THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Talkin' QBs, Choate and Boise State

YOU wanted OUR quarterback.

WE didn’t even want OUR quarterback.

But WE didn’t want YOU to have OUR quarterback.

Or so the stories go.

That is one of the storylines, at least in these parts, as the NFL season begins for 31 of the 32 teams.

The Bills, already penciled in by many as this year’s Super Bowl champions, got started last Thursday.

The Rams, last year’s Super Bowl champs, hopefully get started next week.

WOULD YOUR Seahawks have been better off going into this season with Jimmy G at quarterback?

Maybe?

Jimmy G has done some nice things for the 49ers — one Super Bowl appearance, and one near-Super Bowl appearance.

And he also did some things that make you cringe.

Maybe Seahawks fans didn’t notice that part — since the two teams often play at the same time.

Plus, we haven’t won the Super Bowl since the 1994 season.

After winning five Super Bowls in 14 seasons in the 1980s and early 1990s, the bar is high in San Francisco/Santa Clara.

We don’t go ga-ga over merely making the playoffs, as Seattle Mariners fans will do soon.

In the Bay Area, the pain of losing a Super Bowl is worse than the joy of getting that far.

Fair or not, we saw the ceiling of Jimmy G, and decided we needed to raise the ceiling.

Yes, handing the keys to a kid who had one great season at the FCS level is a heckuva risk.

SO IS moving on from an elite quarterback.

For years, he was The Great Russell Wilson.

Now, to Seahawks fans, he’s @#$%#$#@% Russell Wilson!

The reaction he gets when he returns to Seattle on Monday night will be telling.

Until last year, the Seahawks had an impressive run of playoff appearances (9 in 11 years), but the bottom line was, they hadn’t made it to even an NFC title game since the 2014 season.

Is that acceptable? Depends on how high you set the bar for your team.

If he can do better with what he has now — game managers at QB, but two of the best receivers in the game, running backs with a chip on their shoulders, and a talented, aggressive defense that basically dares you to beat them — maybe he really is Genius Coach Pete Carroll.

Seattle won just seven games last year, but two of those were over the 49ers — who nearly made it to their second Super Bowl in three years, but still felt the need to change.

SO ALABAMA struggled to beat a pretty good Texas team that went most of the way with a hobbling backup quarterback?

Credit the Longhorns defense, which has North Idaho ties, as many of you know.

Jeff Choate, co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Texas, is a St. Maries High grad, and former football coach and athletic director at Post Falls High.

Even in defeat, a pretty good result for the man who made his mark in college as a special teams coach, then built Montana State to the point where the Bobcats played for the national title in FCS — and last year had his name come up when a few FBS coaching jobs came open.

AND FINALLY …

Boise State fans are heaving a sigh of relief this week.

Last week, they were merely heaving.

But now, their beloved Broncos are back.

And so is their quarterback.

OK, but …

They beat New Mexico.

A mighty program which has averaged 3.4 (and that’s rounded UP) wins per season since 2008, and posted two (2) winning seasons during that stretch.

Enjoy the “W” for sure, but …

They beat New Mexico.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.