Kerry Ascendant

Welcome back to TMQ, and we hope your editor gets out of prison soon. From today's piece:

You probably think of Titans quarterback Kerry Collins as someone whose foul-ups in his personal life early in his career prevented him from ever achieving his promise. Dig this: If Collins throws for 3,159 yards this season -- he threw for 2,676 a season ago -- he would pass Joe Montana on the all-time passing list.

Actually, Collins has already passed Montana - he has 5,669 career attempts vs. 5,391 for Joe Cool. So, more attempts, fewer yards, and he has 179 interceptions to Montana's 139. His career passer rating is 73.8 vs. Montana's 92.3, and his IAYPA is 5.0 vs. Montana's 6.2.

Well, you might say, Collins has gotten his act together. Surely, if he played mistake-free ball, he'd close in on Montana. Yes, he would...

Collins averages about 6.6 yards per attempt. If he never threw an interception again, he would pull even with Montana on IAYPA after...let's see, carry the six, multiply by 50, SQRT key, integrate...yes, he would need 15,331 more attempts (give or take). So if he plays mistake-free ball, he should pull even with Montana sometime in 2045.

Collins, as has been noted, has come back from a bad place, made himself right, and deserves respect. Maybe this sums up his career: two Pro Bowl appearances, 12 years apart (1996 and 2008). We wish him well in 2009.

And thanks to TMQ for this map of the nearby cosmos.