The disappointment surrounding quarterback Tim Chang being such a swift cut of the Arizona Cardinals this week is double if you're a University of Hawai'i fan.

On one hand there is empathy for Chang, who a lot of us have watched grow from a gangly sophomore at Saint Louis School to college football's all-time career passing leader. Having seen him come that far, you'd wished he would have been able to take that next and largest step.

Unfortunately, that opportunity might have ended Tuesday when the Cardinals cut him just eight days into their three-week training camp, four days prior to the team's first exhibition game. Talk about Chang having a quick pass release, head coach Dennis Green had an even quicker one.

And that's regrettable not only for Chang but for the Warriors, for whom he had become something of a symbol over these past five years and had the potential to be an even bigger one. Beyond the paychecks, there is also the payoff it would have meant for the Warriors had they had succeeded in landing their first NFL quarterback.

If you're a school trying to sell a passing offense to recruits, there's nothing like having a living, spiral-slinging example right there on TV on Sundays. That's the kind of recruiting advertisement that keeps on selling and one you can't buy.

Two of the things that really attract and register with prospective recruits are a Heisman Trophy winner or active NFL players. Given UH's geographic handicap, the chances of getting one of the latter look a whole lot better than the former.

Moreover, Chang's presence on an NFL roster would have shot down stereotypes that a so-called "system quarterback" has an uphill climb. It would have debunked some of the myths on shotgun quarterbacks, both of which seemed to have hurt Chang in going undrafted by the NFL.

Things might have been different if Nick Rolovich, a junior college transfer, had been able to take advantage of a redshirt year before jumping into play. Or, if Dan Robinson, who spent two years under whatever offense it was that Fred vonAppen ran, had the benefit of all three years in the run-and-shoot.

Instead, the burden came down to Chang who, with five years and a bushel of NCAA records, stood as UH's best hope for the immediate future.

Of course, what's a few more years waiting to see a Warrior under center in the NFL when no UH quarterback has been drafted to play that position since Larry Arnold in 1969? Raphel Cherry, a June Jones protege, was a fifth-round pick of the Redskins in 1985 but then-general manager Bobby Bethard said from draft day that Cherry would play elsewhere and he did, earning all-NFL rookie honors as a defensive back.

Now the wait goes on for Colt Brennan — or someone else — in a few more years.