Where Have All The Quarterback Heroes Gone?

Remember when even the NFL’s worst quarterbacks were stars? When on any given Sunday, on any given team, you’d see a guy behind center you trusted, looked up to, and rooted for the previous week – no matter the numbers?

Certainly many of yesteryear’s QBs lacked a rocket arm, had questionable footwork, and struggled to fill out their jerseys. They often threw more picks than touchdowns and tossed as many wounded ducks as frozen ropes. I mean, their quarterback ratings weren't even worth rating.

But still, these men had the requisite John Wayne gait, Mellencamp mop, and enough confidence to get the job done. Average Joe owned the huddle with as much gumption as Joe Cool. And that's all we cared about.

Heroes or Zeros

Today’s NFL prefers potential over personality, cannons over catapults, and statistics over leaders. Perception is nine-tenths of the law - strut your ego and pad your stats. There’s no longer a place for ordinary. 

In fact, you only have to glance down the list of starters for 2010-11 to see that there are two kinds of signal-callers right now: the elite, qualified by their numbers; and the prospects, qualified mostly by their appearance, and potential to be elite. 

On the one hand there’s Brady, Romo, The Mannings, Rivers, Brees, Roethlisberger and of course Favre – some of the all-time gunslingers, shootn’ up endzones and corralling touchdowns. On the other, there’s a roll call of players that will someday - maybe - be good.

So because of this burning desire for greatness, there's nothing in between. No time for it.

Yes, real heroes are hard to come by.

More Goose than Maverick 

When I started watching pro football as a kid in the early 1980s, it really felt like every quarterback was a superstar - regardless of their pedigree. This may have been due to my miniature grade school stature, but they really did seem larger than life – even on TV. 

Every one of them had the aura of a leader, could zing the ball over oncoming pass rushers, and withstand a hit to the chops. Every one of them galvanized their team against the odds, knew which play to call and marched to the line of scrimmage with the same look of invincibility. Quarterback ratings be damned.

At least that’s how I remember it.

The truth is, guys like Dave Krieg, Bobby Hebert, Neil Lomax, Steve Grogan, Jim Everett and Ken O’Brien probably didn’t do all those things on a regular basis. Heck, they probably threw as many interceptions as they did completions. Mark Malone, anyone? (60 touchdowns, 81 interceptions for his career).

Still, I can’t help but think there was real consistency to those old quarterbacks. A persistence. Yes, they were more Workin’ Day and Night than Thriller, but that’s what endeared us to them. They were just always there – starting. It was their names – not the name of some multi-millionaire rookie hovering over their shoulder – that always flashed up onscreen in those budget yellow titles. They labored through three-win seasons, took the hits to their much smaller, uncut, Goose-from-Top Gun bodies. And yet, they always bounced back up. 

These guys may not have been franchise quarterbacks as we consider them today, but media and fans alike rarely screamed for their heads with the same ferociously that they do today. 

Or at least that’s how I remember it. 

Big arms get big headlines

So why is today's NFL rife with newcomers at the game's most important position? My first thought is that a few teams have PR units bucking for more SportsCenter highlights. Quarterback controversies are all the rage in Bristol, after all.

Boo yah.

But seriously, contracts in 2010 are obviously a different ball game to 1982, and that's an issue. Owners are watching starters like hawks, pouncing on any opportunity to test drive their prized draft pick instead.

Consider Joe Flacco, the Ravens would-be savior; yes, Flacco is a good QB. Big. Strong. Can whip up a small tornado with his spiral. But did anyone foresee this guy stepping into the starting role so soon and succeeding? Not even Romo or Rodgers were expressed to the top of the depth chart in their first year. (Granted Baltimore’s existing depth was rather shallow).  

Gen X vs Gen Y

Now, I’m not saying these gifted athletes aren’t up to the challenge, nor should they be underestimated. Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford and Mark Sanchez are prime examples of the youth movement at its best. But just because Ryan looked like Tom Brady in his first season, or because Stafford showed the guts of a young John Elway in his, does the entire league need to lean on their potential stars so early, instead of their savvy veterans? Did we learn nothing from the JaMarcus Russell debacle?

Okay, try this. Start counting the accomplished QBs riding the pine this upcoming season, simply because of Gen Y love: there's Pennington, Bulger, Anderson, Collins, Hill, Carr, Vick, Feeley, Boller, O’Sullivan, Wallace and Redman to name just a few. 

Some of these players recently guided their teams to the playoffs. So we know that under a different employer – one not obsessed with grooming the next Flacco - at least a couple of them would start. 

Scouts honor (new recruits)

Sure, experience isn’t much of a merit badge these days. We know that. It’s not even as useful as knot-tying or hiking. No, it’s all about arm strength and freakish height folks. That's what the scouts love. Anyone under 6’6 need not apply. Unless their name is Brees or they enjoy holding a clipboard.

It might just be nostalgia, but I miss that quarterbacks were once stars by virtue of hours clocked, not pre-draft hype. They were classically skilled but not powerful. Confident, yet grizzled. A little rough around the edges with a noodle arm and flat ass. Kurt Warner comes to mind, which is why he seemed such an oddity in the current era.

But once upon a time, every team had their Kurt Warner, didn’t they? Average or not, short or stout, he started and usually finished. He just played football, come sleet or snow. And that’s why he always seemed so heroic.

At least, that’s how I remember it.