The very ancient Sporting News published a book a couple years ago that attempted to discuss, rank and otherwise glorify what TSN's "panel" determined were Pro Football's Greatest Quarterbacks. Those rankings, other than the inevitable elevation of fumbling fumbler Tom Brady, probably haven't changed much in the interim, but one of the book's assessments certainly has: of all the young quarterbacks alive, in college, high school, the Arena League, in its editors' backyards, the only member of the "next generation" deemed a certain addition to the canon of passing greats was outgoing East St. John High quarterback Ryan Perrilloux.

A late Tuesday pre-empted a formal "Rap Sheet," but I relay the ludicrous honors heaped on the kid just to put into the context the expectations that followed Perrilloux to LSU, and that are even more unlikely to go completely unfulfilled now that the 20-year-old Tiger backup has been suspended for trying to sneak his way on to some dirty, desperate floating money pit:

No word on whether the one-time JaMarcus Russell clone was attempting to blow counterfeit cash among craggy, pot-bellied old men and their chain-smoking, liver-spotted wives setting slot machine speed records. Casinos are dens of not only iniquity but above all depression, is what I'm trying to say, away from which young men with promising futures should be sprinting, not attempting to sneak in. Especially in Louisiana. There is nothing for them inside but phonies, destitution and an overwhelming level of surveillance.

But Perrilloux's future, anyway, it's, eh, not so bright this morning. Not where football is concerned, anyway, though he does seem to be off to a respectable start as an occasional "ancillary" figure to organized crime. It's one thing for a "can't miss" star to simply fail to produce as a player, like Kyle Wright to date in Miami, or countless others, and another to behave so erratically we never even see a glimpse of his athletic potential. Matt Flynn's replacement will be on campus in Fall 2008 one way or the other, and not to be pessimistic, but my guess is this is the last view we'll have of Ryan Perrilloux, football world at his feet:

I could be completely wrong about all of this.