• Here's how you can tell Texas El Paso quarterback Jordan Palmer apart from his older brother, Carson:

"He's won a bunch of awards, he's really famous and he's really rich,'' said Jordan, who's hoping to make the Palmers the latest set of NFL quarterbacking brothers, joining the Mannings and the Detmers. "He has a stronger arm, but I'm a little more mobile.''

Jordan Palmer is no slouch -- he set UTEP records for touchdown passes, attempts, completions and passing yards -- but he didn't come close to matching the collegiate career of his Heisman-winning sibling. He did however garner one Heisman vote last season -- and it came from Carson.

"He had sent me a text message saying he was giving me his vote for the Heisman and I didn't think anything of it until people were raising a fuss about it,'' Jordan said. "It's the way he is. We are brothers first and quarterbacks second.''

• It was hard not to be impressed with the logic exhibited by Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn this weekend, when asked about his draft status slippage of the past few weeks.

"It's kind of hard for a guy to slip when we haven't done anything,'' he said. "I didn't play a game for the past couple of months. It's funny to kind of sit back and hear some of that and you're thinking, 'Man, did I not like lift today? Did somebody see me in the weight room miss a rep? I'm kind of confused.' It's just funny.''

Funny, and true.

• I suppose it had to happen. The media officially outnumbers the players at the NFL Combine this year. There are roughly 330 players here, and the NFL issued 385 press credentials, almost all of which were claimed.

Other than the Super Bowl, the Combine features more saturation coverage than any other event on the NFL calendar.

• Steve Smith would love to play with Steve Smith. You heard me. The former USC No. 2 receiver would like nothing more than to be drafted by Carolina, where he would have a shot to be the Panthers' No. 2 receiver behind Pro Bowl pass-catcher Steve Smith.

"I think he's maybe the most explosive receiver in the game,'' USC's Smith said. "Man, he's just a great competitor, and it seems like he always wants the ball. I'd love to go and play there and be the second option for them.''

Carolina fielding a two-man Steve Smith receiving corps seems fair, as often as defenses try to double cover the Panthers star.

• My quote of the day came from new Dallas head coach Wade Phillips, who took the podium in the media room at the Combine and announced his measurables as 5-foot-11½, with a 40 time of 6.6 -- "at best.''

I think Bum's boy is going to be fairly entertaining while working in the carnival setting that is the Cowboys.