That was the text message I considered sending Sports Editor Mike Strain the day he sent out assignments for the summer-long “U Decide” series that starts in your Sunday Tulsa World sports section.

Oh, I thought the idea was brilliant.

It gives us football fanatics a fix, something to keep us busy while we count down those dog days until the 2008 season kicks off.

And I instantly had a fitting name to go with that clever title when Strain told me to write a column after I decided who was the game’s best quarterback.

“Johnny U.” and “U Decide” are a perfect fit, right?

The late, great Johnny Unitas belongs on the short list of any quarterback debate.

There’s a reason he was nicknamed “The Golden Arm.”

But there is one small problem with that selection.

Unitas played his college ball in Kentucky, at the University of Louisville. The other half of the “U Decide” concept dictates that every player in our poll had to play for a university (that’s the “U” part, get it?) in Oklahoma.

That’s when the “R U Crazy” text came to mind.

In a state that’s crazy about football and has some of the nation’s most knowledgeable fans, I’m supposed to pick the all-time best player at the game’s most important position?

“Yup,” said Strain, who ruined my text-message scheme when he immediately went on vacation.

OK, fine. No problem. Not as long as we play by my rules. And my selection was based on only two rules: 1. It’s

Forget all the yards and touchdown passes; the only statistics that count in the end are wins and losses.

2. Given the “U” connection on this project, I only took into account what quarterbacks accomplished while attending one of the state’s three universities that field Division I teams. So NFL Super Bowl titles didn’t mean anything, and college national championships meant everything.

With that criteria, the selection was easy: Jimmy Harris.

While Tulsa’s Jerry Rhome and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy are the best quarterbacks produced at their respective universities, no quarterback in this state’s history can beat Harris’ remarkable winning percentage at Oklahoma.

You can’t top perfection.

And that’s what Harris and the Sooners were in his three seasons as a starter from 1954-56. Not only did OU go 31-0 during that stretch, the Sooners also won back-to back national championships in Harris’ junior and senior seasons.

In an era of one-platoon football, Harris also played defensive back, returned punts and often handled some kicking duties.

A native of Terrell, Texas, Harris played during a time when quarterbacks made their own calls in the huddle.

Without the aid of having plays sent in after every down or signaled from the sideline, Harris still ran coach Bud Wilkinson’s Split-T offense better than anyone during the legendary Wilkinson’s career at OU.

Wilkinson often said the 6- foot-1, 170-pounder had the quickest hands and feet of any quarterback he coached.

The speedy Harris also possessed the one characteristic that current OU coach Bob Stoops looks for first in a quarterback — toughness.

Harris’ grit was tested early on. OU senior All- American center/linebacker Kurt Burris, considered one of the toughest players in Sooner history, knocked two of Harris’ front teeth out during practice to teach the cocksure sophomore some humility.

Instead of backing down to the rugged upperclassman, Harris went after Burris in a fight that had to be broken up by the Sooner coaches.

You won’t find Harris’ name in many OU record books. Jason White, Josh Heupel, Jack Mildren, Steve Davis, Thomas Lott, J.C. Watts and several other former Sooner quarterbacks hold those marks, and all deserve consideration in the “U Decide” poll.

But I’m not alone in my admiration for Harris. In 1990, Sports Illustrated listed Harris No. 11 in its list of the top 50 all-time college quarterbacks.

Some of the players listed after Harris included Joe Montana, Roger Staubach and Dan Marino.

Wilkinson’s opinion of Harris was confirmed in “The Undefeated,” a book about OU’s 47-game winning streak. The book includes a letter Wilkinson wrote to Harris in 1987 that said: “The contributions you made to our team were unsurpassed.

“When interviewed, I always try to avoid the question, ‘Who is the best player you coached?’ If the reporter persists, I always say, ‘Someone you have never heard too much about.’ He played both ways. The man is Jim Harris.”

R U going to argue with Coach Wilkinson? R U crazy?