There is no video evidence of this, but it appears that Kant, at the end of his life, one fine September morning, once got out of bed shouting this: “You can’t win in the NFL without a quality quarterback! You can’t!”
Clearly, Kant knew his football.
This made-up quote came to mind Thursday night, as we watched poor Tua Tagovailoa lying on the turf in Miami, suffering another blow to the head that could force him into retirement. First, we have to wish this young man a healthy recovery, and second, we have to understand that the Dolphins’ season is pretty much over.
It is sometimes said that one player does not make a team? Well, that is not true, because in this league, no team can aspire to anything good without having a quality quarterback.
A year ago, CBS compiled a list of the worst teams in terms of drafting quarterbacks. The bottom of the class—the Bears, Jets, Vikings, Cardinals and Browns—all have one thing in common: They rarely, if ever, win the Super Bowl. The Bears won it once, with the best defense in history, and the Jets won it once, with a Joe Namath in a state of grace.
PHOTO DOUG MURRAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell will have to get creative between now and the end of the season…
Did the Dolphins think they had found their savior in Tua? They’ve been looking for that savior for 25 years, ever since Dan Marino retired. The Bears have been looking for a successor to Sid Luckman, the only competent quarterback in their history, since 1950. The Cardinals have been rebuilding since 1920. The Browns have used so many different quarterbacks since Bernie Kosar left in 1993 that it would take a 300-page book to list them all. The Jets, meanwhile, are reduced to hoping for miracles from Aaron Rodgers, a man who will soon be 41 and claims to have seen flying saucers.
Conversely, winning teams often have the same thing in common: a quality quarterback who is on the job for a long time. The Patriots had that luxury for nearly 20 years, and it gave them six trophies. The Steelers, 49ers and Cowboys have all been successful, at least in large part, for that same reason.
Over the past 10 years, NFL clubs have selected a quarterback with the very first overall pick eight times. Everyone is looking for that rare gem that will lead their club to the top, but as a recipe forair fryerit’s not an exact science; of those eight quarterbacks, none have yet managed to win the Super Bowl.
It also explains why some teams are willing to forgive a lot of things, like the Browns, who have two quarterbacks with questionable pasts. They should have kept Baker Mayfield, let’s say.
Besides, the National Hockey League thinkers aren’t the only ones trying to hide things from us.
In the NFL, teams are required to report any injuries, and upper or lower body nonsense is not tolerated. But the San Francisco 49ers apparently chose to pull a fast one by “forgetting” to report an injury to their star running back, Christian McCaffrey, who ultimately did not play Monday night against the New York Jets.
PHOTO DAVID GONZALES, USA TODAY SPORTS
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
The first to be offended were the gamblers, of course, and Jay Kornegay, the man who runs the famous Westgate Superbook casino in Vegas, has publicly called for an NFL investigation into the matter.
As we all know, there are two groups of people the NFL can’t afford to offend: Swifties and gamblers. The 49ers are therefore facing a hefty penalty, and the league could, for example, force them to hire Nickelback for the halftime show at their next game. That would teach them something.
Obviously, the email box is overflowing. First, Daniel Boudreau recognizes our sense of timing : “Following your article, Jerry Jones quickly offered a contract to Dak Prescott.” That’s right, and if the Canadiens management listened to us more often, there would have been a 25 a long time ago.e banner on the ceiling.
On this subject, precisely, this very judicious comment from another reader, Pierre Melançon: “There is however an interesting parallel between this ultra-rich team and the Montreal Canadiens. My theory: the super-rich team confuses the challenge of getting rich with the challenge of performing!”
Also, there is the SAQ which wrote to me to inform me of a saving of $9.32 on my most recent purchase, and as we know, there are no small victories.
It’s going to be another hot Sunday, and not just outside. So, the Saints will be in Dallas trying to prove how serious they are, the Pats will host the Seahawks trying to pull off another upset, and then finally, the big game will be at 4:25 p.m., with the already panicked Bengals having to go to Kansas City to try not to start the season 0-2.
Don’t forget to stay hydrated.