If you're like me, Scott Howard, any time spent not thinking about the continuing adventures of Goofus and Gallant is spent thinking about sports. While typically it revolves around more standard thoughts like, it sure would be swell if the Suns won a championship, sometimes I just think up random intricate hypotheticals. Why? I'm bored, and it's the middle of August.
Thus with that I bring you the first of my Hypothetical Tuesdays. It might turn into a weekly thing, it might not. Who can know?
Paint a picture with me for a minute. Imagine that it's Week 7 of the NFL season, the Cardinals are about to get off to an impressive 4-2 start and be a game up in the NFC West. But unfortunately QB Matt Leinart has gone down with a season ending shoulder injury in the late stages of a road win over the Seahawks.
Though the fortunes of the team would be turned to backup Derek Anderson, considering the season ending nature of Leinart's injury you've got to assume they'd pick up a veteran backup. Unless you're like Justin Burning and think they'd turn the backup job on a division contender over to a rookie - either Max Hall or John Skelton. Perhaps this begs the return of Josh McCown (currently in the UFL) or Brian St. Pierre (I'm sure he's doing something...somewhere). Aka something wildly unsexy.
With Anderson at the helm and the next 4 weeks of the schedule relatively light (home dates against Tampa Bay, Seattle and a road game with Kansas City), the Cardinals are suddenly 7-3. But more bad stuff happens as though DA can suddenly find the broad side of a barn with his passes, he's also suffered a season ending injury at the hands of some rogue Chiefs defender. Gasp!
Now your team is 7-3, you've got a 2 game lead in the NFC West and you're staring at a home Monday Night Football game with your division rival San Franciso. What's a Whisenhunt to do?
Call Kurt Warner.
I know what you're saying at this point, you're both (a) crazy and (b) ridiculous - and you'd be correct on both accounts. But hear me out here.
If his Twitter account is any indication, it certainly seems that Warner is more than a little comfortable in retirement and wouldn't likely be in football shape. Yet maybe after Matty goes down against Seattle, Kurt has Brenda throw on some receiver gloves and head out into the yard to catch a few balls. You know, just to test if the old noodle still has any zip left in it.
I would presume after a Leinart injury, the calls would already begin to roll into Warner - come on Kurt, come and get back in here, it's only half a season. But with Anderson in the fold they would simply border on overly friendly.
Yet I bet you'd get a different brand of Whisenhunt after Anderson hypothetically fell. Suddenly his call to Warner would sound a bit more like begging. Then I figure you'd get Larry Fitzgerald into the calling circle. Then Beanie Wells would show up at his house with a fruit basket and Darnell Dockett would offer unlimited hugs. And so on.
Would Warner be able to resist the desperate cries of a ready-made NFC West champion in the final 6 games (or 4-5 if he needs a few extra weeks to get back in shape) as they push for the playoffs?
If you think this is so ridiculous (again you'd be right), think about 2007 when Leinart DID suffer a season ending injury, only to be replaced by Warner who was knocked out of the next game on the very first drive. In that instance Warner played with a bionic left arm, but the Cardinals did bring Tim Rattay and Tim Hasselbeck in for insurance.
So if you suspend disbelief and put the Cardinals in the cat bird seat for the division crown and their top 2 QB's on the shelf with injuries, could you ever see it?
Hey it could happen (but not really).
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