FanHouse Joe Montana

This is what Brian Billick had in mind when he traded back into the first round of the 2003 draft to take Kyle Boller: the next Peyton Manning.

Of course, Manning never winged a football through goal posts from midfield while on one knee, which I imagine made Boller an even more attractive prospect in Billick's mind. Whatever, neither Boller nor Billick worked out in Baltimore and now one is the backup quarterback for the Rams and the other is an in-booth NFL analyst for Fox.

St. Louis will face Manning and the Colts this week, and Boller, for the first time in his career, looks like a Pro Bowl quarterback. Via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The list starts with Gus Dorais, who joined somebody named Knute Rockne to perfect the forward pass. From there, the honor roll of Notre Dame quarterbacks includes Heisman Trophy winners Angelo Bertelli, Johnny Lujack, Paul Hornung and John Huarte.

Ever hear of Daryle Lamonica, Terry Hanratty and Joe Theismann? They also were Fighting Irish stars who evolved into eternal stars of college football history, and Jimmy Clausen will sparkle with them.

It's just that Clausen has to make it official.

There is that little game on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, where Clausen can solidify his distinction as the nation's best quarterback along the way to pushing the Irish toward a record eighth Heisman winner overall. All he has to do is slay pesky Southern Cal by remaining a master at football miracles.

Joe Montana to Kris Haines -- touchdown!

Haines was Notre Dame's leading pass receiver in 1978 with 32 catches for 699 yards, most of those coming from all-star quarterback Montana. In fact, Haines caught the game-winning touchdown from Montana as time ran out in the 1979 Cotton Bowl against Houston. It capped an amazing comeback as the Irish trailed by 22 points with 12 minutes remaining.

Thirty years later, Haines was looking forward to connecting with Montana again during the Notre Dame alumni football team's trip to Japan.

"When Joe found out I was coming, he decided not to come," a chuckling Haines told FanHouse. "Obviously, he didn't want to see me."

There is only one professional athlete who should be called The King these days and he's not playing in Cleveland.

Tom Brady returned to practice this week for the Patriots. Brady is the same man with three Super Bowl titles, two Super Bowl MVP awards and four Pro Bowl berths. Say what you want about Peyton Manning being the best quarterback in the league -- all Brady does is win games.

He is one of four men to win three or more Super Bowls and earn multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. Brady has a better career winning percentage than Roger Staubach and Joe Montana in the Super Bowl era. Before his season-ending knee injury in last year's opener against Kansas City, he had started 128 consecutive games, the second-longest streak among active quarterbacks and third-longest all-time.

Every Monday during college football's endless offseason, The FanHouse Walk will put last week's stories to bed and deliver the essentials to bridge that agonizing space between now and September.

The Obvious -- The 2009 NFL Draft is now in the books and what's emerged from countless hours of coverage is a recurring theme of late: USC and SEC dominance. The Trojans had 11 players chosen in this year's draft, including a kicker and eight total defensive players from one of the better collegiate defenses of this era.

Meanwhile, 37 SEC players were chosen, topping last year's 35 and besting the second-place ACC's 33. USC also tied a draft record with four linebackers selected in a single draft. Their 11 overall selections bested last year's 10-player performance and again paced all colleges in the draft.

Kyle Orton doesn't have Jay Cutler's franchise quarterback pedigree. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2005 draft, two years after the Bears had invested a first-round pick in Rex Grossman. And, from the beginning, his role was clear: a raw, strong-armed talent, who would spend the first few seasons on the bench learning the nuances of what it means to be an NFL quarterback.

That lasted up till the moment Grossman broke his ankle in a 2005 preseason game. At the time, head coach Lovie Smith told the AP that "I don't know exactly who there is out there but we like the guys we have right now ... Chad Hutchinson is a good player, we feel comfortable starting him, and Kyle Orton continues to shine as far as we're concerned."

Every Monday during college football's endless offseason, The FanHouse Walk will put last week's stories to bed and deliver the essentials to bridge that agonizing space between now and September.

Maybe They'll Twitter er Tweet Their Decision -- USC has begun spring practice, headlined by a four-man race for the starting quarterback job. They're doing this with SarKiffian 2.0, newly hired offensive coordinator John Morton and quarterbacks coach/playcaller Jeremy Bates. Bates departed Denver just in time to avoid the mess that is Cutler vs. McDaniels while keeping a low, low profile.

There's a lot going on, which leaves Pete Carroll skeptical if he can settle on the next American Idol quarterback by the end of spring. Our hunch is it'll be the slightly scrawny Aaron Corp, kid can move.

In a shocking development, Brett Favre is back in the news. Apparently, it doesn't matter if he's pretend retired or legitimately done with football, he refuses to go away.

Shortly after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to part ways with head coach Jon Gruden, Buccaneers players from past and present began taking a place in line for an opportunity to sound off on their former boss. The word "scumbag" was used, while several players suggested that he was, for the most part, a two-faced liar that would tell them one thing and end up doing the exact opposite.

Gruden has remained relatively silent on the matter, but opened up in an interview with Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel. Among the topics discussed: the spread offense, Tim Tebow and how a person responds to being called a "scumbag."

The New England Patriots are going to have quite a decision to make this offseason regarding the future of their quarterback situation. Tom Brady's knee remains a gigantic unanswered question, while Matt Cassel, his replacement during the 2008 season, is an unrestricted free agent and no doubt has dollar signs dancing around in his dreams.

With Brady's status still uncertain, there's been talk of potentially franchising Cassel -- which would pay him in the neighborhood of $14 million in 2009 -- or, perhaps, even signing him to a long-term contract creating a Joe Montana-Steve Young tag-team duo. Or, they could just put faith in Brady's knee being ready for training camp and wave goodbye to Cassel. Either way, it's a tough call and I'm glad I don't have to make it.