It was a photograph, a moment in time, that stuck out.Three young quarterbacks standing shoulder-to-shoulder, clad in yellow practice jerseys glowing in the fall sun. Newbies, all.

Casey Bramlet, 13. Adam DiMichele, 4. Ricky Santos, 7. The caption could have been titled: The Future?

Yes, a question mark. We barely know these guys. And the only thing they know about Winnipeg is the route from the stadium to their beds. After all, Bramlet, the veteran of the trio, has been in town all of two weeks. Santos touched down on Tuesday. DiMichele showed up Thursday.

Regardless, there's every chance that the fate of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a team the three quarterbacks probably never even gave a lick about their entire lives, is in their collective arms.

You see, there's a lot of speculation about the fallout that might tumble from tonight's critical joust with the incoming Toronto Argonauts, who have their own issues. Will a loss seal the fate of head coach Mike Kelly and his team's meek playoff aspirations? Might a victory turn a tumultuous season around for a 3-8 football team?

But maybe those short-term ramifications don't matter so much anymore. There are more empty seats with every passing game -- talk about a misnomer -- at Canad Inns Stadium. The angry mobs have cleaned the local hardware stores out of pitchforks. The cries for Kelly's chromed pate have become a high-pitched choir.

What's all the fuss about, dad?

Why, son, it's about a quarterback.

It's been about a quarterback since forever. Yet here are the Bombers, an ugly season hanging in the balance, with their immediate hopes resting in the form of veteran Michael Bishop, who is 2-5 since being thrust into the offensive dysfunction back in early August.

Our apologies to Mr. Bishop, who is undoubtedly doing his level best in a bad situation, but he is not the future. He is the now. And whether the Bombers succeed tonight will probably depend on what Bishop can muster from a troop of receivers with name tags on their helmets. In that regard, we sincerely wish him all the best.

But "The Answer" is still out there. Because let's give the embattled Kelly some credit. For all the bone-headed, half-baked thoughts that have escaped his lips unfettered, for all the front office blunders and sideshows that have hijacked any semblance of pure football, there has been some progress.

The Bombers kicking game hasn't been this sound since Cameron and Kennerd, at least in terms of pure numbers, not longevity. The defensive secondary, with finds like Jonathan Hefney and Jovon Johnson, finally has become an asset after years of roaming the wilderness. The offensive line is younger and deeper. Special teams, if not dynamic, have been a model of consistency.

But, unfortunately, since this is professional football, that's akin to saying the Bombers have all the ingredients for a banana split except the ice cream.

Which brings us back to Bramlet, Santos and DiMichele, three strangers who probably don't have a clue what they've gotten themselves into (See: LeFors, Stefan). Kelly probably hasn't told them this yet -- you know, with having to digest an entire playbook and all -- but it's a good bet his employment might be tied directly to one or all of their future endeavours.

Maybe it's asking too much. Is it really possible for one of Bramlet, Santos or DiMichele to actually win a starting job, and succeed, over the course of the Bombers' last seven (or more accurately, six) games of the 2009 season? Or are they just passing through, as the likes of Bryan Randall, Ryan Dinwiddie or Darrell Hackney -- to name an unfortunate few. But ask yourself: What if one of them isn't the answer? What if the Bombers can't give their fans some promise, if not victories or a playoff appearance, between now and November? What then?

There is always the small picture; the outcome of the next game, the search for a game-breaking receiver, the need to take baby steps for improvement.

But this season was all about hope, and it hasn't produced a drop of the stuff. And now time, faith and opportunity are fast running out.

The big picture? It could well be found in a snapshot of three quarterbacks in yellow practice jerseys on a sunny day in late September.

Sure, we've seen that photo before, with other young men who have come and gone. We hardly knew them, too.

Bramlet, DiMichele, Santos. Sounds like they could be the Three Musketeers, doesn't it?

If only they knew how their lives might change if one of them is The Answer. If only they knew how desperately this team, this franchise, needs one of them to succeed.

It's fuzzy now, unfocused. But if properly developed, what a pretty picture it could be.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 26, 2009 D4