Home > News > Cowboys release Quincy Carter

August 4, 2004

The Dallas Cowboys have officially released their starting quarterback, Quincy Carter, for undisclosed non football related reasons. This coming just 2 days after head coach Bill Parcells stated to the media that Quincy had a leg up on the upcoming training camp quarterback competition with Vinny Testeverde.

To say that the release of Quincy Carter was a surprise is probably the understatement of the year. I never saw this coming and originally could not believe my ears when I heard the news. Why would the Cowboys release Quincy Carter just two weeks into the 2004 NFL Training camp? Quincy was not making many Cowboy fans forget Troy Aikman but he had started to turn the corner last season and appeared to be on the brink of being a decent NFL quarterback. Which is all the Cowboys needed under the guidance of Bill Parcells. I was dumbfounded for reasons and no sooner did I finish reading all of the original release transcripts the news leaked that Quincy had failed a drug test. Hum, now it makes sense. Quincy had a lot of potential but to this point in his career he had failed to live up to that potential and his performance just was not good enough to overcome a drug suspension.

I didn't even know Quincy was in the NFL's drug program, which is probably a good thing. We as fans don't have the right to know all the details into the private lives of each player in the NFL. Each day more and more information is coming forward about Quincy Carter's drug habits. I never knew he was in rehab? Given all this new information, even if Quincy Carter is denying the drug rumors, it is the only reason that makes sense. All the facts will eventually come out and I am confident the Cowboys have made the correct decision in releasing Quincy Carter.

It's still very disappointing to hear such news about a player I had begun to like a lot. Quincy still made me cringe when he started to second guess his throws but he was making progress as of last season and I could see an upside if he could just get a little more time and confidence. Ah, but it was not to be, it appears that our young QB had another priority in his life than just football. I'm not pronouncing Quincy guilty of anything but I am also not stupid enough to believe the Cowboys just weren't happy enough with Quincy's on the field play to up and release him weeks before the start of the 2004 NFL season. For Cowboy fans, were left to wonder what if?

I for one don't think the Cowboys have lost a lot at the QB position other than depth. As long as Vinny stays healthy the Cowboys will be just as good if not better at QB, but if Vinny gets injured in the middle of the season, it could spell disaster and then it won't be just Cowboys fans asking, what if?