THE NFL / BILL PLASCHKE : Time to Stop Playing Musical Quarterbacks

Dan Fouts was playing a little game with his son the other day: Match the NFL team with the quarterback.

“We started in the NFC Central,” said Fouts, who used to play a little quarterback himself. “After a few minutes, we quit. We couldn’t do it.

“I mean, this is crazy.”

There are other words to describe what has been happening in the NFL.

Dumb. Desperate. Damaging.

In the last 14 months, 19 of 28 teams have hired or fired starting quarterbacks.

Three of those teams have hired and fired quarterbacks twice .

In only the last three months, nine teams have changed quarterbacks.

In one day, Wednesday, three Pro Bowl quarterbacks changed teams.

It wasn’t so long ago that the thought of Warren Moon, Mark Rypien and Bernie Kosar changing teams in the same 24-hour period would have been unbelievable.

Now, the football powerbrokers shrug.

“This is how you do business in our league now,” said Charley Casserly, Washington Redskin general manager.

Since when does doing business mean robbing the fans of the only player many will ever identify with?

Since when does doing business mean that the most visible and important person on a team suddenly gets passed around the league like a bad penny?

The Atlanta Falcons let Wade Wilson leave and hire Bobby Hebert, who has been let go by New Orleans, which hires Wade Wilson.

Confused? Read on.

Less than 12 months later, the Falcons fire Bobby Hebert and hire Jeff George, who has left Indianapolis, which hires Jim Harbaugh, who was fired by Chicago, which has hired Eric Kramer, who was not re-signed by Detroit, which hires Scott Mitchell, who was let go by Miami, which hires Kosar, who was fired by the Cleveland Browns in the idiotic move that began this nightmare.

“This has been a disaster,” Fouts said.

To understand the craziness, look no further than the map in the Newport Beach office of agent Leigh Steinberg. He represents 22 quarterbacks, whose photos he affixes to the map in the cities where they play.

This minute, four of those players are in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Is this a wonderful thing for the game? No,” Steinberg said.

Said Sid Gillman, who is consulted by teams who need help with their quarterbacks:

“I am tickled to death I’m not coaching anymore. I would not want to wake up every day and wonder who my quarterback is.”

Fouts spent all of his 15 years with the San Diego Chargers. Roger Staubach spent all of his 11 years with the Dallas Cowboys. Jim Hart spent 18 years with the St. Louis Cardinals.

That the New Orleans Saints have had three quarterbacks in three years must be funny to Archie Manning, who once was their quarterback for 12 years.

The main problem, of course, is the salary cap--along with owners and players who don’t understand how to adjust to it.

Rypien could have stayed in Washington, and perhaps been a savior if their first-round draft pick messes up, if he had taken a pay cut.

Moon could have stayed in Houston if the Oilers had listened to his request to take a pay cut. But instead of keeping him around for less money and great insurance, they will now go with a kid or an unknown as Cody Carlson’s backup.

Simply because there is suddenly free agency doesn’t mean there are suddenly quick fixes. Especially not with quarterbacks.

“As great as Joe Montana was, he did not take the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl last year, did he?” Fouts asked.

If he had, he would have been only the third quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl in his first year with that team.

The last one to do it was Craig Morton with the Denver Broncos in the 1977 season. The only other one was Daryle Lamonica of the then-Oakland Raiders in 1967.

Two in 28 Super Bowls.

“We are all seeing how long it takes quarterbacks to get used to the system,” Saint Coach Jim Mora said. “Wade Wilson came in early last year and worked hard, and he still wasn’t completely comfortable at the start of the season.”

A suggestion. There are already special rules to protect the quarterback on the field. Add one to protect him off the field.

Allow teams to exceed the salary cap in paying their free-agent quarterbacks.

The NBA already has this rule for every player, regardless of position, and their big stars are staying put.