At 36, Rodney Peete knows he's not the future of the Carolina Panthers. But for a team that won only one game last season, the future is now, and the Panthers are looking to Peete to get the job done.

	Journeyman Rodney Peete is the starting QB for the surprising Carolina Panthers.

The decision to start Peete was as much a shock to him as anyone else. He didn't go to Carolina with the mindset of winning the starting job. He went to tutor second-year QB Chris Weinke, who was supposed to be the future of the franchise. Peete went to Carolina as a role player -- ready to roam sidelines holding the clipboard, to send signals and to help Weinke mature.

For Peete, it's a no-lose situation. Everyone loves the backup quarterback, because if the starter doesn't do well, you look at the backup as the savior. With a wife and kids, Peete seemed to be settling into his life off the field. Now he's back in the spotlight.

The brunt of many "old" jokes, Peete takes it all in stride. In Week 1, Ray Lewis jibed that he couldn't find footage of Peete to study and was wondering if he should start looking on ESPN Classic -- but Lewis wasn't talking after the 10-7 loss.

Peete knows it's all in good fun. After all, he's not even the oldest quarterback in the NFL -- Rich Gannon and Vinny Testaverde have a couple of years on him. The perception that Peete is older is perhaps derived from the fact that he hasn't started an NFL game since 1998, and hasn't thrown a pass since 1999. While some may look at it as aging, Peete sees it as years of avoiding hits and staying fresh.

A sixth-round draft pick out of USC in 1989, Peete seemed to fly under the radar for much of his 11-year career. Barry Sanders took center stage as the Lions' No. 1 pick. Deion Sanders and Troy Aikman, were also first-rounders that year. Sanders is now with CBS, Aikman is with Fox -- while Peete is still playing. Peete just couldn't find the right place at the right time, so he became a journeyman QB. But coming out of Week 3, Peete has one of the top passer ratings in the NFC.

As a quarterback, you can come in as a first-round pick like David Carr or Michael Vick, or take a more circuitous route to find your niche. But there's no direct path to glory at this position. Peete is not one of those QB specimens -- he doesn't have Michael Vick's legs, Brett Favre's arm or Daunte Culpepper's size. He's drawing on years of experience under center, and he knows exactly what Weinke is going through -- to have a job, lose it and then battle to get the job back. He knows that it's cyclical, that he'll eventually lose this job due to age or performance.

But this decision makes you wonder if Weinke is in fact the future of the Panthers. Because Peete knows what Weinke is going through, Peete has tried to encourage him to stay with it. Weinke needs to keep his head up so that when he gets his shot again, he'll be ready.

Certainly some of the Panthers' success can be attributed to defensive-minded head coach John Fox and the addition of DE Julius Peppers. Add a solid, stabilizing quarterback who provides leadership to an improved and potentially stifling defense, and you're following the model of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Like Trent Dilfer, Peete isn't necessarily being asked to win games, just not to lose them.

This was evident against the Vikings on Sunday. Peete didn't do anything miraculous to beat Minnesota. He ran a good, conservative offense with a limited number of mistakes. Hopefully, you catch a few breaks, the defense plays well and that's the formula. It would be unrealistic to count on Peete to put up 300 yards every game like he did in Week 2.

Here's a little NFL irony for you: Peete had a 300-yard game in 1992 with the Lions, and the next time he threw for 300 yards was last week against the Lions. That's 10 years between 300-yard games.

It's still too early to predict whether or not the Panthers are a playoff-caliber team. In a tough NFC South, it's not inconceivable for them to make the playoffs, but it is unlikely. Certainly, the Panthers' schedule caters to the fact they posted only one win last season. So far, they've beaten three teams who've yet to win themselves. Their first real test comes Sunday against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Peete knows there's still a long way to go. But even if the Panthers don't win another game for the rest of the season, they've already tripled last year's win total. Which just goes to prove that success comes in all shapes, sizes and ages in the NFL.