There has always been a certain image of the classic quarterback. The All-American boy with the clean cut look and the rocket for an arm. And if you wanted to be a QB, you generally had to look the part. However, that all started to change in the 1970s, and long-haired QBs like Trevor Lawrence nowadays have those style trailblazers to thank.
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At first, guys like Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, and Johnny Unitas had that classic look that dominated the game. Then came “Broadway” Joe Namath, who was more of a playboy, Terry Bradshaw with his cowboy demeanor, and Kenny “The Snake” Stabler with his off-field escapades.
Stabler won the Super Bowl with the Oakland Raiders in 1976, and while he didn’t have Lawrence-level hair, he sported pretty long and shaggy locks for a QB back then. In fact, as the gentlemen at Pardon My Take were kind enough to inform us, there has never been a truly long-haired QB that won the Super Bowl. A fact that Lawrence was surprised to learn.
“Long-haired quarterbacks have never won the Super Bowl. Never,” Eric Sollenberger pointed out.
“Really?” Lawrence replied, surprised. “What’s the longest-haired quarterback that’s won a Super Bowl?”
“It might be Joe Namath, and he was like Shaggy,” Sollenberger added.
If you’re not too strict, you could say that Stabler had long hair. And while the PMT guys said Big Ben Roethlisberger didn’t have his long hair when he won, his hair did reach near his shoulders in the back. Apart from that, however, the stat actually holds up pretty well upon closer examination.
But wait, you’re thinking, what about Tom Brady? He had long hair for a spell there, didn’t he? Indeed, he did, and that’s exactly what Lawrence thought would save him, too. But alas.
“Tom? It was always short-haired Tom winning the Super Bowl?” the Jaguars QB asked. “No, that’s when he lost! Long-haired quarterbacks have never won the big one,” Sollenberger shot back.
“What are you going through right now mentally, let’s talk about it,” co-host Big Cat jumped in. Lawrence cracked up, pretending to get up from his chair, “I’ll be right back. That’s a crazy stat.”
If you look closely at the history of Tom Brady’s hair (I know, ridiculous), you see that he grew his hair out longer in 2009-2010 and kept it like that for a few years (notably, the longest Super Bowl drought during Brady’s career) before cutting it short again before winning the Super Bowl again in 2014.
As Big Cat said, “You could be like I’m gonna be the first to break the mould. Or, cut your hair, and then you win a Super Bowl.” The fate of the Jacksonville Jaguars now seems to be in the hands of Trevor Lawrence’s barber.
