In the National Football League, the consensus among all franchises is that in order to win, they must have franchise quarterbacks. Beliefs tend to center around the notion as some teams have exponentially great defenses and stout receivers. However, those teams have a struggle at the quarterback position and it can doom the team. Just ask the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chicago Bears about those decisions with Blake Bortles and Mitchell Trubisky.
There is one question however, that has yet to be answered in a proper manner. Particularly by members of the national media and those who cover the NFL for various outlets. If the quarterback position is so valued in today’s game, why is it that some quarterbacks are given high praise and little blame? Why are others are the recipient of heavy blame and little to no adulation?
The answer is quite simple actually, and a vast majority of it has nothing to do with their play. It has to do with its appeal to the public.
If You Don’t Have a Personality, You Don’t Get Admiration
Don’t get it wrong. You have to win in order to get respect. Sports are measured in wins and losses. However, for some quarterbacks, it comes down to stats as well as high stats in a loss gives you an excuse or for some like six-time Super Bowl winner quarterback Tom Brady, it just adds fuel to the fire of why he was the reason the team lost. Super Bowl LII’s analysis will only further enhance that view.
Brady is also a no-nonsense approach kind of player which is lacking for the media, who tend to love a quarterback with personality. Take Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, highly talented and with good personalities for the media. When Rodgers lost in the NFC title game to the San Francisco 49ers last season, the general notion by sports fans was that Rodgers had no help. Hence a majority of the blame was shying away.
When Mahomes won the Super Bowl last season, he received MVP accolades and was hailed as the next great quarterback. People fail to realize just how he struggled throughout the game until the fourth quarter. Plus, his personality makes for a great interview. His conference counterpart in the conference, Lamar Jackson of Baltimore, wasn’t so lucky.
Jackson is 0-2 in the playoffs and many folks in the world of social media harken back to Bill Polian‘s comments about Jackson before the draft. Even when Jackson has blasted those comments out of the equation, it just doesn’t seem to matter.
Face it, you have to appeal to the media in order to get love. Stats and victories just may not be enough to gain respect. A Super Bowl might also be your only form of remedy. They say quarterbacks are protected in this league, but some are given the extra cushion.
