Sports Radio Interviews

Backup-a-Palooza!!!

Three reserve quarterbacks have been in the news of late — and with all the talk about this Albert Haynesworth deal or that Matt Cassel trade, it’s depth that makes your championship football teams.

Like Cassel and Tom Brady, new Patriots #2 quarterback Kevin O’Connell began his NFL life as an under-the-radar depth pick, though his third-round status puts the second-year man higher than his predecessors.  With Cassel gone to Kansas City, if anything befalls Tom Brady’s recovery, O’Connell’s the next man up in one of the most important roles in pro football. When he was on with Scott & BR on XX 1080, the San Diego State grad sounded ready for whatever may come his way.

On the opportunity he’s now been given:

“Who knows what happens moving forward, but I know that having the chance to compete and be the backup, to get some more reps through the spring with Tom coming back from his injury – I’m really looking forward to it. At the same time, it’s added responsibility as a young guy to get an opportunity like this … to run with it and not disappoint anybody.”

Click here to listen to Kevin O’Connell with Scott & BR on XX 1080!

Former Lions/Bengals/Seahawks/about 10 other teams starter Jon Kitna was recently traded to the Cowboys, which gives the veteran a shot at some playing time, and the Cowboys a reliable backup. Anyone who saw Brad Johnson sub for Tony Romo last year … well, let’s just say that an upgrade was necessary. On Monday, Kitna joined Galloway and Company on ESPN Radio Dallas to talk about his new digs.

Can he be satisfied as a backup behind Dallas’ occasionally errant glamour boy?

“I think I am a starter in this league – there’s no question. But the reality is this: to be a starter, you typically have to go to teams that aren’t very good. At this point in my career, I wanted a taste of winning. I wanted a taste of feeling like every Sunday, you’re the better football team on the field. That was the number-one thing for me this time around. Now, I didn’t get to free agency with the Cowboys trading for me, but this is the exact situation I played for — to go to a place where they expect to win every single Sunday, and they’ll do whatever is necessary both on and off the field.”

Click here to listen to Jon Kitna on Galloway and Company!

Never bet against a proud veteran with something to prove. Dan Orlovsky, who replaced Kitna in Detroit after Kitna fell out of favor, was himself out of the picture after the Lions restructured Daunte Culpepper’s deal. Now with the Texans, Orlovsky must overcome the fact that he’s most famous for stepping out of the end zone against the Vikings last year (Personally, if Jared Allen was chasing me, I’d be hightailing it for the next county!)

Here’s what Orlovsky had to say to KILT in Houston about (ahem) THE PLAY…

“It was one of those things that was wild — it was going on third down, and we had called time out because we had the wrong play in. I just remember walking to the sideline and saying (to himself), ‘Hey, don’t do anything stupid down here!’  You don’t even think about stepping out of bounds. But it just happened. I remember getting to the sideline and (receiver) Calvin (Johnson) just laughing — he said, ‘I’m sorry — I did everything I could not to laugh, but that was funny…’

“I know that people will focus on it for a while, but I’m not too concerned with it.”

Quarterbacks, especially young quarterbacks on historically bad teams, must have two things above all: an accurate arm, and a short memory. Sounds to me as if Orlovsky can roll with the punches, and that will serve him well going forward.

Click here to listen to Texans quarterback Dan Orlovsky on KILT SportsRadio 610!

Tags: Backup Quarterbacks, Dan Orlovsky, ESPN Radio, Jon Kitna, Kevin O'Connell, KILT SportsRadio 610, Matt Cassel, NFL, sports radio interviews, Tom Brady, XX 1080