Peyton Manning to Redskins: Joe Theismann's Idiocy Rides Again

For someone who has either played or commentated on football for the majority of his life, Joe Theismann knows shockingly little about the game. 

But then again, we can't expect him to be a genius. 

Joe knows that better than anyone. 

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Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein.

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That is a quote from Theismann so infamous that it has its own website. 

Well, this former QB is back at his usual befuddling hi-jinks.

With rumors, like this one tweeted by sports radio personality Howard Eskin, floating around that Peyton will be a Redskin next year, Theismann decided to pontificate on the subject. 

Here is Theismann from 106.7 The Fan’s Mike Wise and Holden Kushner and quoted by Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post

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It’s not a good idea, it’s not a bad idea—It’s a horrific idea. It would be one of the poorest things that we could do as a franchise. Are we gonna go find another guy for just a couple of years again? Haven’t we done this before? Haven’t we seen this act before? And by the way, if you get Peyton Manning, don’t you have a concern about protecting him? Don’t you have a concern about who he throws the football to?...

We’re tired of looking for stop gaps. It’s time to draft one of your own or make a deal for a young one of your own, and nurture him, and then put the players around him. If we’re gonna be 5-11, if we’re gonna be 6-10, let’s do it with somebody who’s [learning as he goes], instead of guys that have been here, making mistakes.

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Where do you even begin with this? Let's start with the stop-gap notion. 

First, I will say that my following argument is based on Manning returning close to 100 percent. If he isn't, he isn't worth it. 

Now, if he's ready to go, Peyton Manning is not a stop gap. He is a Hall of Fame QB that when he last played was as good as ever. That's not someone who patches you through a small portion of time, that's someone who leads you to new heights. 

Moving onto the issue of protection. There's no better QB in the league at handling a poor offensive line than Manning. He has consistently been one of the least-sacked QBs in the league not because of a dominant O-line in Indy, but because he knows when to get rid of the ball and where to get rid of it to. 

Third is the wide receiver problem. Here's an idea Joe. How 'bout they add a receiver to the roster? That is not too big a stretch. 

And even beyond that, Manning turns mediocre receivers into great ones. The Colts receivers have always been productive, and I'm not talking about just the Marvin Harrisons or the Reggie Waynes. I'm talking about the Austin Collies and Pierre Garcons. 

Theismann is speaking utter non-sense here. The addition of a healthy Manning would instantly turn this team into contenders, and it wouldn't preclude them from finding and grooming a QB of the future either.