ChiefsPlanet - Grbac Tooting His Own Horn Again

In an AP article on Trent Dilfer, Elvis Grbac decided to chime in, and explain what he will bring to the Ravens. As usual, he decided to pat himself on the back.

Quote:

``It's time that a quarterback comes in here and provides leadership, a go-to guy, a vertical passing game,'' Grbac said upon signing. ``This is a great team. I can make it better.''

I don't know how you make a Super Bowl winner better, but leave it to Pelvis to make a claim like this. I would love to see a celebrity deathmatch involving Dilfer and Smelvis.

Here is the link to the story
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news/ap/...lferswait.html

Quote:

Super Bowl winner Dilfer ponders next job
By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
June 23, 2001

BALTIMORE (AP) -- For all his glittering resume, Trent Dilfer can't find a job he wants.

He won the Super Bowl and was 11-1 as a starter last year, but the Baltimore Ravens didn't want him back and other teams haven't shown much interest.

His plan is to wait until training camps begin in August for a chance to compete for a job as a starter and to dispel the notion he won with the Ravens solely because of the team's record-setting defense.

Six weeks after Dilfer led Baltimore to the championship, the Ravens thanked him for his workmanlike performance and turned over the offense to free agent Elvis Grbac, who ranked third in the NFL in passing yardage and fourth in touchdown passes with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Although Grbac was impressive, the Chiefs finished 7-9 and third in the AFC West. Yet Grbac and his prolific right arm received a five-year, $30 million contract from the Ravens on March 8, and Dilfer was shown the door.

Grbac slammed it shut.

``It's time that a quarterback comes in here and provides leadership, a go-to guy, a vertical passing game,'' Grbac said upon signing. ``This is a great team. I can make it better.''

Dilfer handled his ouster from Baltimore in much the same fashion he treated his ouster from Tampa Bay after the 1999 season: with class. He attended the Ravens' ring ceremony on June 9 and hugged almost everyone in sight.

``It's the great culmination of a wonderful year,'' he told reporters. ``The ring will eventually rot away. I'm proud of it, but the relationships I've made with these guys are far greater than the ring.''

The feeling is mutual.

``I'll remember Trent now and I'll remember him 20 years from now. We've been through a lot,'' Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister said. ``While you don't develop a close, intimate relationship with everybody, you do develop a type of bond.''

Dilfer doesn't play for the Ravens anymore, but this is what he does have: $25 million in career NFL earnings, a Super Bowl ring and fond memories of his compelling season of vindication and triumph.

That he does not yet have work is partly his choice.

Dilfer recently rejected contract offers from the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts because he was not interested in being the dutiful backup to a franchise quarterback such as Brett Favre or Peyton Manning.

A year ago, Dilfer took a chance by signing a one-year contract with the Ravens to play behind Tony Banks, who had been handed the starting job and a four-year deal after a successful 1999 season.

Dilfer didn't leave the sideline during the opening seven weeks. Then, after taking over for an ineffective Banks in late October, he began a journey that took him from the pinnacle of his profession back to the unemployment line.

After losing his first start, Dilfer guiding Baltimore to 11 straight wins, a run that ended with a 34-7 rout of the New York Giants in the Super Bowl in Tampa, where he began his NFL career in 1994.

He went from Tampa to Disney World, where so many Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks had gone before him. But Dilfer is unlike all the rest -- he is the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl and be deprived of the chance to do it again.

Dilfer wasn't spectacular, but he was efficient, and that was enough on a team that had one of the best defenses in NFL history. His 76.6 quarterback rating during the regular season was mediocre, as were his Super Bowl numbers: 12-for-23, 153 yards, one touchdown.

Nonetheless, the Ravens won when he was the quarterback.

``There's a huge amount of gratitude for Trent Dilfer,'' Baltimore coach Brian Billick said.

But Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens' vice president of player personnel, said he signed Grbac because Baltimore did not want to once again rely upon its defense to win. Grbac, he said, would turn a cautious offense into the attacking, prolific unit that Billick envisioned when he took over in 1999.

Dilfer has chosen not to talk about his situation, according to his agent, Michael Sullivan, who also refused to be quoted.

In this era of free agency, players come and go. Dilfer isn't the first player from a Super Bowl winner who was forced to move on; he just happens to be the first quarterback.

``Trent's a great guy, a humble guy and very astute. I like him a lot,'' Ravens defensive back James Trapp said. ``But Brian Billick and Ozzie Newsome, they're in charge and I trust them to bring more talent in here. So now we've got Elvis, and I'm with Elvis.''