Before (left): Getty Images / After (right): ESPNThe three biggest reasons that Donovan McNabb is not employed as an NFL quarterback right now are 1) his age, 2) the fact that he hasn't performed that well in recent years, and 3) he's not willing to play anywhere that won't give him a chance to be a starting quarterback.

If there's a fourth reason, maybe it's the perception that he's not in great shape. But since he can't do anything about the first two reasons, and seems unwilling to do anything about the third, it's that fourth thing that he's rectifying.

The before and after pictures aren't dramatic, but, according to McNabb, it was more about perception than reality anyway. McNabb talked to ESPN, via The Huddle:

"I'm in great shape, dropped 15-20 pounds," he said. "But again, it's not really about that. Because for me, people may have seen how strong I looked, and they kind of (assumed I was) maybe out of shape or whatever. But now that I'm lighter, people all of a sudden (are saying), 'Well, he's in shape.' I've been in shape."

OK, so now he's definitely in shape. I'm going to wager that his phone is still not ringing off the hook.

That's not to say that he can't help a team ‒ I believe he still can. But given how he looked in Washington and Minnesota, has McNabb gotten to the point where the productivity boost he'll give a team in place of a rookie is no longer worth the cost of having that rookie sit on the bench?

[Also: QB Kellen Moore trying to prove himself at Detroit Lions minicamp]

That's pretty much what happened with McNabb in Minnesota last year. He opened the season as a starter and went 1-5 while playing just OK. His quarterback rating was 82.9. But at 1-5, what's the point at sticking with the veteran, when you can give that time to someone who might be able to help you for the next 10 years? So the Vikings put Christian Ponder in the lineup ahead of McNabb. And no, Ponder wasn't an improvement ‒ but he'll be better in 2012 because he played in 2011.

That's what McNabb couldn't offer.

[Related: Olympian Shawn Johnson lost 25 pounds after 'hurtful' weight criticism]

Getty ImagesHe's not going full Lamar Odom, thankfully, but Tim Tebow's mug will be all over the E! Network soon. The E! people (who are obviously not as cool as the Y! people) are making a 30-minute show devoted to profiling the Jets back-up quarterback/punt protector. Here's more from Richard Deitsch at SI.com:

SI.com has learned that the Jets' quarterback will be the subject of a 30-minute special airing on E! Entertainment Television sometime in July. A league source says the show is being done without Tebow's participation.

So, basically, it'll pretty much just recap everything we already know about Tim Tebow in a tidy 22 minutes. Which will be great, because I've barely heard a thing about the young man. I heard he has some kind of interest in religion? I don't know. I'm just so glad this is happening, because Tebow probably won't get enough media attention now that he's playing in New York.

Getty ImagesA quarterback and a center spend a lot of time really, really close together. It's an intimate relationship, and as such, both parties need to have a certain comfort level.

Aaron Rodgers, in an interview with Cabbie Richards on TSN Radio, shared that he likes his centers like he likes his martinis: dry and at an easily accessible height. Some snippets, via Sports Radio Interviews (you can listen to it here):

"There's two main components that a center needs to have, and it's not quickness or agility or snapping or anything. It's two things: One, he has to have a good height, and I'm talking about where his butt rests. It can't be too low because I don't wanna get deep in that stance and it can't be too high so I feel like I'm standing up. It's gotta be just right. He's got that.

"It's a feel. My center in college was about my height and he's real low in his stance. So it made me have to kinda duck down a little bit. It's hard to get out of center. Scott Wells — my previous center — [and] Jeff Saturday: great height. Great butt height."

And yet, that's never something they measure at the combine. I think they should, if only because it would be great to have a chance to interview the guy who has to measure butt height all day long.

So what's the second part of the equation, quarterback?

Getty ImagesBen Roethlisberger played on a gimpy ankle in Pittsburgh's Week 15 clash against the San Francisco 49ers, and he did not play particularly well. He hobbled his way to a three-interception, two-fumble performance in a game that the Steelers lost 20-3. That Roethlisberger should have sat out was a widely held opinion among Steelers fans at the time.

Hindsight being what it is, that opinion looks more valid now than ever. The Steelers were thumped anyway, and Ben Roethlisberger also says that the 49ers attempted to further injure his gimpy ankle.

[Related: Former wide receiver Cris Carter admits to putting bounties on defensive players]

Dan Patrick asked Large Benjamin on Wednesday if he felt like any team ever went after him with an attempt to injure a certain part of his body. Via Matt Maiocco at CSNBayArea.com:

"Um, wow, that's tough," Roethlisberger said. "I don't really complain about that stuff, either. But I think when we played San Fran, I felt like there were some things going on, some extra . . . Now, obviously, I did have the ankle and I was playing, so there was kind of a bull's-eye on there anyway. But for the most part, guys play tough and you go into a game expecting it. I expect to be tougher than them."

I know everyone's (rightfully) super sensitive in the wake of the Saints bounty scandal, but what exactly is the problem here? That one NFL player knew of another player's injury and then used that information to try and injure him further, to the detriment of the opposing team and the aid of his own? Then I guess we better formally investigate every football game ever played.

