McCaffrey in the Kilmer Niner Strong-I

It is hard linking up the generations but people are already touting the Luke McCaffrey trick play where he passes for a touchdown.

He's a former QB. He puts me in mind of one Billy Kilmer, who was Slash before Kordell Stewart. Startling claim? Well, I mean Billy Kilmer was a part of the evolution of NFL Offense believe it or not.

It is hard for Washington fans to believe the nearly immobile QB they saw gutting out victories for George Allen actually played some tailback but there it is. He was, as you can imagine from his courage, a tough runner. 

Here's Old Whiskey actually running the football and doing a little run-pass option with his first team, the San Francisco 49ers. Kilmer was playing under Kliff Kingsbury precursor Red Hickey, inventor of the shotgun formation, who would use a Kilmer-John Brodie combo to throw wrenches in the game plans of opposing defenses.

One could imagine McCaffrey, or indeed young Jordan Magee, another ex-QB, vaulting the ball over to Jayden Daniels, essentially the same size as Randy Moss, for the unexpurgated touchdown.

LSU didn't throw to Daniels but what a threat that would be! All because John Brodie and Billy Kilmer used to do it for Adam Peters's 49er squad back in the day.

How many NFL players have ever run, passed, or caught TD passes in a game, even in a season? Could the much ballyhooed Daniels set some records in that regard?

Kilmer almost ran for as many yards as he passed for his senior year at UCLA. 

What would the nature of NFL Offense have been had Billy Kilmer somehow avoided the accident that almost ruined his career? Would RPOs and Pistol Formations and RGIII have come earlier in the growth of the sport of NFL Football?