Quarles…Say Hmm…

Well, Quarles came out and said that his injuries aren't a degenerative hip, nor head injuries (this contradicts his comments to the local rags). But, when the little woofer asked him if he could pass a physical, Quarles said "No comment". I think it's clear he's got an issue. What it is, is still anyone's guess. But, nevertheless, all of this continues to fuel the Gruden/Allen haters that flock to the dumb dog. It's really sickening because there really isn't any good way to let a player like this go. Can you imagine what it was like when the 49ers whacked Montana? Or Rice? What about all the other stars that have been whacked by their long term teams?

This is the NFL, and sometimes you have to move on. The fact that Quarles has missed 10 games during the last 4 seasons, and that he turns 36, probably has them somewhat concerned and they felt they needed to move on now before they took the additional cap hit that keeping him would have entailed. It's unfortunate, but it's going to happen to every player that stays in the game longer than a team thinks they should. The only way these things become easier is if the player retires. Barring that, the player is going to get cut, and people are going to scream and moan about it.

Quarles is truly a class act, and I hope he ends up on our staff at some point. I also hope he doesn't play much longer, if any, for the sake of his health. Of course, players have an immortality complex about them. I don't think we ever want to see him permanently injured because he played this game for too long.

Good luck, Quarles. May we see you back on this team in another role whenever you decide that you are done playing.