The Cult of Colt

Colt ready for his closeup

By CHRIS NEEDHAM

Updated 11:45 AM EDT, Wed, Aug 12, 2009

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Tomorrow's exhibition... err, pre-season game looms and the battles are set to begin. While Jason Campbell's inked in as the starting QB -- at least 'til Danny Snyder sees something else shiny that catches his eye -- the backup position appears to be wide open.

Enter the Cult of Colt.

Colt Brennan, everyone's favorite Hawaiian (at least since the cancellation of Magnum P.I.), is currently third on the depth chart behind Todd Collins. But a hot camp and a strong showing in the pre-season games could switch things around.

Colt was the darling of last year's camp, throwing three TDs and zero INTs in the pre-season games -- against third- and fourth-string players, mostly. Nevertheless, the performance was enough to earn him a cult following. You could hardly listen to a Skins call-in show without having someone yammering on about how Campbell's a bum and what the team really needed was some Hawaiian Punch.

He's got a laid-back, casual style that makes it seem like he's always having fun, which definitely is appealing to fans. Contrast that with Jason Campbell, who sometimes makes even the easy things look like a struggle.

Colt's certainly confident that this year is the break he needs, telling the Post:

"I'm, like, galaxies better. The understanding of the offense, my comfort level with the offense, the people around me. I'm so much more confident with everything....Now it's about making the next stop, moving up the depth chart."

He's certainly brash, and that's what led him to bet his DBs that they couldn't pick him off during camp. He offered $100 to the first that picked off one of his passes. He made it 12 days before Chris Horton nabbed one.

But he wasn't upset, as he told Redskins Insider, "It actually put a smile on my face. Part of being a quarterback is making mistakes and bouncing back."

Besides, he'd rather throw his first INT in practice than in tomorrow's game, his first big test.