Franchise Quarterback

Football people call it the most important position in any team sport. They flock to passing workouts every spring like men rushed west for gold. They do so because a great quarterback can almost guarantee repeated trips to the NFL promised land. With Steve McNair retired, the Ravens are expected to be among those quarterback prospectors in next weekend's NFL draft. But if they are to find the next golden arm, they'll have to defy the odds. Most teams that pick a quarterback in the first round come up with copper at best, a handful of dirt at worst.

Let's not pretend we didn't see this day coming eventually. We just didn't know it was coming this specific day. Everybody knew the Steve McNair era in Baltimore would end soon -- the fans knew, McNair had to know and certainly the Ravens knew. But it happened yesterday, and now the Ravens have a couple of options. An intelligent one, befitting an intelligent organization. Or a delusional one. The Ravens have to take the intelligent path -- one, by the way, already being followed by the other major league franchise in town, that until now had mastered the art of delusion.

An unpredictable draft without a clear-cut No. 1 choice will start with debate, not consensus. It will start with the Oakland Raiders weighing the promise of JaMarcus Russell against the production of Brady Quinn. Unless the Raiders obtain a veteran quarterback between now and noon tomorrow, they almost certainly will choose between Russell and Quinn, the 1A and 1B of quarterbacks, with the first pick in the 2007 NFL draft. One has a tremendously strong arm and surprising accuracy. The other demonstrated impressive consistency and leadership over four years, along with the ability to avoid interceptions.

The date was April 26, 2003, and it was supposed to be a milestone in Ravens history. On that day, the Ravens drafted a franchise quarterback named Kyle Boller in the first round, the 19th pick overall. Nearly four months later, the Ravens had named Boller their starting quarterback. That was the beginning of the end of a successful run by the Ravens. If you want to trace the team's recent demise, it started on the day it announced Boller as the starter, which meant the franchise was mortgaging the present for the future.

ART MODELL HAS only two goals to fulfill in his last NFL draft as majority owner of the Ravens. He wants to leave the franchise in great shape for future owner Steve Bisciotti, who takes over at the end of the 2003 season, and he would like to draft a franchise quarterback. A quarterback who has charisma. One with leadership abilities. One who can throw the quick out to the far side of the field as well as the intermediate passes over the middle. He wants someone with toughness, touch and the potential for greatness.

In a perfect world, the Ravens would use their two first-round picks in the 2000 draft to add a play-making receiver and a future quarterback -- the offensive cornerstones they obviously need.But the Ravens' world is seldom perfect -- just look at their record -- and they may have to make a choice, especially if they decide to go after a premier player and package their two first-rounders for a pick in the top two or three.What do they take then? Which hole do they fill?Last spring, it would have been a quarterback; the draft class of '99 was front-loaded with enviable options such as Tim Couch, Akili Smith and Donovan McNabb.

So this is what the NFL will look like in the new millennium. Quick turnarounds followed by faster collapses. Dying dynasties steeped in salary cap chaos. Coaching carousels punctuated with hostile ownership takeovers.Parity in all its white-knuckled madness.If you thought the New York Jets' stay at the top of the AFC East was brief, consider the plight of the Atlanta Falcons.They finally showed some muscle in the NFC West last year, powering their way to a Super Bowl appearance, only to fall back and get more sand kicked in their faces this season.

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers probably ar beginning to wish for a do-over on their decision to stake their future to rookie quarterback Ryan Leaf, who has had problems on and off the field and will watch today's game against the Ravens from the bench.But even if Leaf is a bust, the Chargers' instincts in acquiring him were sound.At some point, any team with high intentions needs to gamble on a franchise quarterback.The Ravens certainly do.No, it's hardly a safe course of action, as the Chargers are discovering.

When the NFL season opened Sept. 6, journeyman quarterback Bill Musgrave was unemployed. Four days later, the Philadelphia Eagles brought him in to serve as quality control coach, a menial staff job.Sunday, he called the offensive plays in the Eagles' 13-10 loss to the San Diego Chargers.That's how brutal this season has become for the 1-6 Eagles. Seven weeks into a nightmare, a career backup cut by the Indianapolis Colts last August is suddenly calling the shots on offense."Bill Musgrave called the plays.

Whatever happened to parity?That's the unanswered question about the start of the 1998 NFL season.Four weeks into the season, there are seven unbeaten teams and six winless teams.That means 13 of the 30 teams have either won all their games or lost all their games.That's surprising in an era when free agency has tended to group the teams together. Last year, there were seven teams -- four unbeaten and three winless -- in this category after four weeks. The gap between the haves and have-nots seems to be %% widening.