Veteran quarterback Mike Tomczak was cut by the Green Bay Packers today, which means that the NFL team will keep former BYU star Ty Detmer.
Tomczak held out for most of training camp, and even after his return didn't see action in the Packers' remaining exhibition games. He was the team's leading passer last season, but had just a 2-5 record as the starter while posting a 72.6 pass-efficiency rating,Asked Monday if he thought the team had just cut its best quarterback, Tomczak said, "Personally, yeah, but my own opinion doesn't count."
Tomczak said he wasn't bitter and didn't know if the Packers were making a statement about holdouts.
"I'm not reading into it," Tomczak said.
Detmer, meanwhile, continues to defy the odds and countless critics who said he would never make it in the National Football League. While he hasn't taken a regular-season snap yet, he's a lot closer now than he was in April, when Green Bay drafted him on the ninth round into a crowded quarterback situation.
At that time, Green Bay had Don Majkowski, who has started 46 games over the past five seasons; Tomczak, who filled in when Majkowski went out with a hamstring injury midway through last season; and Brett Favre, a second-year pro from Southern Mississippi who the Packers gave up a first-round draft choice to get from Atlanta.
Majkowski drew boos from Green Bay fans during Saturday night's 24-10 exhibition loss to New England after throwing a pair of interceptions.
One thing Detmer did have going for him was the Packers new coach, Mike Holmgren, former offensive coordinator with the 49ers. A former BYU quarterbacks coach who has seen what a relatively undersized QB (Joe Montana) can do in the NFL, Holmgren said of Detmer on draft day, "He's a special young man. I just thought that we've got to give him a chance."
In the preseason, Majkowski and Favre got most of the playing time as the Packers compiled a 1-3 record. Detmer quarterbacked the fourth quarter of the only game Green Bay won.
For the record, Detmer completed 9 of 13 passes for 107 yards, with one interception, in his brief exhbition duty. Majkowski, who new coach Mike Holmgren has named his starter, was 40 of 61 for 326 yards, with two TDs and three interceptions, and Favre was 42 of 66 for 375 yards, with one TD and six interceptions.