There are different types of magicians. On the spectrum we have everything from the trick with the coin that that nice guy did when you were little, to David Copperfield disappearing the Statue of Liberty. There are also styles and colors: you can opt for the street magic of David Blaine levitating in front of celebrities or the rock and roll of Kriss Angel walking on water. That’s kind of what we expect from QBs, that they be this figure capable of pulling a trick out of the hat or making the pass that makes the W appear. It’s okay to have preferences, but we’re definitely expecting magic.
And I understand that anyone, with enough dedication, can learn a card trick with which to liven up the holidays. Anyone can throw an accurate pass too. But we are talking about a show on par with a Las Vegas residency. You have to do it with the adrenaline of the game, against the elite in defensive positions, with the destiny of a team in your hands. That’s the magic we’re waiting for. And perhaps we can think that this season may be falling a little short. Some seams are showing.
An interesting phenomenon of social networks is this appearance of organisms. Living entities that breathe, metabolize and discard information, hypotheses, criticisms (and many bytes useless). Conversations and discussions arose from different fronts, like respirations and peristalsis that we could group into the same question/hypothesis: is there a QB crisis in the NFL?
I do not intend, of course, to give a categorical answer to that question, but rather to collect those voices and try to configure a sound that can be considered at least intelligible. One of those voices, although not the first, was that of Tom Brady who, in an interview with Stephen Smith, said that there is a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL. Their arguments have to do with coaching (which we could also consider in crisis), player development and especially changes in the regulations. The discussion, as expected, has focused on this last element, but there is a statement that seems forceful to me: “the product (NFL) is less than what it was in my time.”
2023-11-28 17:04:00
#crisis #quarterback #position
