Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk.com trashed Jim Kelly a few weeks ago when the old Bills quarterback said he’d have no problem recommending Florida quarterback Tim Tebow to the Bills.

Florio criticized Kelly for the recommendation because Kelly has never been a scout – despite the fact that Kelly acknowledged in his answer to a question that he had never been a scout and couldn’t guess where Tebow should be drafted (Then just a few days later Florio chipped in with draft advice of his own … who are you going to listen to more? Florio or Kelly? I thought so.).

Today Florio puts 49er Hall of Famer Joe Montana in his sites. Montana was asked by NFL.com about Jimmy Clausen, the Notre Dame quarterback who could fall in the draft due, at least in part, to concerns about his attitude.

Montana’s response? “He came in with a little bit more of an attitude than most people wanted, but if you don’t have an attitude, you don’t make it in the league,” Montana told NFL.com. “You can’t be timid and shy.”

ProFootballTalk’s headline, “Montana has a bias” leads to a piece where Florio again makes the claim that Montana shouldn’t be recommending draft picks … despite the fact that Montana didn’t recommend a spot in the draft where Clausen should be taken. Montana actually doesn’t say Clausen should or shouldn’t fall – just that between Tebow, Clausen and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford that Clausen’s college performance will be the most telling because he played in an NFL offense.

Someone please tell me why former NFL quarterbacks – Hall of Fame quarterbacks for that matter – shouldn’t be able to offer opinions on how they think other up-and-coming quarterbacks might perform when they get to the NFL.

Kelly and Montana were both asked questions and they both answered them using their backgrounds and histories as former quarterbacks. Damn good quarterbacks. Quarterbacks who might have a hint of a clue what it takes to make it at that position in the pros.

I don’t know if Clausen will drop in the draft. I don’t know if Clausen should drop in the draft. But I do know that when it comes to which quarterbacks are worthy of being drafted or what attributes it might take to be a star in the NFL I am far more likely to put credence behind the thoughts of someone who has done it before.

Contrary to the pathetic and idiotic point that Florio has failed at least twice to make with any convincing evidence other than some thoughts from one anonymous, sniveling scout who apparently had his or her feelings hurt, neither of these guys is undermining scouts by doing offering these thoughts either.

And Florio is lessening any iota of credibility he still has by insisting that they are undermining scouts. Furthermore, he fails to mention the most convincing piece of evidence that there might actually be a bias involved in Montana’s thoughts — the fact that both Montana and Clausen attended Notre Dame.

Come on, Mr. Florio. Think this through a bit.Why do a lot of former players become studio hosts or game analysts? Because they know a lot about the game. Why do reporters go to former players to hear their thoughts about potential draftees? Because they know a lot about the game.

To think that is a conflict of interest is foolish and moronic. Kelly and Montana are former players with sometimes insightful opinions. And I for one enjoy reading them.