The Hidden Cost of Being QB1

Andrew Luck. Do you remember the name? He was once a quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. The whole city of Indianapolis thought after Peyton Manning…they had found their next guy. But unexpectedly, in August of 2019, Luck sent a shock wave through the NFL world. He was retiring. The season for the Colts was instantly upended. The question of why? The question of what made Luck come to this decision? Many speculated the answer but after some of the shock wore off, the reason became clear to NFL fans. Andrew Luck was indeed a gifted quarterback, but he never stood behind an offensive line that could keep him upright. And after taking so many hits, the high-risk low reward of constant injuries inevitably took its toll. Also, there was the question of whether the public driven narrative of being quarterback one was worth it? Was it worth all the supposed allure and glamour? In Andrew Luck’s eyes, it was not. Walking away from football was the right decision.

 Many people still sit flummoxed when discussing Luck’s sudden retirement. Ask any Colts fan and they probably will speak of what could have been. If anyone knows what the constant upheaval of quarterbacks feels like, it would be an Indianapolis fan. Currently, Daniel Jones is at the helm, a guy once at the epicenter of New York football and any New York fan would say, drastically underachieved. The people that still sit flummoxed, probably ask themselves, if you had the world in your hands, how could you walk away and find yourself on the edge of a river, maybe in the Mississippi bayou with a fishing pole in your hand?

Being quarterback one in the NFL brings with it a mixture of circumstances. If you’re Patrick Mahomes, they draw comparisons between you and Tom Brady. And when your team even has a sense of mortality, people wonder if it’s the team or because of you? If you’re Josh Allen, Buffalo fans build shrines of you between barbecued hotdogs and burgers every Sunday and lay on a glimmer of hope, that you will deliver the one thing that has evaded so many Bills teams before you. A championship. With Mahomes and Allen, the turbulence amongst the fanbase is minimal to none. But if your name is Dak Prescott or Brock Purdy, the narratives surrounding you on a weekly basis shift between partially to blame or all the blame for the team’s failures. Imagine Justin Fields, a quarterback drafted by Chicago, shipped to Pittsburgh and finding yourself in the dreariness of being on a Jets team, that hasn’t won much of anything since Rex Ryan was constructing bruising defenses. Being quarterback doesn’t seem to have quite the allure.

It’s a pressure cooker. Being the leader of an NFL team is often seen as glitzy and exciting, but those TV commercials and radio promos don’t tell the actual story. The NFL dominates the fall and winter seasons of America. The short time that it captivates our attention brings with it an even bigger microscope than any other sport that has more games and longer playoff series. In that time, a quarterback of a team is dissected like a baked ziti. Some crumble under that pressure. Before he resurrected his career in Minnesota, wasn’t Sam Darnold seeing ghosts? Any Cleveland quarterback of recent memory, except Baker Mayfield, is barely memorable. Even Tua, who stands in Alabama legend, has had a less than stellar NFL career. To his credit, he remains balanced amidst all the things that have plagued his career, especially the concussions but the Miami fanbase is hotter than the humidity their team plays in. Nobody wants to be a leader of a team that constantly underachieves or is a revolving door for controversies. That pressure cooker explodes like a beach wave in Miami night.

So, all things do not shine with glitter and gold. The mental toll of being a quarterback is just that, a toll. Does the money guarantee that happiness will follow? There isn’t enough money in the world to eliminate pain. There are enough stories of those tragedies written in American history. On top of all the constant eyes that watch all the failures and successes, are the lines written in blogs. The lines are written anywhere. The digital lines that fill the social media world. People will make X accounts just to destroy a player. People put 140 characters together and then thousands of other people retweet it and eventually, the wave of negativity is ever going. Quarterbacks can’t run from it. It’s a devastating trail.

Before Josh Allen had his MVP season, the opinions ran rampant of if he could eliminate the turnovers that plagued so many of his games. Or if he was even the guy to take the Bills to the Super Bowl. For Josh Allen, he had to face that narrative until he had his MVP season. Now, a new narrative has replaced it. Will the Bills ever make the Super Bowl because if they don’t it will be a massive underachievement. The NFL world waits for the success or failure of this season with intensive and watchful eyes. Patrick Mahomes has won three Super Bowls and it’s still not good enough for a lot of people. Those State Farm commercials won’t seem so comedic if the Chiefs never reach the grand stage again. Jalen Hurts led the Eagles to the Super Bowl, and I could start a coin collection for all the people who have put in two cents about if he is a top five quarterback or not. Winning doesn’t even eliminate the pressure. If anything, it just turns up the gauge.

For Mahomes, Allen and Hurts, they seem to handle being the leader of a football team and all the pieces that come with it. But who’s to say, one day they won’t walk away unexpectedly. What if being a quarterback is no longer as appealing as it was?

Most people wake up every Monday, and the work week begins. The alarm clock on your phone buzzes through the still morning and the dream of coffee beckons you to leave the comfort of your bed. There is no fanfare and there isn’t anybody asking you about a third down play that didn’t go as planned to result in a loss, no expert or fantasy football algorithm predicted. Your work week begins and there isn’t a reporter strumming behind you, trying to get a quote. No press conferences. No agent calling you and comparing the marketing value of starring in a soup commercial or one selling insurance. Your biggest choice of the day is what you will eat for lunch or if you can get through the day without scrolling through your phone and watching it graph, if you’re using too much screen time or not. While of course, a couple of million dollars could ease any Monday, the lack of people following your every move is not warranted or welcome. You thank your lucky stars that you only must cheer on your favorite NFL team…not be the quarterback.

The Jets are in one word…struggling. The fanbase is at its wits end. Almost certainly, I am underselling the emotional toll it must be to be a Jets fan. And almost certainly, not one Jets fan probably envies Justin Fields now. Every week just produces the same misery filled result and Fields must stand in front of the media and answer a barrage of questions. Some of which he’s been asked for weeks now. The toll of that could be worn on anyone. And most people, when facing pressure, respond in their own ways. Some are better than others. But…the majority don’t have to handle it with millions of people centered on them. Yes, football players choose the profession they find themselves in but the quarterback has always been labeled the most important position on a football team. Without one, it’s just a bunch of guys running around on a football field.  

After he retired, Andrew Luck pretty much disappeared. He led a private life unlike the life he was leading when he was behind center for the Colts. Some interviews were granted in due time and when he popped up in a managerial role for the Stanford Cardinals, it was welcoming, albeit surprising. Very few have made the decision Luck made. But did that show more about Luck or us? He made the decision that playing football wasn’t worth all the extra additives. Could we make that decision? We would like to say we would but unless it was at the table in front of us, we don’t truly know. There isn’t much in life guaranteed, but one thing is for sure…any amount of success comes with pressure and expectations.

Do you truly envy the NFL quarterback?

The cons may outweigh the pros…if you’re honest with yourself.