Manifest o' Destiny

If you had to pick one quarterback to build your franchise around, would you take Brady or Manning? Well, who would it be?

Excuse me?

Which is a bigger accomplishment: Steve Young getting to one Super Bowl and winning it ... or Jim Kelly's Bills getting to four straight, even though they lost them all? What's your take?

Take? I ... um ... I don't know?

Which was the biggest waste of a No. 1 draft pick: Carson Palmer or David Carr? Who's the bigger loser?

Waste? Loser? What the hell?

My answer to each of these questions is: I don't know, and I don't care. Am I a coach? No. A scout? No. A player? Ha! I'm a fan. A football fan. A pro football fan, mostly. So how the hell would I know?

I love the game. I love the theater of it, if not always the actors. I love the numbers, though not necessarily the stats. My opinions are just that: opinions, informed only by my personal likes, dislikes and biases. You have your opinions, too. Who's right? Who cares? There's so little of actual consequence at stake in pro football, yet commentary on the game is so shrill. There's enough of that already. I refuse to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution. Part? No, I want to be the solution.

So you have this site here. Down and Distance. Pro football at its best.

Manning vs. Brady? I'm more interested in Manning 2005 vs. Favre 1995. Heard all the recent this-and-that about Manning being 0 for his last 8 vs. the Patriots? Consider: Favre was 0 for 7 vs. the Cowboys. Take a wild guess what they said about him.

Young vs. Kelly? To me, the important thing is that both were superstars in the United States Football League, yet neither won a title. Meanwhile, Chuck Fusina won two of the three USFL titles -- and nearly won all three! Chuck who? Exactly.

Welcome to Down and Distance. My name is Paul. Call me Commissioner.

Or, you know, Paul.