I am a late bloomer to the game of football. I did not start watching football closely and intensely until about mid 2008. It started with college football and getting involved in the excitement of the college football atmosphere. Being a member of the Spirit of Houston Cougar Marching Band definitely helped as well as give me a closer look at the University of Houston Football program. Also, playing NCAA Football 10, which is the first sports video game I've ever played, really helped me grasp certain concepts about the game of football including wide receiver routes, names of certain plays and how they're designed, defensive assignments, and recruiting. Now I can recognize formations, the names of certain plays on both sides of the ball, as well as defensive looks. After 3 years of watching college football and playing the NCAA Football video games, which I still do by the way, I decided to turn my attention to the NFL game.
The 2010 NFL season was when I started watching pro football as much as I did college football. After that one season, I decided to do my homework on the history of the game including everything I missed growing up including the San Francisco 49ers' 4 Super Bowls, the Dallas Cowboys' route to being called "America's Team," the evolution of the forward pass, the NFL Draft, and so forth.
While doing my homework on the game of football, I learned a very valuable lesson especially during the 2011 NFL season that I believe a lot of people lose sight of as they become fascinated with certain football players particularly at the quarterback position.
The 2011-2012 NFL season had various different stories happening throughout the league. The Green Packers had just won the Super Bowl and started the season 13-0 inevitably ending the regular season with a 15-1 record. Unfortunately, they did not advance far in the playoffs. They lost to the inevitable Super Bowl Champion New York Football Giants in the Divisional Round. The Houston Texans, in their first season with new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, ended the season with a 10-6 record and their first playoff win in its young history. The San Francisco 49ers, under new head coach Jim Harbaugh who helped Alex Smith regain his confidence, ended the season with a 13-3 regular season record. The biggest headline, however, is what was happening in the Mile High City during John Elway's first full year as an executive. It can all be summed up in one word: TEBOWMANIA!!!!
Tim Tebow took over the starting role in Denver after the previous starter, Kyle Orton, didn't have a good start by any stretch of the imagination. There were Tebow chants all over Denver and even Jacksonville, Florida especially during his first start against the Miami Dolphins. When the Denver Broncos started going on their little run which resulted in a playoff berth including a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round, there were people clamoring for Tim Tebow as the long term solution for the Denver Broncos at the quarterback position. The argument heard around the country was "Tim Tebow wins games!!! That's what's it all about!!"
My response to that is very simple: NO IT'S NOT WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT IN THE NFL.
College football is a transient business almost like an apartment complex. Your best players leave after 3 to maybe 5 years in school. The great college programs in the country (USC with Pete Carroll, LSU with Nick Saban, Oregon with Chip Kelly) lose their coaches. They do everything they can with the players and staff you have to win games. At some point, everyone leaves the program in some way especially if it's a top program. Basically the goal in college football is this: YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE NOW AND YOU WIN!!
The NFL, on the other hand, is NOT a transient business. It is in some aspects but not nearly as much. The top quarterbacks in the history of the league have mostly 10-20 year careers. As far as coaching goes, they'd never want to leave a NFL job. A building block job in the NFL doesn't really exist. If you go to a NFL organization and bring winning football, you stay there forever pretty much. Assistant coaches rarely leave unless they're a top offensive or defensive coordinator like a Wade Phillips or a Bruce Arians. Teams keep the majority of their staff mainly because the pension plans are so good. It's actually better for coaches than for players.
The NFL is not about winning a game today. For example, would Mike Shannahan have risked Robert Griffin III's future for one game like some people suggested during that playoff game against the Seahawks? The answer is obviously no. Another situation is when the Buffalo Bills gave Ryan Fitzpatrick a contract after starting the season 5-2, there were people laughing and mocking the deal. Historically, an organization like the New England Patriots, with draft picks and contracts, has been willing to lose short-term to win long-term. Recent examples include the departure of Wes Welker, Aqib Talib, and Richard Seymour despite their production on the football field.
Again the goal in college is to do whatever you can to WIN THE GAMES NOW. And as previously stated, people were clamoring for Tebow as the long term solution after the team won 7 of his first 8 games. However after everything I learned about how the NFL works, it is not about winning streaks. It's about finding the quarterback to build around for the next 15-20 years. These include guys like Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Phillip Rivers. Once you find him, rather than an apartment complex-like scenario, this situation is more like a 15-20 year mortgage. After that, you hire your coaches that fit the system you want to see utilized, draft players to surround your quarterback and execute the system, build advertisement campaigns for your organization based on the team play that you have all starting with the quarterback.
