Everyone is anointing young QBs too soon
Hold off on the hype
Everyone is anointing young QBs too soon
Posted: Thursday November 30, 2006 2:27PM; Updated: Friday December 1, 2006 1:39PM
The young, untested quarterback with the catchy name came off the bench for a slumping team and, on a majestic November afternoon at Texas Stadium, took a star turn that had the football-watching nation atwitter.
Suddenly, a once-obscure player who'd seemed destined for perpetual backup duty was The Man. As the cocksure passer walked out of the victorious locker room and headed to the team bus, delirious converts chanted his name.
It was as if Elvis had left the building.
And, in fact, he had -- I was there for the scene in question, and the quarterback getting love was not Tony Romo but Elvis Grbac, who had just led the 49ers to a shocking upset of the eventual Super Bowl champion Cowboys in 1995.
I bring this up because, in the 18 seasons I've covered the NFL, I've seen several huddles' worth of quarterbacks prematurely crowned as kings, only to witness their inglorious demise. You can look it up: From the 'Next Ken Stabler' (ToddMarinovich) to the 'Next JoeMontana' (Jake Plummer), all it takes is a few good games from a young passer to make people in my business lose our heads.
We can't handle the truth -- that many of these would-be saviors will flame out like Pam and Kid Rock. And over the past couple of years, what with the 24-hour news cycle and all, we have never been so breathlessly pathetic.
Philip Rivers ... Waaaaay better than Eli, Ben or Drew! Bruce Gradowski... LOVE his bald self. Matt Schaub ... He's soooo sexy; I wish they'd let him play.
Collectively, we're like that dude at the bar who falls in love with every woman who smiles at him, then goes home and, at 8:15 the next morning, starts dialing the phone numbers he pulls out of his pockets. The way we're getting all hot and bothered over Romo, in the wake of his five-touchdown performance in the Cowboys' Thanksgiving victory over Tampa Bay, seems downright stalkerish.
I shudder to think about what might happen when Jay Cutler, the rookie who's replacing Plummer as the starter for the 7-4 Broncos, wins his debut against the Seahawks on Sunday.
THAT'S JAY AS IN J. ELWAY, BABY! AND HE COMES FROM A TOWN CALLED SANTA CLAUS!
Ho, ho, ho.
Romo, he of the rumored romantic attachment to Jessica Simpson, hits the Big Apple (sort of) Sunday, as the Cowboys face the New York Giants in Jersey. If he's looking for perspective, he need only stare across the field at Eli Manning, the third-year quarterback who less than three months ago was being heralded on national TV as a rising star on the verge of challenging his big brother Peyton.
Now, after the Giants' brutal collapse to the Titans last Sunday and three-game losing streak, Eli might as well be Joe Pisarcik's kid bro. Yes, the hype machine works both ways, and if you fail to live up to it, you quickly get the Veruca Salt treatment.
Everyone is anointing young QBs too soon
Posted: Thursday November 30, 2006 2:27PM; Updated: Friday December 1, 2006 1:39PM
The young, untested quarterback with the catchy name came off the bench for a slumping team and, on a majestic November afternoon at Texas Stadium, took a star turn that had the football-watching nation atwitter.
Suddenly, a once-obscure player who'd seemed destined for perpetual backup duty was The Man. As the cocksure passer walked out of the victorious locker room and headed to the team bus, delirious converts chanted his name.
It was as if Elvis had left the building.
And, in fact, he had -- I was there for the scene in question, and the quarterback getting love was not Tony Romo but Elvis Grbac, who had just led the 49ers to a shocking upset of the eventual Super Bowl champion Cowboys in 1995.
I bring this up because, in the 18 seasons I've covered the NFL, I've seen several huddles' worth of quarterbacks prematurely crowned as kings, only to witness their inglorious demise. You can look it up: From the 'Next Ken Stabler' (ToddMarinovich) to the 'Next JoeMontana' (Jake Plummer), all it takes is a few good games from a young passer to make people in my business lose our heads.
We can't handle the truth -- that many of these would-be saviors will flame out like Pam and Kid Rock. And over the past couple of years, what with the 24-hour news cycle and all, we have never been so breathlessly pathetic.
Philip Rivers ... Waaaaay better than Eli, Ben or Drew! Bruce Gradowski... LOVE his bald self. Matt Schaub ... He's soooo sexy; I wish they'd let him play.
Collectively, we're like that dude at the bar who falls in love with every woman who smiles at him, then goes home and, at 8:15 the next morning, starts dialing the phone numbers he pulls out of his pockets. The way we're getting all hot and bothered over Romo, in the wake of his five-touchdown performance in the Cowboys' Thanksgiving victory over Tampa Bay, seems downright stalkerish.
I shudder to think about what might happen when Jay Cutler, the rookie who's replacing Plummer as the starter for the 7-4 Broncos, wins his debut against the Seahawks on Sunday.
THAT'S JAY AS IN J. ELWAY, BABY! AND HE COMES FROM A TOWN CALLED SANTA CLAUS!
Ho, ho, ho.
Romo, he of the rumored romantic attachment to Jessica Simpson, hits the Big Apple (sort of) Sunday, as the Cowboys face the New York Giants in Jersey. If he's looking for perspective, he need only stare across the field at Eli Manning, the third-year quarterback who less than three months ago was being heralded on national TV as a rising star on the verge of challenging his big brother Peyton.
Now, after the Giants' brutal collapse to the Titans last Sunday and three-game losing streak, Eli might as well be Joe Pisarcik's kid bro. Yes, the hype machine works both ways, and if you fail to live up to it, you quickly get the Veruca Salt treatment.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:47 PM
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