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 NFL is all about QB
Posted: Thursday August 26, 1999 11:20 AM
It used to be a hackneyed joke, that when it came to terrific teams, we'd say, "Break 'em up!" Break up the Yankees! Break up the Celtics! Now what we have to break up is a position. Break up the quarterbacks! Quarterbacks have simply become too important. The reality is that for all the Mongol hordes of players that make up an NFL team, you're just not going to win unless you have a very good quarterback. All the other fancy-schmancy inside stuff about you win in the trenches and special teams make the difference and sacks and chemistry is so much who-shot-John. You've got a top quarterback, you've got a chance. You don't, you're playing for a spot in the quarterfinals. Given this reality, it is amazing to me what a frightful job so many teams do, first, choosing quarterbacks and, then, nursing them. I suspect that a large part of the problem is the American football mythology, which maintains that it's all us boys together for the team. Myself, I'd declare my quarterback the dauphin. Like we have luxury boxes for the stadium, I would have luxury status for the quarterback. I find it simply incredible that teams do not have special quarterback scouts. The whole future of a franchise depends on: a) getting a fabulous starting quarterback; and b) getting a backup quarterback, ready to be almost fabulous, whenever the fabulous starting quarterback gets hurt. Instead, though, the same idiots with stopwatches who conduct endless 40-yard dashes and weigh behemoths also scout quarterbacks. This is like letting some country-music deejay in Alabama choose who's going to sing La Traviata opening night at La Scala. On my NFL team, we are going to have an independent quarterback-scouting department, where nobody has a stopwatch. Look, it's not easy picking quarterbacks. The greatest ever, Johnny Unitas, went in the ninth round. The next best, Joe Montana, was overlooked (third round), even though he played with the whole world watching at Notre Dame. Last year, quarterbacks went 1-2 in the draft. Indianapolis finally chose Peyton Manning. He had a wonderful rookie season. The quarterback that half the experts touted was snapped up next by San Diego. His name is Ryan Leaf. He has been an utter failure, both as a quarterback and a person. It is almost impossible that so many allegedly wise people could be so wrong. The vice president of my quarterback department would know nothing about football. He would just know about jerks. This year, five quarterbacks were selected in the first round, including the top three choices. Notwithstanding the Ryan Leaf example, where it was almost immediately revealed that he was an overrated jackass, probably it will take a while to find out which teams made the right choices. Running backs, for example, can take the ball and break into the starting lineup as soon as they learn how the holes are numbered. Quarterbacks may take years to learn the craft. The imbecilic Philadelphia fans booed, for example, when the team chose a quarterback, Donovan McNabb, over a running back, Ricky Williams. They may hoot and holler all fall as Williams runs for yardage in New Orleans, while McNabb sits and learns and, presumably, matures. But Barry Sanders, as great as he has been at running, could never even get Detroit near a title. And neither can Ricky Williams carry New Orleans there. No, we don't know yet if Donovan McNabb is a great quarterback. Or Tim Couch or Akili Smith or Cade McNown or Daunte Culpepper -- the other first-round quarterbacks chosen -- but we do know that the teams that chose them have a chance someday. Because, hey, it isn't football anymore. It's quarterbackball. These commentaries, which appear each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, are posted weekly by CNN/SI.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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