Jack Elway, son of John Elway, was in the thick of the battle for starting QB at Arizona State, when he abruptly quit last week. He has no intention of playing football again. With his last name, it has to be tough playing football, much less quarterback.  I wonder how far Nick Montana will go in college as a QB?

Speaking off namesakes, James Ferentz, son of Iowa head coach, Kirk Ferentz, was suspended indefinitely along with 2 teammates, for their alcohol related arrests recently. It was the 2nd for young Ferentz.

Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel decided to speed up the learning curve for his quarterbacks this spring. But he's done it at some risk. Mizzou QB's no longer wear the red vest in scrimmages, the vest signifying "hands off" to defenders. Tiger QB's have taken a shot or two, but Pinkel believes it will hasten the decision making process of sophomore Blaine Gabert & incoming freshmen, Blaine Dalton & Ashton Glaser if they know they can be hit.

Former Missouri Tiger & recently released Kansas City Chief, Will Frankiln, has signed today with the Lions. The wide receiver was drafted in the 4th round last spring by the Chiefs, didn't play much as a rookie & apparently didn't figure in their plans for '09.

Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin, already a question mark with many NFL talent evaluators because of his long list of nagging injuries, now has a confirmed failed drug test to add to his resume. For about two weeks another football website has floated a list of prospects who failed their drug test at the NFL combine. There was extensive denial by most of the prospects & their agents, but not a word from Harvin or his representatives. It has now been confirmed he tested positive for marijuana.  To me, smoking pot certainly isn't as serious as testing positive for cocaine, heroin or steroids. But it makes me wonder if he will quit once he gets to the NFL, where a failed test will get you suspended. If he can't get off it long enough to give a decent urine sample at the combine, how important is it to him in the grand scheme of things?

There is still chatter between the Browns & Giants over a possible trade of Cleveland wideout, Braylon Edwards. Word is, the trade would've been done a week ago if a new contract for Edwards hadn't slowed up the deal. It's been said he wants $10 million a season if he's to move to New York. I like Edwards a lot, but for a guy who led the league in dropped passes & scored 13 fewer touchdowns last season than he did in '07, to make such lofty demands is puzzling.

Now there's even talk that the Browns & Vikings have had discussions regarding QB Brady Quinn. The Vikings have just about every piece in place with the exception of a quality QB & possibly a right tackle. If new head coach Eric Mangini pulls the trigger on this deal & the Edwards-to-the-Giants trade, what does he have left on offense? They already traded TE Kellen Winslow Jr. to Tampa Bay, starting wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, is facing extensive prison time after killing a pedestrian last month in Miami, leaving only Jamal Lewis, their over-30 RB as a playmaker on offense.

The 2009 schedule was released last evening with much fanfare on the NFL Network.  As usual, there were the things that left you scratching your head & things that reinforced my belief that in the end, it's all about money regardless of how they want to portray it. One of the big themes of this season is honoring the AFL's 60th anniversary, but in the end, it looks like just a lame gimmick to sell throwback jerseys.  I thought the original 8 AFL franchises should have all played their home openers against each other, that way the throwback jersey theme would have meant something. How about the Chiefs, whose late owner was the founder of the AFL, maybe playing at home on opening day against Denver? The Raiders & Chargers were already scheduled to play on the first Monday night. No, let's send the Chiefs to Baltimore on opening day, which celebrates nothing in terms of the AFL.  Denver is also playing on the road in Cincinnati opening day. The Royals are out of town September 13th, so that wasn't a consideration. What gives?

There were a few other bothersome notes from the schedule release hoopla of last night.  Only six teams got 'lucky' enough to not have to face a team coming off the bye week. Bye week teams have two weeks to rest, heal & prepare. Those 6 'lucky' teams? Pittsburgh, Arizona, Philadelphia, New England, Indianapolis & Minnesota. The rich just get richer, don't they?

Dallas, known for their December collapses for several years now, will be facing  another one this season. After their Thanksgiving home game, the rest of their schedule is at the Giants, home for San Diego, at New Orleans, home for Washington & at Philadelphia.  And guess who got the most nationally televised games?  The Steelers or the Colts or the Ravens, how about Arizona or Philly or maybe the Giants? Nope. Get ready America, the team you're going to see in prime time most often is the, 'we haven't won a playoff game in 13 years', Dallas Cowboys. Gag, I just vurped. Yes, Dallas got six prime time games.

The Chiefs, under new coach Todd Haley, will be hard pressed to get off to a good start. Before their bye in week 8, they play at Baltimore, at Washington, at Philly & home games against San Diego, the Giants, Dallas & Oakland. The Chiefs are one of six teams that didn't get a prime time game, but frankly they didn't deserve one. They join Cincinnati, Seattle, Tampa Bay, St. Louis & Houston as teams that will play Sunday daytime games only. Houston didn't get a game, despite their 8-8 record, but Cleveland, Jacksonville, Oakland & Detroit did?

The league is already hearing from Jet fans regarding their schedule. The two best home games on their slate are September 20th vs. New England & September 27th vs. Tennessee. So what's the big deal? These two weekends cover both Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur, the Jewish high holy days. The Jets have many thousands of Jewish season ticket holders & they're not happy with the scheduler. In another city, like Denver or Houston, there wouldn't have been such an uproar, but in New York, it certainly is. Another in the "what were they thinking" file.

In regards to schedule difficulty, the Bears, Steelers, Baltimore & St. Louis look to have the easiest schedule.  The reverse includes Tampa Bay, Carolina, the Giants & the worst goes to Miami. They won't be sneaking up on anyone this year. Chiefs are about in the middle of the pack.