Keyshawn: "I Asked to Be Cut."

Remember when the Carolina Panthers drafted Dwayne Jarrett, and Keyshawn Johnson sat at the ESPN desk smiling and telling the world he couldn't wait to teach Jarrett everything he knew? Yeah, not so much. Keyshawn told Darin Gantt of the Rock Hill Herald that he had no interest in a teaching job.

"Nobody knows this, but I actually asked them to release me," Johnson said. "Marty and I spoke after the draft, and he started talking about how they wanted to go younger, and they were going to do this and that. I told him, 'I'm too grown for that.'

"It's not for Keyshawn. I said to Marty, 'Why don't you just release me rather than talking about me coming to camp and fighting for a job?'"

Maybe at the moment Jarrett was picked, Keyshawn thought it would be fun to teach the rook a few tricks, but that sure changed in a hurry the moment "imparting wisdom" became "competing for a job," didn't it?

Keyshawn does think the Panthers have a real shot at winning the division, though.

"They've already shown they've got New Orleans' number and Tampa Bay's number. So if they went 5-1 in the division last year, I see no reason they can't go 6-0 this year. I could see this team coming back from the dead, and making a run deep into the playoffs."

I'd like him to be right about that, of course, but after he admitted he asked to be cut, it's hard to take what he says at face value, isn't it?