Halfway through the NFL season, there are surprises such as the complete collapse of NFC Champion Carolina Panthers and the winning ways of perennial loser San Diego Chargers.
However, one of the most interesting things to watch so far this season has been the emergence of some very good young players, often at the expense of the older veterans.
Over the years, the NFL has been reborn through young players taking the place of living legends. For those who mourned the end of the career of Johnny Unitas and his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1979, they witnessed the rise of Joe Montana, who began his career the same year.
While many football fans were shocked with the sudden retirement of Barry Sanders in 1999, we watched Peyton Manning in his second year in the NFL throw for over 4,000 yards and 26 TD and only 15 interceptions, down 13 from the year before.
Time passes by for every NFL player and even future Hall of Famers must give way to the young guy with the rifle arm or blazing speed.
Jerry Rice has learned this lesson the hard way. Earlier this season, his consecutive streak of games with at least one pass reception was snapped at 274 in a 13-10 win over the Buffalo Bills. The star receiver for the Raiders that day was Ronald Curry who caught five passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Rice managed to get himself traded to the Seattle Seahawks because of his unhappiness over his diminished role with the Raiders. The trade may be a good fit for Rice for this year, but the future of the Seahawks is in the development of Darrell Jackson and Koren Robinson and Rice will really accomplish more as a player/coach than a go-to guy on third-and-long.
In what also must be a message for Rice is that all the Seahawks had to give up to get Rice was a seventh-round draft pick.
Jerry Rice is a living legend and is a sure first-ballot inductee into Canton. But Jerry needs to realize that his five years out of football before his name gets put on the ballot needs to begin this offseason.
If Rice retires after this season, he would also do a great favor to his former teammate Tim Brown, also of ex-Raider fame and current Tampa Bay Buc. Brown couldn't displace the older Rice from the Raider roster and the only reason he is in Tampa is because that right now the Bucs have become the last stop for players before they hang up the cleats and head to the beach.
While some veterans suffer the indignity of being replaced when healthy, some lose their jobs after getting injured and never get back into the game.
Tommy Maddox of the Pittsburgh Steelers was injured in Week 2. Rookie Ben Roethlisberger then started the Steelers on a winning streak that included a defeat of the then-undefeated New England Patriots.
You won't see Maddox under center again unless the game is a blowout or Roethlisberger gets injured himself. But, make no mistake, the younger talent has just moved Maddox to second string and the Steelers decision to not re-negotiate Maddox's contract and pay him more looks like genius.
So, the younger guys step in when the older player's skills slip or they get a chance to show their stuff when an injury takes place. Can a veteran ever get replaced when he is playing better than he has in his entire career?
Ask Drew Brees that question. Brees is only in his fourth year in the NFL and is by no means past his prime. Unfortunately, Brees has been seen as a major disappointment so far in his career.
Brees has been inconsistent and couldn't even keep Doug Flutie on the bench last season. But wait a second here. This season, Brees, after eight games, has thrown 14 TD, three interceptions, and has a QB rating of over 100 while guiding his team to a surprising 5-3 record after half the season and a share of first place in the AFC West.
Surely, Brees has shown that he is only a late bloomer, like Rich Gannon or even Steve Young. No chance. The Chargers have number four overall pick Philip Rivers holding the clipboard on the sidelines this season.
First-round picks are not paid to hold clipboards and there is no way Brees is under center next season with San Diego. At best, Brees is demonstrating that he can be the starter for the team he will be with next year.
In the NFL, even the promise of replacing a veteran with a good rookie prospect can be reason enough to dump the older player.
If veterans who are playing well feel the pressure of a young gun behind them, how do veterans who are struggling?
Look no further than the Buffalo Bills.
Drew Bledsoe will probably experience every possible scenario of the older veteran being pressured by the promise of a young starter.
Bledsoe was the number one overall pick in the 1993 NFL draft. He was the young gun who of course was paid too much to watch and played in 13 games, starting 12, for his first team, the Patriots.
During his years as the young gun, Bledsoe was afforded lots of opportunities to become the star player he was supposed to be. Bledsoe even started Super Bowl XXXI in January of 1997 for the Patriots.
However, Bledsoe's career stalled somewhat after that season. Then comes the 2001 season. Bledsoe suffers a serious injury that sidelines him for a number of games.
Young Tom Brady steps in and guides the Patriots to a number of wins. Even when Bledsoe recovers from his injury, his job is lost to the younger QB.
Later that same season, Brady suffers an injury in the playoffs and Bledsoe steps in and plays a great game to get the Patriots to the Super Bowl.
Coach Bill Belichick was left with a tough decision. Do you go with the hot hand that saved the game for you last week, the guy who was your starter, but who lost the job through injury? Or do you go back to the guy who got you there over the majority of the season?
No problem for Belichick. He goes with Brady and benches Bledsoe, effectively ending Bledsoe's time in New England and ushering in what may yet be described as a dynasty in New England. The next season, Bledsoe is traded to Buffalo.
This season, the Bills are struggling again. Bledsoe has been under heavy criticism and many are calling for rookie J.P. Losman to be put under center when he recovers from injury.
In the same backfield, RB Travis Henry, who has rushed for over 1,300 yards in two of his previous three full seasons with the Bills, has just been bumped from the starters job by 2003 first-round pick Willis McGahee.
No one's job is safe in the NFL. There is a continuing quest to find the younger (and cheaper) players in order to replace the veterans before they become a liability on the field.
What happens when you have too many aging veterans on your team? Find Tampa Bay in the standings. But don't bother straining your neck looking high.
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