony Romo has a lot to do with the Cowboys' success, but he can't do it alone. Sure, it seems that way, but there aren't many teams who could survive the dynamic duo of Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger, no matter how healthy the other 51 guys on the roster.

So it's with that in mind that this must come as a relief to the team still angling for a wild card birth: DeMarcus Ware and Marion Barber didn't sustain serious injuries in Dallas' Thanksgiving Day throttling of the Seattle Seahawks.

The Cowboys received some good news Friday morning when the results of the MRI exams of linebacker DeMarcus Ware and running back Marion Barber did not reveal any structural damage.

Ware left Thursday's game with a hyperextended left knee in the third quarter. ... Barber departed Thursday's game with a dislocated little toe on his right foot.

Ware says he expects to play next Sunday against the Steelers and Barber, as he has done his entire career, said nothing. Because he doesn't talk to the media (despite Troy Aikman's protestations).