Tom Brady and RG3: A Quarterback Controversy

First of all, my apologies about not posting for a while, as I have been working on getting my book published. But, I'm back, and here to talk about two quarterbacks who have been in the news an alarming amount of times lately, Tom Brady and Robert Griffin III. I'l start with RG3. If I was a quarterback, Washington would be the last place I would want to play. (And that's coming from a Redskins fan). From the strange and slightly derranged ways of Daniel Snyder, to the total lack of respect from Jay Gruden, I'd say RG3 is in the middle of a QB's worst nightmare. Nobody ever accused RG3 of being injury-proof, though. His long stretch of injuries has led to him recieving the nickname "Glass Bones, Paper Skin" in some circles. But, I think the issue there has nothing to do with Robert's toughness. His offensive line has been really shaky of late, and that has led to him being sacked. A lot. How can Washington expect him to be the pocket passer type when his pocket is gone before his receivers are 5 yards downfield? People hear that, and they say "Why can't he just run?" They don't understand that unless you have a designed quarterback run called, you have to survey the field before tucking and taking off. If his first look is a post route that takes 2-4 seconds to develop, and he is under pressure in 1-3, how can he even look for a second option? This causes him to force passes, or take a sack.  Nothing against Kirk Cousins, who I really liked coming out of college, but RG3 is more talented, plain and simple. Kirk might be a better fit in a Jay Gruden offense, but he isn't the quarterback that Robert is. When I think about this, one thing keeps popping into my head. When Jay's brother John Gruden won the Super Bowl with Tampa, guess who was at quarterback? Brad Johnson. We are talking about maybe one of the slowest men ever to play the game of football. No offense, Brad, you were great, but John thrived on a game managing quarterback who threw the ball with short range accuracy and wore cement shoes. RG3 is a running, gunning, football machine. He thrives on making the ESPN highlight reels, and does so with regularity. He is a showtime QB with skills and potential. Jay Gruden's system isn't even close to the right fit. Like trying to put a square peg through a round hole, Washingon tried to force RG3 into this clashing system. Robert, if you can hear me, RUN! Get away from Washington! Also, get away from that defensive end, he's about to sack you.

Second, I tell a captivating and moderately annoying tale of the man who would deflate footballs. That's right, I'm talking about Tom. I was so sick and tired of hearing this story OVER and OVER, it just kept dragging on. I honestly just wanted a resolution so SportsCenter could move on to some other report. However, his recent "acquittal" made my jaw drop. I will admit that he has had tremendous success in the NFL, and you can't deny that. But you also can't deny that the Patriots are not the fairest of teams. Spygate, and then Deflategate, just further proved what I thought all along. The Pats cheat. That's not to say that all the teams aren't cheating too, but New England is clearly at the top of the list.  Sometimes, I felt the Patriots were gaining an advantage without actually doing anything. I always said, every sport has a "Golden Boy" that can do no wrong. Think Messi, Harden, Jordan, LeBron, Clay Mattews, and yes, Brady. Maybe it's just me, but it always seemed that Brady got the benefit of the doubt on more calls than he should have. But, getting back to the issue at hand, I was a little dissapointed when I heard the Brady ruling. I mean, I thought it was a slam dunk. I started to read the Wells report, and I was convinced about his guilt before I got to the second part. Those texts were simply shocking. How freely they spoke of Brady, a needle, payoffs, inflation, and leaking information in the same context was truly eye opening. (The claim that the term "deflator" was used in a weight-loss context was even more eye opening. I mean, why would he joke about "going to ESPN" about how his new weight loss program worked wonders?) Then, the video camera catching McNally lying about bringing the balls into the bathroom was just icing on the cake. Why on earth did he bring the balls out in the first place, much less take them into the bathroom? Then Tom, with his phone. C'mon son! I get that you destroy your phone every so often, but the same day it was requested? It would have been easier to say "I was advised by the NFLPA not to provide the phone, as we feel it...blah blah blah." But to have the phone destroyed on the spot is more than a little suspicious. Then to go all that way to contact AT&T and make sure that he destroyed the messages is even more weird. Now, I am not saying that Rodger Goodell is the savior of football, either. Honestly I was hoping there was a loophole that could get them both suspended. I put Goodell up there on the list of worst sports commisioners ever, along with David Stern and those guys from FIFA. In conclusion, I feel that Brady got off way too easy. But, at least we don't have to hear about it for at least a week or so. Hopefully.