Ex-Raven, Kyle Boller Heads To St. Louis. "Good Luck and Good Riddance!"

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

This is one of those articles that really cuts to the meat and potatoes of the matter. The kind of article that one dreams of writing, the one that really matters deep down in your heart.

Kyle Boller.

The picture above is what had so many of us Ravens' fans drooling and panting, the handsome, strong-armed, franchise QB that would lead our team to years upon years of greatness.

Did any of you ever get the chance to see Boller practice his pass progressions at the 03 NFL Combine? If you haven't done so yet, get ready to see this kid's incredible upside.

-(Insert YouTube Link, I couldn't find one of the Combine 60 yard pass off his knees)-

Just a quick recap, the star-QB from the University of California completely stunned every scout, manager and talent evaluator that showed at both his Pro-Day and the Combine.

He ran the 40 in under 4.59 seconds, the fastest time for a legitimate first-round QB prospect in this entire decade. His short-shuttle time of 3.99 was first among the QBs.. AND the entire set of RBs as well!

Out of 110 passes thrown during drills at the official combine, Boller completed just over 96% of his passes, capping the entire practice with a jaw-dropping, scrambling 75+ yard bomb.

All of this paled in comparison to what was to come after his official workouts had concluded. In my mind, this was what sold him both to the Baltimore front office and the Ravens' faithful.

After his official workout had come to it's conclusion, Kyle Boller proceeded to drop to his knees, exactly on the 50 yard line, and toss one of the most beautiful spirals I have ever seen cleanly through the field goal posts.

- Sixty yards away.-

Now mind you, Ozzie Newsome, the Raven's General Manager/Director of Pro Personnel, does not often make mistakes. This was supposed to be a safe pick, a pick that was guaranteed to show results.

Evidently, there is no such thing as a safe pick in the NFL draft.

Look at the slight difference in draft positions between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. How about the difference between Eli Manning and J.P. Losman?

In actuality, all of these quarterbacks had similar, if not even draft position grades.

But when it came down to the down and dirty work of winning football games, the Manning brothers both got a championship ring, while J.P. Losman is struggling to even continue to earn a paycheck warming the bench in Buffalo.

Let's not even get into the Ryan Leaf debate. Just about every football fan who actually turns on ESPN even once a month knows that Leaf is almost always considered one of the biggest busts of all time.

We'll leave it at that.

So back to Mr. Baby-faced, Ex-Fireman, Flash in the pan, worst QB in Baltimore's short and storied history, Kyle Boller.

Here is my unadulterated, fully repressed and thoroughly devastating opinion about a truly physically talented and utterly mentally handicapped quarterback.

Boller fully abused the current NFL infatuation with measurable statistics to jump his draft stock, which by the way was totally based upon only one solid year at Cal, from probably a late 3rd-early 4th round pick to the second QB drafted in the 2003 Draft.

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