Getty ImagesLadies, can I interest you in a man who is compulsively clad in Zubaz pants? How about a guy who likes to stomp on other people? You'll get your chance.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and former player, former analyst and current fake judge Warren Sapp are reportedly set to appear on Fox celebrity dating show "The Choice." It airs on Thursday nights starting June 7, and here's how it will work:

In the first round, celebrities will listen to "sexy singles" describe themselves. If the celebrity bachelor likes what he hears, instead of a big red button the star will pull his "love handle," spinning his chair around to bring him face-to-face with his potential mate. If more than one celebrity pulls their handle, they battle for her affection until the contestant decides who they prefer to date. Once each bachelor has his three prospective dates, the teams enter the "Speed Choice" round, where each woman has seconds to convince the man to select her for the final round. Then [host Cat] Deeley will pose a challenge question to the final two contestants. The winners get to go on one date with their celebrity.

In case you're worried that no one will want the football players, rest easy, because other "celebrities" include catches like Taylor Hicks and Rob Kardashian. Pauly D and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino will also be on the show, so I'd estimate there's about a 60 percent chance one of them will end up trying to date Gronkowski.

There's never been a shortage of fans who dislike Terrell Owens, and I'm sure there are many folks out there who would like to see him experience some kind of discomfort.

To this group, I offer the following clips of Terrell Owens spending Tuesday afternoon confronted by three women, the mothers of children fathered by Owens and angry that they didn't receive their child support payments, in front of a live audience and Dr. Phil.

The erstwhile TV shrink started the program by going fairly easy on Owens, saying that he's always been a fan of T.O.'s exploits on the field and reading Owens' foreword to a children's book: "To my children, may my life serve as an example to you."

However, that simply served to paint Owens in a more negative light later. When the first mother came out and said that Owens had only seen her child a total of 12 times in her life. "He doesn't call, he doesn't send Christmas gifts," the woman identified as "Kimber" said.

"The thing is, with me traveling back and forth, I don't have a set schedule," Owens said. He then added, "Pretty much 90 percent of the time every time I've reached out [to these women], it's been a bad time."

Seems understandable ... from the point of view of the women.

Owens admitted to fathering four children with four different women and being "irresponsible in that regard."

Mom No. 2, "Melanie," said that she and her daughter rarely see Owens at all. Owens' response: The last planned visit was scuttled because Melanie insisted that Owens pay for her plane ticket as well as her daughter's. Mom No. 3, "Monique" admitted that her pregnancy was an "oops kind of thing" and said that Owens agreed to increase her child support payments from $6,000 to $12,000 after she agreed to allow the child's appearance in public with T.O. to improve his general perception.

At the end of the "Dr. Phil" program, Owens met with two of his children, told them that he loved them, and promised to take them to Magic Mountain.

Two things stand out looking at the 10 best rookie quarterback seasons in modern (post-merger) NFL history: one, that there aren't very many great ones; and two, that most of those are recent. If the trend continues, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III  could wind up positioned well on lists like this one in the future.

For now, though, here's who they're chasing. These are the quarterbacks who have gotten off to great starts.

Getty Images10. Vince Young (Tennessee Titans, 2006)
Vince Young won't appear on many lists of tremendous quarterbacking accomplishments, but he does squeeze onto this one. VY went 8-5 as a starter as a rookie, and just finished on the wrong side of the TD/INT ratio, with 12/13. That doesn't set the world on fire, but for a rookie, it's at least decent. Young's legs added a ton of value, giving the Titans an extra 552 rushing yards and seven rushing TDs.

9. Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams, 2010)
Bradford threw the ball an insane 590 times as a rookie, trailing only Peyton Manning and Drew Brees in attempts in 2010. And he completed 60 percent of those, which is a plateau not often reached by rookie QBs. It also feels like it's worth pointing out that the top two receivers on that 2010 Rams team were Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson. That ups the degree of difficulty significantly.

[Related: The best skits from Eli Manning's 'Saturday Night Live' gig]

8. Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens, 2008)
All Joe Flacco did in his rookie year was compile a record of 11-5 and lead the Ravens to the AFC Championship game. He also hit the 60 percent completion mark, and had more TDs than interceptions, and ended up being named the Rookie of the Year. The only blip was in Baltimore's last game of the season, the AFC championship game in Pittsburgh, which is not an ideal scenario for a rookie QB. Pittsburgh killed him, forcing him into a 13-of-30, 0 TD, 3 INT performance.

7. Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals, 2011)
Dalton was perhaps overshadowed a bit by Cam Newton, but you could argue that he was just as good, especially if you're into the "Quarterback Wins" statistic. Even without it, though, Dalton was formidable: 3,398 yards, with 20 TDs against just 13 INTs. And before the season, most people expected the Bengals to be just horrific. They exceeded all expectations and made the playoffs, due in large part to Dalton's steady play.

Trent Richardson wonders why the Browns drafted Will Patton (AP)• Twenty-eight-year-old Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden has declared himself ready to start in the NFL. This, despite the fact that he's never before actually faced an NFL defense. In a related story, I am ready to singlehandedly conquer the Lesser Antilles.

• Sticking with the Browns for a second, 44.54 percent of Browns fans are extremely optimistic people.

• Here's a reminder that Jonathan Vilma has actually been accused to accepting money for knocking players out of games before: at Miami, with the money coming from Nevin Shapiro.

• Five reasons to be optimistic that the Chargers can have a better defense in 2012 than they had in 2011.

• Drayton Florence, a starter at cornerback last year for the Buffalo Bills, was released. With the Bills drafting Stephon Gilmore, he became expendable.

• DeMarco Murray says the ankle he broke late last year is fine.

• Darrell Green's son, Jared, is getting a look from the Carolina Panthers.