The NFL is a MORTGAGE. Winning 6 or 7 games in the NFL doesn't mean anything. Would you really sacrifice your mortgage because a certain quarterback goes on a 7 game winning streak considering he would be in the same division as quarterbacks more talented than him? I certainly wouldn't. There have been all sorts of mediocre quarterbacks throughout the history of the league win games like Scott Mitchell (he had Barry Sanders), Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Tim Tebow win games in the NFL. It does not necessarily mean that you should build around them. The question then becomes: how can you tell the difference? That's why owners hire general managers, scouts, and football people.
The bottom line is this: the overall goal of a NFL team is to build a good quality long term product. College football is about WINNING NOW. Don't fall into the trap of the "win now" mentality because that is strictly for college football. That is NOT what pro football is about.
So as you look at your favorite NFL team, what do you think their mentality is as we approach another season of football: college and pro?
Tim Tebow took over the starting role in Denver after the previous starter, Kyle Orton, didn't have a good start by any stretch of the imagination. There were Tebow chants all over Denver and even Jacksonville, Florida especially during his first start against the Miami Dolphins. When the Denver Broncos started going on their little run which resulted in a playoff berth including a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round, there were people clamoring for Tim Tebow as the long term solution for the Denver Broncos at the quarterback position. The argument heard around the country was "Tim Tebow wins games!!! That's what's it all about!!"
My response to that is very simple: NO IT'S NOT WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT IN THE NFL.
College football is a transient business almost like an apartment complex. Your best players leave after 3 to maybe 5 years in school. The great college programs in the country (USC with Pete Carroll, LSU with Nick Saban, Oregon with Chip Kelly) lose their coaches. They do everything they can with the players and staff you have to win games. At some point, everyone leaves the program in some way especially if it's a top program. Basically the goal in college football is this: YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE NOW AND YOU WIN!!
The NFL, on the other hand, is NOT a transient business. It is in some aspects but not nearly as much. The top quarterbacks in the history of the league have mostly 10-20 year careers. As far as coaching goes, they'd never want to leave a NFL job. A building block job in the NFL doesn't really exist. If you go to a NFL organization and bring winning football, you stay there forever pretty much. Assistant coaches rarely leave unless they're a top offensive or defensive coordinator like a Wade Phillips or a Bruce Arians. Teams keep the majority of their staff mainly because the pension plans are so good. It's actually better for coaches than for players.
The NFL is not about winning a game today. For example, would Mike Shannahan have risked Robert Griffin III's future for one game like some people suggested during that playoff game against the Seahawks? The answer is obviously no. Another situation is when the Buffalo Bills gave Ryan Fitzpatrick a contract after starting the season 5-2, there were people laughing and mocking the deal. Historically, an organization like the New England Patriots, with draft picks and contracts, has been willing to lose short-term to win long-term. Recent examples include the departure of Wes Welker, Aqib Talib, and Richard Seymour despite their production on the football field.
Again the goal in college is to do whatever you can to WIN THE GAMES NOW. And as previously stated, people were clamoring for Tebow as the long term solution after the team won 7 of his first 8 games. However after everything I learned about how the NFL works, it is not about winning streaks. It's about finding the quarterback to build around for the next 15-20 years. These include guys like Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Phillip Rivers. Once you find him, rather than an apartment complex-like scenario, this situation is more like a 15-20 year mortgage. After that, you hire your coaches that fit the system you want to see utilized, draft players to surround your quarterback and execute the system, build advertisement campaigns for your organization based on the team play that you have all starting with the quarterback.
The NFL is a MORTGAGE. Winning 6 or 7 games in the NFL doesn't mean anything. Would you really sacrifice your mortgage because a certain quarterback goes on a 7 game winning streak considering he would be in the same division as quarterbacks more talented than him? I certainly wouldn't. There have been all sorts of mediocre quarterbacks throughout the history of the league win games like Scott Mitchell (he had Barry Sanders), Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Tim Tebow win games in the NFL. It does not necessarily mean that you should build around them. The question then becomes: how can you tell the difference? That's why owners hire general managers, scouts, and football people.
The bottom line is this: the overall goal of a NFL team is to build a good quality long term product. College football is about WINNING NOW. Don't fall into the trap of the "win now" mentality because that is strictly for college football. That is NOT what pro football is about.
So as you look at your favorite NFL team, what do you think their mentality is as we approach another season of football: college and pro?
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