Per Mort
Quincy Carter update
The last time Testaverde replaced a young quarterback was in the summer of 2004 when he took over for
Quincy Carter with the
Dallas Cowboys.
Carter ended up with the Jets and was thrust into action when
Chad Pennington was injured. But Carter vanished in January, leaving the team to once again seek treatment for what sources said were chemical dependence and a form of depression, possibly bipolar disorder.
Carter hasn't been in circulation this year and wasn't on the Jets' minds when Pennington and
Jay Fiedler were injured two weeks ago -- for logical reasons.
Carter is in a
Ricky Williams-type situation. Sources say he submitted his retirement papers to the league office on Sept. 1. If he tried to unretire during a 12-month period, he would be slapped with credit for a "positive" test under the league's substance-abuse policy. In Carter's case, that would constitute a fourth positive and a minimum one-year suspension.
Carter did have his grievance hearing this week against the Cowboys, claiming he was wrongfully terminated in 2004. The Cowboys said it was for performance reasons only. Carter is arguing that it was based solely on the team's knowledge that he had suffered setbacks in the drug program -- a transaction that would violate the current labor agreement.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=mortensen_chris&id=2182503