This is what Brian Billick had in mind when he traded back into the first round of the 2003 draft to take Kyle Boller: the next Peyton Manning. Of course, Manning never winged a football through goal posts from midfield while on one knee, which I imagine made Boller an even more attractive prospect in Billick's mind. Whatever, neither Boller nor Billick worked out in Baltimore and now one is the backup quarterback for the Rams and the other is an in-booth NFL analyst for Fox.
St. Louis will face Manning and the Colts this week, and Boller, for the first time in his career, looks like a Pro Bowl quarterback. Via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
...Kyle Boller is giving the Rams' defense more than its money's worth as scout team QB. He's got the pointing, the gestures, the foot stomp - all trademarks of Manning at the line of scrimmage. And you wouldn't believe some of the things Boller is barking out before the ball is snapped.Boller and Flajole are kidding, obviously; something to distract the team from its 0-6 start. But it does remind me of the time that the Browns worked out Brady Quinn prior to the draft, and the consensus was that he was the next coming of Joe Montana*. Then he showed up and turned out to be the next coming of Charlie Frye. The next Kyle Boller works, too, I guess.
"Other than some of the names he's yelling out - 'Ice cream! Boller! Boller!' - and all those type of things, he's actually done a great job for us," defensive coordinator Ken Flajole said, smiling.
Viva la Boller! And ice cream!
* Made that up although I wouldn't be shocked to learn it was true.
