Every SEC school. . . .

. . . .would love a quarterback like Peyton Manning, right? The Cats have their very own Peyton now. I'll explain. Remember a few years back, before he got his first ring, the Colts were knocked out of the playoffs for the gillionth consecutive year. In his postgame interview, Manning got up and started to say something about the game, then explained why the team had lost thusly, "I want to be a good teammate, so I'll just say we had some protection problems." Well, no Peyton, saying that actually makes you a crappy teammate.

Today, we get this gem from recently demoted quarterback and heretofore solid citizen Mike Hartline: "No one ever expects to win a starting job and then lose it because guys around him aren't performing the way they should. It's disappointing, but it's best for the team, and I'm a team player. And that's just the way it has to be."

Team player, eh?

This sad lack of self awareness has been surpassed only once in my conscious presence. My first year in law school coincided with the 1995 Governor's Race, when luv guv Paul Patton emerged from a crowded pack of Democrats to win nomination and then election. Thanks to Trey Grayson, then a budding politico law student and now our Secretary of State, each candidate for Governor came to the school and spoke at various times. This included one John "Eck" Rose, a then State Senator from Winchester. Eck gave a speech reminiscent of John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King. Only the opposite. With the possible exception of the monuments mentioned, these were his exact words. "You'll never see a hospital named after Eck Rose. You'll never see a school named after Eck Rose. You'll never see a playground named after Eck Rose. Because Eck Rose has no ego." Nothing like watching at 70 year old white guy giving a speech, the central premise of which is his lack of ego, while referring to himself in the third person more often than an NFL wideout.

I digress.

Mike, apologize, say you didn't mean this. Do something. Your offense hasn't helped you out much, true, but you are barely cutting it. Be a man. Keep your head up. One game does not a career make. You've all the time in the world to prove yourself again. Especially since the guy who replaced you has a ticket to the NFL wrapped up in playing a different position. Don't poison the well by sidebusting your teammates now.