Nothing comes between this high school quarterback and his genes

An undersized junior quarterback with a sizable pedigree just set the Mississippi state high school record for most touchdown passes in a single season -- 43 -- with at least one playoff game left to be played.

His name is Dylan Favre.

His uncle plays quarterback for the New York Jets.

Dylan broke the old record with five touchdown passes in St. Stanislaus High School’s game last week against Poplarville. Listed anywhere from 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet, Dylan has not received much interest from colleges, though he has received standard-issue letters from UCLA, Notre Dame, Mississippi and Southern Mississippi.

Because he is Brett Favre’s nephew, Dylan finds himself a marked man. He says opponents are usually eager to “knock me out. . . . Expectations are high.”

Trivia time

Where did Brett Favre play his high school football?

Joke or no joke?

What do football players talk about on the field?

According to Detroit Lions running back Kevin Smith, members of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday were joking about how bad the winless Lions are.

“They were cracking jokes,” Smith told the Detroit News. “They thought we were a joke. They said we [stink]. They were saying that to me, that I [stink]. And I told them they [stink] too. And they said, ‘Well, not as bad as [you].’ And I said, ‘You’re right.’ [Because] we haven’t won one game.”

Ouch!

Tonya Harding turns 38 today, prompting Richard Oliver of the San Antonio Express-News to write: “Don’t look for her to celebrate by going clubbing. As she knows all too well, it’s bad for the knees.”

Ouch! Part 2

Danish soccer player David Nielsen has revealed why he got dismissed from Norwegian club Stromsgodset back in 2005. According to the New Zealand Herald, Nielsen said he had warned “pretentious” Danish teammate Allan Gaarde -- who played briefly in Italy -- to stop “talking loudly about wine in Italian.”

“I told him: ‘The next time you speak Italian I will break you in half. You’re not . . . Italian -- you spent eight months there.’

“So when he did it again I decided to break his . . . legs like sticks. I jumped at him and bang. Jackpot. Felt good.”

Trivia answer

Hancock North Central High School in Mississippi.

A cut above?

From Dan Daly of the Washington Times, on the Denver Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony opening a barber shop: “Too bad he doesn’t play for the Clippers.”

-- Mike Penner