Amazing Disgrace

Fittingly, on an Easter Eve sprinkled with snow, Carter looks ridiculously out of place in the quaint building about the size of a concession stand in the Cowboys' new $1 billion baby. The joint is sponsored by Shoney's, has all the ambience of a nursing home knitting hour and boasts a grainy black-and-white scoreboard video screen not unlike the set your old man used to watch The Honeymooners. The game is 8 on 8, the 50-yard field is surrounded by padded walls and the referee constantly stops play to yell "Please turn down the music!"

Instead of his old No. 17, Quincy wears No. 8 ("I'm trying to put the 1 and 7 back together again," he explains.) He wears a yellow Livestrong bracelet, talks with that familiar lisp and carries the weight of a crappy franchise that has never made the playoffs and last year lost a game 72-3 in Tulsa.

Despite the pressure, Carter performs. Matched against former Texas Tech quarterback Cody Hodges, Carter leads the BattleWings to a 67-52 victory over the Fort Wayne Fusion with 20 of 29 passing for 237 yards, countless points to the sky, a couple of enthusiastic towel waves and the first, tiny steps toward salvaging a career.

"I'm not kidding myself. I know the talent level drops off, and it's not 11 on 11," says Carter, 29. "But this is my last chance. No doubt in my mind I will be back in the NFL."

Just not in Dallas.