Byron Leftwich is an embarrassment to himself, others

Remember when Ozzie Newsome tried to engineer a draft-day trade so that Baltimore could sneak up in the first round and select Marshall QB Byron Leftwich? The league's phone lines were busy so the Ravens were unable to complete the trade in time. You know what happened next: The Ravens ended up with Terrell Suggs and Kyle Boller instead.

Side note: How the F does the NFL not have call waiting?

Somehow Kyle Boller still has a job. Today Leftwich was cut. Again. This time by the Atlanta Falcons, only a year after getting cut by the Jags in favor of David Garrard, who whaddyaknow actually turned out to be pretty damn good. If it weren't for the Cheatriots Patriots, Garrard and the Jags may have battled it out with Plaxico Fantastico and Escape-artist Eli for a chance to wear gaudy jewelery.

Anyway, back to my man Byron Leftwich. Here is what Atlanta's GM had to say after today's cuts, which included seven players: “This is a difficult day for the entire organization. A number of these players have contributed to this organization on and off the field at a high level."

Clearly he wasn't talking about Leftwich, who during his one year in the Dirty Dirty couldn't stay healthy, throw touchdowns or even complete very many passes (32 in three games total). What's this dude's problem? Too many cheeseburgers? Too many late nights at the strip club? Competition too tough? That last one has gotta be it. Joey Harrington and Chris Redman. Also known as The Intimidators. Redman, by the way, wasn't even good enough to play QB in Baltimore, where they'll give anyone a shot.

Stoney Case!

In all fairness, Redman did make it a few seasons in Baltimore, but I'm convinced that was only because he went to same college as Johnny Unitas (Louisville) and because he also won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Baltimore loves it some Johnny U. I hope that Redman's Golden Arm is proudly displayed on the mantle of a rented apartment in some crappy suburb somewhere. That right there is the highlight of your career, buddy.

It's time to write the epilogue on Byron Leftwich's football career.

Byron Leftwich: This guy was a pretty good football player in college because he was really tall and strong and played against weak competition and one time his teammates carried him down the field after he broke his leg and it was really dramatic but I'm pretty sure they still lost that game anyway and then he went to the NFL and was a complete bust and even Baltimore wouldn't take him these days and that's saying a lot because Baltimore's quarterbacks have always sucked except Steve McNair for about five minutes and Vinny Testaverde for one season way back in the 19-motherfuckin'-90s.

Steelers complain about officiating

At least three Steelers (Larry Foote, Clark Haggans and James Harrison) whined about what they saw as poor officiating during Pittsburgh's 31-29 loss to Jacksonville.

Harrison: "I have nothing to say about that. I ain't got no fine money to give away for talking about them blind refs, so I got nothing to say."

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Jags win! Steelers go home!

The final score was actually 31-29 (not 31-28) but it doesn't matter. The only thing that's important is that the Steelers lost and the Jags move on. If the Titans lose on the road tomorrow against the Chargers, David Garrard will have a chance to face off against the 16-0 Patriots D.

If first-year Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin doesn't go for the two-point conversion about halfway through the fourth quarter, he wouldn't have had to go for it a second time shortly thereafter, and we would be in OT right now.

Thanks, Coach!

Baltimore Ravens: Kyle Boller extension?

The Baltimore Sun today reported that the Ravens are in discussions to sign backup QB Kyle Boller to a contract extension.

Brian Billick: "Kyle is on a one-year contract and we'd love to have him back."

I'm not sure what to make of this. I thought, and still do think, that Boller is an excellent choice to be Baltimore's backup quarterback. But no one expected him to be in Baltimore next year. Not you (don't lie), not me, especially not Kyle Boller.

All of this might be posturing in an attempt to lower the price of Byron Leftwich. If that's the case, I hope it fails. I don't want to see Leftwich in Baltimore, even though back during the 2003 NFL Draft I cursed the league for allowing its phone lines to be busy when Ozzie Newsome tried to trade up and grab Leftwich. Without those busy phone lines, today Leftwich would be on the Baltimore Ravens.

But a lot has changed in the past four years. Boller has learned the offense, and he's a serviceable backup. Better than serviceable, actually. And at this point, the Ravens don't need anything but a decent backup. Steve McNair clearly is the go-to guy. Without McNair, the Ravens don't have a shot of going deep in the playoffs regardless of who's playing quarterback, whether it's Boller or Leftwich or third-string QB Troy Smith.

Yes, the Ravens will need a quarterback for the future, especially given that McNair won't be around forever. Let's face it: The guy is old. His arm strength is fading fast.

But who is to say that Byron Leftwich is a better option at quarterback than Kyle Boller? Have you paid attention to Leftwich's game for the past four years? Or are you still in love with the fact that he mastered that one great comeback on a bum leg while still at Marshall? That was a long time ago, and since then Leftwich has proven nothing except that he's good at two things: getting hurt and being bitter.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Byron Leftwich to Baltimore? Let's hope not

Ravens beat reporter Aaron Wilson recently posted on Scout.com's premium board an email that he received from Jacksonville Jaguars beat reporter, Vito Stellino. I don't want to dilute the value of Scout.com's premium-board membership, so I'll only post an excerpt of the email here.

Those Ravens fans who seem to think Leftwich is a better option at backup than Kyle Boller should read carefully the excerpts below. Maybe then you'll finally see what to most Ravens fans is obvious: Kyle Boller is the best option the team has at backup quarterback.

Boller is familiar with the offense, ostensibly comfortable with his backup role, just good enough to get the job done for short-term periods, and he's in a contract year so hopefully if the need arises he'll be even more likely to step up and get the job done.

Stellino on why Byron Leftwich failed to succeed in Jacksonville:

"...he didn't succeed in jax because he's not an nfl qb. poor mechanics, long windup, not a great arm and he's a stationary target so they blitz him all the time and he's injury prone. he's started only six of the last 21 regular season games."

"...leftwich was so bad in camp -- 10 series against first string defenses, 1 td on a drive kept alive by a personal foul penalty, seven punts and two fourth down misses..."

"why ozzie is interested i can't figure."

San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars: coaches lookin' classy

The league today announced that it is allowing head coaches Mike Nolan (49ers) and Jack Del Rio (Jaguars) to wear suits during home games next season. All eight of 'em. Last year the league let both of them test the waters and approved suit-wearing for what I believe was two games. The next move should be letting them wear real dress shoes. Last year they had to wear these silly looking Reebok quasi-dress shoes, which sort of defeated the purpose of wearing a suit in the first place. From a distance they looked OK, but when you wear a suit with what amounts to tennis shoes, you look like a clown.

As it turns out, the NFL said starting this season any coach will be allowed to rock the suit and tie for home games, but only Nolan and Del Rio -- both former Ravens guys -- expressed interest when the league asked around during the annual meetings this past March in Arizona.

2007 NFL Draft: Jacksonville Jaguars (1.21)

After trading down from the 17th slot, the Jaguars get Florida S Reggie Nelson, who might be the best safety in the draft. Great pick for the Jags, and more tough news for Brady Quinn, who continues to fall and may even slip into the second round.