For Levon Kirkland, the hardest part was getting the courage to walk back into the gym. In March, after nine years in Pittsburgh, six as the team's defensive captain, the Steelers unceremoniously axed Kirkland. "It was a total shock," says the mammoth, 270-pound two-time Pro Bowl linebacker.

Kirkland eventually signed with Seattle, but not before suffering a crisis of confidence. He was so embarrassed about losing his job he felt like wearing a disguise to avoid questions, looks and whispers.

Then it dawned on Kirkland. Because of the seemingly mutually exclusive economic regulators in today's NFL -- free agency and the salary cap -- most of the best players in the league have been pink-slipped at one time or another. "It's now a buyer's market," says Ravens coach Brian Billick.

Indeed, when the Steelers, who have already cut more than a dozen Pro Bowl players in the last 10 years, let class act and future Hall of Fame center Dermontti Dawson go for around a million in cap relief, well, Kirkland realized he was in some pretty elite company in the NFL unemployment line. "Hell," Saints QB Jeff Blake told me a few weeks ago, "there are a bunch of guys who played in the Pro Bowl last year still looking for jobs."

Enough, perhaps, to create an entire team?

"I think the new Houston franchise should build its team this way," says Kirkland. "Just comb over the players who got cut and build the team like that. Let me tell you something, we would be pretty hard to beat."

Hard to beat?

Try untouchable.

I mean, how's this for starters: Dawson snaps the ball to Troy Aikman (or Doug Flutie, Elvis Grbac or Trent Dilfer, take your pick) who drops back and fires one to ... Jerry freakin' Rice? On defense, if Kirkland doesn't kill you, Mark Fields, Chester McGlockton or John Randle might.

Heck, everybody with half a brain (or less) and a teleprompter has their own dorky "Team" these days. Why not me? (Although if this idea somehow spawns a new kind of fantasy football league, I warn you, I will harm myself.)

So here it is. Let's call them the All-Idle Team, or the All-Axed Team, or, my personal favorite, the All-Pro (Bono) Team.

COACH: Norv Turner (cut by Washington)

OFFENSE
QB: Troy Aikman (Dallas)
RB: Antowain Smith (Buffalo)
FB: Lorenzo Neal (Tennessee)
WR: Jerry Rice (S.F.)
WR: Charles Johnson (Philadelphia)
WR: Reggie Barlow (Jacksonville)
OL: Todd Steussie (Minnesota)
OL: Leon Searcy (Jacksonville)
OL: Joe Panos (Buffalo)
OL: Brenden Stai (Jacksonville)
OL: Dermontti Dawson (Pittsburgh)

DEFENSE
DT: Ted Washington (Buffalo)
DT: John Randle (Minnesota)
DT: Chester McGlockton (K.C.)
LB: Levon Kirkland (Pittsburgh)
LB: Mark Fields (N.O.)
LB: Sam Rogers (Buffalo)
LB: Ken Norton (S.F.)
DB: Rod Woodson (Baltimore)
DB: Ryan McNeil (Dallas)
DB: Marcus Robertson (Tennessee)
DB: Mark Carrier (Washington)

P: Todd Sauerbrun (K.C.)
K: Al Del Greco (Tennessee)

Okay. I see four potential Hall of Famers and too many Super Bowl rings and Pro Bowl trips to count. I think I actually spent less than Daniel Snyder did to go 8-8, and my team could beat the Bengals and the Cowboys -- at the same time.

Now comes the fun part. Feel free to e-mail me your own teams. And please be sure to include a 5,000-word vulgarity-laced treatise on why your picks are better than mine.

David Fleming is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail flemfile@aol.com.