By Breanna Jacobs
With the continued emergence of the ESPN series, “Year of the QB,” we have been made to believe that the 2011 NFL season will be just that; it will be the year that the quarterback continues his climb to the top of the team, the year that all focus will be on the man that leads the offense. However, with this idea being forced down our football-loving throats, it brings to mind one question: Has our infatuation with the QB gone too far?
“Year of the QB” has taken us inside the minds of past and present quarterbacks. We have been given a front row seat in almost every NFL team’s stadium. We have been transported inside the huddle and onto the sidelines, giving us insight into the brain of a QB. We’ve heard Michael Vick claiming he has to “play better,” we’ve seen Brett Favre joking around with the referees, and we’ve heard Jay Cutler trying to pump up a discouraged Chicago Bears offense. While all this is interesting to hear and see, we have begun to completely immortalize the QB, thinking that he is the savior of football as we know it.
Although there is nothing wrong with admiring a QB, it seems that NFL fans have completely lost their focus. While the quarterback is an integral part of any NFL team, he is only one of eleven men on the field. We have begun to act like he is the only person out on that field that matters, the only one that can change the course of the game, and that is completely untrue. While QBs such as Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Aaron Rodgers have shown their talent and ability to successfully lead an offense, they would be nowhere without the other ten offensive players on the field, and the team and coaching staff that stands behind them. After all, Tom Brady’s 3,900 passing yards during the 2010 NFL season would not be as remarkable if he didn’t have anyone to pass the pigskin to.
As we hopefully head into the 2011 NFL season, we need to shift our focus from the QB onto those who play alongside the QB. 2011 may be the “year of the QB,” but it will also be the year of the running-back, the year of the tight end, the year of the offensive line, the year of the linebacker, the year of the safety, the year of the head coach, but mostly, it will be the year of the team.
Welcome to the Pine, Breanna! Love the emphasis on TEAM. However, it eerily reminds me of the dinner scene in “the Untouchables” when Al Capone’s clan was gathered around the dinner table and he gave a lecture on “team play”. He was holding a baseball bat, and … well … it didn’t end pretty. (But everyone got the message).
Interesting thought. I’ve never seen that movie before, but I see where it’s headed. I think as long as we can shift our main focus away from the QB, we’ll get a more accurate picture of what the 2011 season will be like (well, if there is a a 2011 season). It just doesn’t seem right to place all the focus on that one person.
Never seen it? Egads, that scene was classic employee motivation stuff – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-sV-O2-jCY