It won’t be long before many professional athletes will be striving to become backup quarterbacks in the NFL.

If you think that sounds ludicrous, just take a look around the league. The second string signal callers have emerged.

They won’t stand for holding the clipboard on the sideline. They’ve had enough of the idiotic baseball caps they have been forced to wear while holding the aforementioned clipboards.

And no longer will they be mimicking the hand signals that the coach is giving. Mimes no more.

The backup quarterbacks have made a statement, making the old overpaid veterans that are given the title of “starter” feel a little, well, old and overpaid.

Let’s travel around the league.

Kent Graham, a castoff from the New York Giants, inherited a dormant offense that was previously under the command of Boomer Esiason.

Graham has proceeded to tear it up for the Cards, erasing what looked to be a permanent zero under the Cardinals name on the scoreboard and helping Rob Moore look like a decent wide receiver again.

True, they’re not exactly winning, but they are the Cardinals. Any indication of actually improving their offense is good.

Brad Johnson brought wins to Minnesota in place of Warren Moon. Gus Frerotte took the helm in place of Heath Shuler this year and Washington is 4-1 and atop the NFC East.

Elvis Grbac has stepped into the 49er offense and they haven’t missed a beat. Todd Collins and Alex Van Pelt teamed up to lead the Kelly-less Bills past the defending Super Bowl champions.

Even Steve Beurelein got in the act, filling in for Kerry Collins to lead the Panthers past the 49ers, earning NFL Player of the Week honors for week four.

And John Friesz stepped in to the Seattle offense and topped 300 yards against the Dolphins yesterday. Maybe they don’t need Jeff George.

Not all backups are tearing it up, I will admit that. Craig Erickson struggles in his first start for Miami in their loss to Seattle. Ty Detmer was blitzed endlessly by the Cowboys last week, leaving Ty battered and the Eagles defeated.

Bobby Hebert hasn’t exactly done much shooting in the run and shoot offense in Atlanta, either.

But for the most part, the backups have more than adequately filled the roles of the first string tossers.

In a league where the quality of the quarterback position is constantly questioned, it is comforting to know that there is some depth.

If a quarterback gets hurt or is having an off-day, the backup plays a huge role for the team. The teams with quality backups, such as the 49ers, can put in their second string guy without missing a beat.

Which is why I’m glad ISU has Todd Bandhauer on the sideline. If anything should happen to Todd Doxzon or if he just doesn’t have it on a given day, we do have the luxury of having a strong-armed guy to insert in the lineup.

For this reason, Iagree that Bandhauer should not be redshirted.

But if there is a situation where Bandhauer could pull a Brad Johnson, Ihope ISU takes full advantage of his talents. After all, he is on the clock, eligibility-wise.

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Christopher Clair is a senior in journalism from Waukon. He is the sports editor at the Daily.