Perfection's Flaw: When Coming from the Perfect College Backfires

As you sit here, think about all the quarterbacks in the NFL who inspire the greatest amount of controversy and discussion not named Brett Favre.

Who do you come up with?

Maybe Peyton Manning, but that’s more adoration and respect, not controversy. There is no disputing that Manning is arguably the greatest quarterback of our generation.

Tom Brady?

OK, maybe, but if you’re talking about him it’s probably because he looks like Justin Bieber with that atrocious hair cut or the fact that he wrecked his car in downtown Boston just last week.

When you’re looking for quarterbacks that generate serious debate and controversy (still not including Favre—he has an innate ability to do this), chances are you’re thinking or talking about Mark Sanchez.

At the very least he crossed your mind.

The New York Jets could be a Super Bowl caliber team. They have a stout defense highlighted by the best cornerback in the league. They have a solid rushing attack between LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene (although I still fail to grasp why they let Thomas Jones go), and the Jets have a very good, very confident coach at the helm.

However, after watching their opening weekend showdown with the Baltimore Ravens (another AFC team that has reasons to be optimistic) the Jets don’t look like a Super Bowl team. In fact, they looked downright pedestrian, as the 10-9 score did not do the Ravens performance justice.

Looking over a Jets roster that theoretically has few holes, there is one glaring hole at the quarterback position. The “Sanchize,” as some have called him early in his career, has struggled ever since he entered the NFL last season as a rookie. He was supposed to be a franchise quarterback for the Jets and he was supposed to help push them over the top.

Granted, he still has time. It would be unfair to proclaim the prodigy from USC a total bust when he’s only one game into his second NFL season.

But after watching him play for 17 games, only the most biased of Jets fans can say that Sanchez has lived up to expectations and is playing the way the Jets need him to play.

Only the staunchest apologists can say that everything is OK.

As a casual observer, one can absolutely point the finger at Sanchez for making poor decisions, for not playing up to his potential, and for a host of other issues. Those would all be fair criticisms of Sanchez. His 56.5 completion percentage and his 12 touchdowns and 20 interceptions so far in his career are numbers that are far below those of a good NFL quarterback.

However, take a step back for a minute, and think about his football background, where he went to college, the coach he was with, what system he played in, and the players he was surrounded by.

It was as close as you could come to perfect.

While attending the University of Southern California, Sanchez was blessed by coming into a system that, for a span of approximately six seasons, amassed a record of 73-9 (including the games that USC was recently forced to forfeit in 2005), and won the Orange Bowl twice and the Rose Bowl five times, including two national titles.

Every win was a blowout. It was never a contest. In essence, the USC program from 2002 until 2008—Sanchez’s one and only year as the starting quarterback—faced almost no resistance and no adversity.

And, low and behold, we have found the reason Sanchez is in a struggle to find his footing. It’s the same reason that Matt Leinart can’t seem to catch on and it’s the reason John David Booty hasn’t been heard of since his college days. Carson Palmer was the only quarterback to come out of USC during this span to have a successful career.

The same can be said for the University of Florida. The Gators have produced NFL quarterbacks Rex Grossman, Jesse Palmer, Tim Tebow, and Danny Wuerrfel in recent seasons. Have they done anything?

Granted it’s unfair to judge Tebow yet, seeing his NFL career spans a whopping one game. But looking deep down, how much is really expected of the highly touted Florida product?

All of these players participated in systems that were so well refined that they were never tested. Some of these guys came out too early (Sanchez) because they performed so well in college for one or two seasons.

If you have any kind of talent, when you’re surrounded by the type of players these quarterbacks were, it’s not hard to perform well.

Keep in mind that many of these players went to high schools that were in all likelihood juggernauts as well. In some cases, these players could do whatever they wanted in high school, as the head coach looked to keep them happy and content. Add it all together and some of these QB's have played for six or seven years in an environment sheltered from most criticism, adversity, and challenges on the field.

In the NFL, the quarterback position is undoubtedly the hardest.

It takes years to get the timing down. If these QB’s don’t have the mental aspect down, it doesn’t matter how much talent these kids have. The NFL will not be kind to them and, at best, they will emerge as journeymen quarterbacks.

Sanchez, Leinart, Grossman, and Booty were all never tested because they played in a near perfect world in college. They were then thrown into a far from perfect world when they were drafted by NFL teams. They’re trying to learn on the fly, and as we can see by their results thus far, that’s tough to do for an NFL quarterback.

Don’t get me wrong, Tebow and Sanchez could put it all together and one of these days lead their respective teams to glory. But I’m not counting on it and neither should you.

Because if you take a player who grew up playing with a silver spoon in his mouth, who was never tested nor challenged, then he can’t adapt to the real world.

After watching these guys play, it’s clear that the NFL is the real world and these QB’s from perfect systems are getting a big dose of reality.