By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
According to ESPN, it has been the Year of the Quarterback.
Who puts ESPN in charge of declaring these things anyway? Just because the network is the leading sports voice in the country, it thinks it can go around saying, “This is the year of this” or “This is the year of that.”
I wish the network would use its clout to declare the Year of the Sports Editor sometime soon, but I won’t hold my breath.
Anyway, ESPN is right in the sense that every year is the year of the quarterback. A team rises or falls by how its signal caller performs and there are few jobs in team sports more important.
The best pitchers in baseball only take the mound once every five days, while a quarterback touches the ball on almost every offensive play in every game.
But it’s fair to say that this season quarterbacks attracted the spotlight a little more than usual, especially in college football and especially late in the past year and early in this one.
Let’s start with Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. The quarterback of the national champion Auburn Tigers was suspended for a nanosecond when it was revealed his father, Cecil, had asked for money in return for a commitment to Mississippi State.
The NCAA declared Newton eligible, and he didn’t miss a start.
Next up, the Ohio State five, led by quarterback Terrelle Pryor. A group of key Ohio State players, with Pryor in the forefront, got in dutch right before the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas when it was revealed they had sold memorabilia in return for things like discount tattoos.
The NCAA ruled the group could play in the Sugar Bowl but would miss the first five games of next season, and with all five making big plays, Ohio State went on to outlast Arkansas on Jan. 4.
Moving on, it’s Ryan Mallett, who went from being the darling of Arkansas fans at the beginning of the year to being the guy with the “10-cent head” who always throws the critical interception. Mallett, like Newton, is foregoing his senior year to play in the NFL.
Rumor has it Mallett, the one-time Heisman candidate who threw his chances away against Alabama, has some off-field demons to wrestle with and his departure for the NFL may prevent what could have been a fall from grace had he stayed with the Hogs.
However, at least in Mallett’s case, the NCAA didn’t have to intervene and make one of its bogus rulings on any malfeasance.
With its decisions on Newton and especially the Ohio State players, the NCAA has pretty much given up all pretense of being for good, clean athletic competition and is clearly opting in favor of big-game TV revenues, among other sources of money.
Well, we all knew it was about money anyway. Let’s just hope when stuff like this happens again — and it will — the NCAA is consistent with its punishments.
I know, I laughed when I wrote that too.
Speaking of money, we’ve reached the point that comes at the end of every college season when we see the “Will he or won’t he?” parade of players who have shown NFL potential. Every year some guys bolt for the pros and the big money and some guys stick around.
And every year those guys get criticized either way.
If a player takes the NFL money he is accused of being greedy, of having no loyalty to the program. Fans who worshipped the quarterback in college suddenly find flaws in his game and say he needs another year of seasoning in college ball.
If a guy stays put, like Pryor has surprisingly chosen to do, the cynics line up to call him a fool for risking injury and a big NFL contract when he has nothing more to prove in college.
I read a blog in which someone questioned Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck’s decision to play his senior year and wondered if this proves Luck lacks the “hunger” to be an NFL quarterback.
Of course I think it’s honorable to finish school and get your degree and have that to fall back on. Not every signal caller in the NFL lasts as long as Brett Favre and there is no guarantee a great college quarterback makes a great NFL quarterback.
The landscape is littered with the husks of cautionary tales like Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch and Heath Shuler.
But who can blame a college quarterback if he does jump for the NFL money as a junior?
He is just following the example of the NCAA.
