The QB Life

Not every team has an ideal quarterback situation. Pats fans have been spoiled by the Hall of Fame play of Tom Brady. Not all quarterbacks travel the glamorous road that Tom Brady has done throughout his NFL career.

Raiders QB Jason Campbell seem to be headed for a successful season until he broke his collar bone, sidelining him for at least six weeks. The team traded for Carson Palmer and has named him to start against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. This is in spite of not having any football activity since last December. He will only have five days to learn the offense.

Where does this leave backup QB Kyle Boller? What does this say about the Raiders thoughts on his ability to win? He is a former first round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2003, the next QB picked after Carson Palmer. He got the Ravens starting job in 2004 before being replaced by Steve MacNair in 2006.

Boller signed with the St Louis Rams in 2009 and sat behind Marc Bulger, playing only in blowouts. He signed with the Raiders in March of 2010, but only played one game. It looked like he was going to replace Campbell until the Raiders completed their huge trade for Palmer.

Campbell had his own rocky road to starting. He was a first round pick of the Washington Redskins in 2005. He sat for a year before starting for the 2006-2009 seasons. He was traded to the Raiders on draft day for a 4th round pick in 2012. Al Davis gave him a two year contract and pronounced him as the "next Jim Plunkett".

Palmer, Boller and Campbell are all former first round picks with varying degrees of success. I heard their praises sung on draft day. Nobody cheered for Tom Brady when the Pats selected his in the 6th round in 2000.

Coach Belichick has always said:"It doesn't matter where you were drafted. It only matters what you do once you get here".