Welcome to Bossier-Shreveport, Q

If Quincy Carter really is going to play for the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings in 2007, then I want to be one of the first to openly admit that I'm rooting for him to succeed.

I remember that summer day in 2001, when he was a rookie QB starter for the Dallas Cowboys and his future seemed particularly bright. It was his first NFL start. He had the confidence of deep-pocketed Jerry Jones, the potential of Kordell Stewart (if only we knew about that comparison back then) and a maturity that seemed to belie his years from time spent in the baseball minors.

That afternoon, I watched him struggle mightily against a Tony Dungy-coached Bucs defense that was one of the best in NFL history and really unforgiving of rookies. But there were still flashes of ability that seemed to indicate better days were ahead for the former Georgia QB.

Um, not so much. No need to document all of his past here, but there were on-field and off-field struggles that derailed his career and ultimately forced him out of the league.

Now he arrives in northwest Louisiana hoping to recapture some of that brighter past. I'm sure all of us, at some point or another, have needed second chances and our own chance at redemption, right? We've all been in need of some charity or grace, somewhere along the line.

Let's hope Q finally finds a little of that here while doing a reasonable impersonation of an AFL2 quarterback.