UFL tryouts: The place where dreams still live

Weekly summer thoughts ...

The last we saw of Brian Johnson, he was holding aloft a Sugar Bowl Most Valuable Player trophy, having impressively stuck it to Alabama and its arrogant coach.

Nick Saban didn't think much of Utah's conference affiliation back in January, which really made him look like a boob once Johnson and the Utes rolled his team.

Months later, the quarterback still is trying to prove his worth.

This is where football players rejected by the NFL come to begin, salvage or resurrect a professional career, to a Saturday evening tryout for the new United Football League at Sam Boyd Stadium, to a group of 55 hopefuls all wearing white workout jerseys and assigned a number.

"It's a chance to keep playing football," Johnson said. "You have to take every opportunity you can get. You have to keep knocking on doors. You have to show them you can compete, that you have the physical tools they want."

Johnson is a spread quarterback, and those of such skill were as invisible as any H.G. Wells character during the NFL Draft in April, when none was selected. Not Johnson. Not Graham Harrell. Not Chase Daniel. None.

NFL executives look at spread quarterbacks nowadays like Bobby Flay might an Easy-Bake Oven, which really must make Tim Tebow feel good about his pro chances in 2010.

Johnson earned an invitation to Green Bay's minicamp but wasn't offered a contract. It is a classic instance of how college success often doesn't translate to the pro level. Still, if our lasting memory of Johnson is that he shut Saban up, well, he just jumped into our Top 5 all-time favorites. ...

Several players with NFL experience attended the tryout. So did former UNLV wide receiver Casey Flair, whose work should have opened eyes.

Forget that Flair ran 4.64 in the 40-yard dash. He didn't drop a thing all evening. He ran precise routes, made tough catches, represented himself as well as anyone there, impressive when you consider this was the first practice situation in four years he was going against defensive backs with actual ability.

Flair is the perfect choice for a Las Vegas roster as a second-line wideout, a kid with local ties who won't cause problems or be outworked. ...

Las Vegas coach Jim Fassel on Saturday was looking for quarterbacks who could fill the backup and No. 3 roles, saying he already has settled on a No. 1 with NFL experience. I am guessing if it has anything to do with Michael Vick, we won't be hearing a Las Vegas team nickname along the lines of Terriers or Bulldogs. ...

Best line at the UFL tryout came from Las Vegas Sun reporter Ryan Greene: "Jason Street isn't walking through those doors." (Just so you know: It is impossible to have too many "Friday Night Lights" references. Ever.)

I don't know if it's medically possible to injure a rib patting oneself on the back, but if there is a person out there capable of pulling it off, it's Floyd Mayweather Jr. ...

Putting the waste that has been Jason Schmidt with the Dodgers in perspective: Schmidt, on the disabled list since the Hoover administration, will make $15.2 million this season.

Combined, that is more than Matt Kemp, James Loney, Casey Blake, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Russell Martin and Andre Ethier.

But it might make you feel better to know for the $47 million Schmidt will have collected over three years, he has been able to make six starts. ...

The more Dale Earnhardt Jr. becomes a nonfactor each week, the smarter Kyle Busch looks. ...

Speaking of the financially hemorrhaging NASCAR, drive around a racetrack one time in your life in a Cup car, and then realize what a remarkable athlete Mark Martin is at 50. ...

Memo to new Cubs hitting coach Von Joshua: Give Milton Bradley only two things to work on. Counting to three appears too big a challenge for him. ...

Final thought: Received this e-mail in response to a column on Vick perhaps joining the UFL team here: ''Here are two more people to bring here for 'press.' How about at safety Kim Jong-il or at wideout, direct from Iran, Ahmadinejad?''

Now that's just silly. Everyone knows Kim is built more for fullback and that it would take far too much time teaching good ol' Mahmoud the difference between a 12th man and a 12th Imam.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.