Wise Men Steer Clear of Heisman Winners

Not everyone thinks the Cincinnati Bengals are making the right choice today by taking USC quarterback Carson Palmer with the first pick in the NFL draft.

An oft-cited reason, as strange as it sounds, is that he won the Heisman Trophy.

To say some Heisman-winning passers haven’t panned out is an understatement.

Dare we mention Eric Crouch, 2001; Chris Weinke, 2000; Danny Wuerffel, 1996; Gino Torretta, 1992, and Ty Detmer, 1990?

And consider the last two quarterbacks the Bengals selected in the first round: David Klingler and Akili Smith. Two good reasons they have the first pick this year.

Trivia question: Who was the last USC quarterback drafted in the first round?

Bay watch: The pressure is on San Francisco 49er General Manager Terry Donahue, who needs a strong performance in the draft today to lift sagging projections for his team.

The view of Donahue’s 49ers, writes the San Jose Mercury News’ Skip Bayless: “They’ve gotten a little worse because they haven’t gotten better.”

Rival GMs, Bayless noted, always have wondered why a career college coach was put in charge of picking players for a top-flight NFL franchise.

One theory is that former GM Bill Walsh “handpicked a successor who would always make fans miss [him].”

Well, many did call Walsh a genius.

Flashback: One led the New York Giants to their first Super Bowl; the other helped the New York (Jets’) Sack Exchange soar to new heights.

The names Simms and Klecko will be followed closely in New York again this weekend, only this time it won’t be the former Giant, Phil, and the former Jet, Joe.

It will be their sons, who are expected to go in the NFL draft.

Chris Simms, a quarterback like his dad, is expected to be taken in the first two rounds (his father was a first-round pick). Dan Klecko, a defensive tackle, like his dad, will go later (his father went in the sixth round).

Phil Simms hopes comparisons end there in at least one respect.

“I hope my son doesn’t have to get hit by [Dan Klecko] the way I got hit by his father,” Phil told Newsday.

Room service: At least one Philadelphia Flyer was thankful Coach Ken Hitchcock checked the team into a hotel after it returned home for Game 7 of its first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“If we had gone home, my kids would have gotten me up at 7 o’clock this morning and wanted to have breakfast,” Jeremy Roenick said.

Hitchcock’s approach worked. The Flyers won, 6-1.

Trivia answer: Todd Marinovich, selected 24th overall by the Raiders in 1991, after his sophomore season.

And finally: The topic was the recent arrest of three Milwaukee Buck players and, as usual, Charles Barkley was quick to comment when TNT partner Kenny Smith opined that a court appearance in Toronto by the trio didn’t seem to faze them.

“When I used to get arrested, it never bothered me,” Barkley said. “The only thing that got me [angry] was when they tried to give me bologna and milk, because bologna and milk is not a meal.”