Reason to smile. (Insider: NFL).

When Tommy Maddox, a first-round NFL draft pick in 1992, decided he was tired of selling insurance and gave the Arena League a whirl, it was a lark. He just felt like playing football. He wasn't thinking about making it back to the NFL, where he had last played in 1995, or anything else. He just figured that anything in football was better than selling term life insurance at 8 o'clock every night.

In the Arena League, teams throw the ball 40 or 50 times a game and the pace is very fast. The ball is gone in less than 2 seconds after the snap, before patterns even develop. The pace forces quarterbacks to set up and pass quickly. Part of Maddox's problem with the Broncos, Rams and Giants was that he held the ball too long. Arena ball speeded up his thought process. It was great training for him.

I broadcasted Maddox's games with the New Jersey Red Dogs in 2000, when he passed for 64 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions. What I remember most is how happy he looked. He had a big smile on his face, just throwing the football and playing the game. I remember the same smile when he moved on to the XFL and won a championship and ...