Though the powers that be have been attempting to legislate it out of the game for the past two decades, the physicality of American football remains the heart and soul of the sport. It might not sell as many tickets as 80-yard TD bombs, hence the rule changes, but it is what makes the NFL unique. Except the physicality of the sport no longer applies to the game’s most important position: quarterback.
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John Elway, who had a Hall of Fame career as the QB of the Denver Broncos from 1983-1998 and then worked as their general manager for a decade in the 2010s, has become the latest old-school quarterback to call out the pro-QB rules in today’s league.
While the other 21 players on the field are still playing football, it seems quarterbacks are now exempt because of how important they are to the league’s bottom line. You cannot hit them hard, you can only hit them in very specific areas of the body, and you are expected to prioritize their safety over your own while engaging with them. Elway, who played in a much more brutal era for quarterbacks in the 1980s, thinks that is bollocks.
“I can’t stand that the quarterback gets hit in the head with a hand, and that’s a penalty. I’m like, ‘Why does he have a helmet on?'” Elway asked with a laugh, before adding, “Right? I mean, I’m still a quarterback, but still.”
Elway makes a great point, though those penalties for hands to the face are actually common across most positions and are one of the few ones that are not exclusive to QBs. But still, a touch with the hand to the head should not be penalized the same as a facemask.
Elway also reminisced about his early years in the league, when fearsome men like Jack Lambert still roamed the gridiron. Elway remembered a time back then, after a game in which Lambert had been penalized for roughing the passer or a late hit, where the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame LB suggested putting QBs in dresses if they were going to be so well-protected by the refs.
“Because when I was coming in the league, Jack Lambert said we need to put skirts on quarterbacks… back in the early 1980s. (Laughs) I’m one of these guys, I get hit all the time too. Though not as much as they get hit. So I always quarterbacks to have a little bit of the toughness … but they’ve taken it to another level with the way it is now,” said the former QB.
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As was the case when Tom Brady said something similar last year regarding the league babying quarterbacks, the fans were firmly on Elway’s side.
“He is absolutely right. Quarterbacks is soft as baby shit in today’s game. The quarterbacks are the Marquee players. Got to keep them up right,” commented one fan.
“No excuses, look at Elway, he got it the hard way,” pointed out another.
“That was football back then. This sh*t now might as well be flag football,” lamented a third.
“John is getting damn near bit on the arm in the screen lmao,” pointed out a fourth supporter.
Great QBs weren’t just great because they were beautiful throwers of the ball. They were great because back then, they were also tough (and they called their own plays). Guys like Terry Bradshaw, Elway, Joe Montana, and Brett Favre. Heck, even Tom Brady took some enormous hits early in his career and simply got up and got on with the job. What was the problem with that, anyway?
Offense may sell tickets, but football fans still love the violence and physicality that define this sport.
