What exactly makes a Quarterback a "Winner"?

  Being a winner in college and then being a winner in the NFL are completely different entities. Just look at the Heisman Trophy winning QB’s: starting in 1989 with Andre Ware, Ty Detmer, GIno Torretta, Charlie Ward, Danny Wuerffel, Chris Weinke, Eric Crouch, Carson Palmer, Jason White, Matt Leinart , Troy Smith, Tim Tebow and now Sam Bradford. Of these, proven “winners”. Only, Carson Palmer has stood out on the NFL level. Leinart has a chance to join the list this season. Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow are just a rookies, so the jury is out on them. The point is, All these QB’s were “winners” on the field in college. Palmer seperates himself from the pack, he wasnt just a winner coming out of college. Palmer has all the tools NFL GM’s and personnel people drool over. Size, intelligence, arm strength, vision and work ethic. The same people calling Tebow a winner now, will be the first off the bandwagon when he starts to struggle.

About 4,090

roughly 75% of the images of him are not football related in any way. They are more Stetson and Goat related.

so it doesn’t count

Every time you post I laugh.

“The exact opposite of whatever Josh McDaniels says makes a quarterback a ‘winner’”.

“Winning, with no adequate explanation why”.

Where’s my contract?

However, teams were able to see that he played for arguably the most talented collection of individuals ever assembled at the collegiate rank, and that his “winning” had nothing to do with him.

Why people do not see this about Tebow is beyond me. Tebow was 18-30 for 231 yards and 2 horrible ints in the 2009 Title Game against Oklahoma. Even when Florida was great, they won with defense. Also, having Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy, plus a gimmicky spread-option college system helps too. He was so outmatched in the SEC Title Game against Alabama this year, I think Nick Saban lactated after seeing his defense make Tebow look like a 3rd-stringer.

The ability to read a defense is still probably the most important thing a QB can have. That is really what makes a winner. If a QB is not able to do that (Mirer, Russell, Couch, so many more), he really cannot compete in teh NFL.

as a Vols fan, I hated that guy…….

National Championships did Colt McCoy win?

If accomplishment is to be measured by the number of times one has won a team championship like the Super Bowl, then I recommend you watch solo games such as tennis or Olympic track & field. A parallel in rugby is a guy called Jonah Lomu who never won the World Cup, but is nevertheless considered a legend by his peers. I really don’t understand the unique American habit of calling somebody a “winner” and its really peculiar and irritating at times.

oh wait. Yeah, you’re right.

‘Winners’ up their game at critical times. I just wish the MSM understood it and stopped labeling Peyton as ‘unable to win the big one’ when the outcome is out of his hands. I’ve seen too many playoff games where a receiver drops an easy pass, a lineman (or TE) missed a key block, the OL can’t open a hole… whatever… yet 18 gets the blame.

So it’s not too surprising you didn’t find much back in Joe’s day.

It’s a pretty much worthless label, if you ask me. But there certainly is ‘something’ that some athletes have that allows them to raise their play at critical times, i just think it’s mis-applied…. and in Peyton’s case, withheld in error.

It exists and is its own purpose. Doesn’t contribute to anything…. think of it like a milkshake—yo don’t eat it to get fat, you don’t eat it for the calcium or health benefits. You eat it because it’s fun. There’s no higher purpose—it just is.

Hence, the Manning praise/other QB bashing. They can’t carry his jock and we enjoy pointing it out. Like saying “nice weather” to your neighbor when it’s 75 and sunny with low humidity. Duh. Pretty obvious. Yet, still feels good to acknowledge a beautiful day. Five or six years from now, we’ll be saying the same thing about our current QB and how he’s a far cry from Manning. It’ll be less fun then, I suspect. But just obvious.

More of a way to tie the Colts into it, since it’s a Colts blog and all. It certainly could have stood on its own without mentioning him

This is just more nonsense from Indianapolis Colts fans who are unable to countenance any QB other than Peyton Manning receiving media attention.

You must have missed where I also included Drew Brees, who is not Peyton Manning, in the category of a great QB who is not called a winner, yet wins games all the time. Maybe you should re-read it.

Also, tearing down other successful QBs and rooting for practically all the new QBs coming into the NFL to fail isn’t going to win Manning another Super Bowl.

I’m not rooting against anyone. I’m pointing out how they’ve been pumped up by the media, and had very little talked about them other than that they “win games”. QBs who actually put up numbers, and also win games, never get the “winner” label. I think I made that point quite clear. QBs who cannot stand on their game on their own get labeled as a “winner”, since they are deficient at the other, more important areas, that lead to wins all on their own.

Especially when you resort to fudging the facts, ignoring stuff like how Peyton Manning played for an absolutely loaded team who won a national title the year after he left

I can’t believe I completely missed it. Oh wait…

Now, all of you believers in Tebow/McCoy are screaming “Look at all the talent Peyton Manning had around him!”, which is certainly true. Holy hell that’s a lot of talent.

How the hell did I fudge facts here? The tables are correct, and I pointed out Manning played with loaded teams. I think it makes it pretty clear you didn’t read the 2nd half of the article, especially since you missed the part about Brees too.

I think the whole point of the article flew right over your head, with the mention of Peyton Manning. You’ve brought up the “rings” argument, which falls on deaf ears around here. Next you’ll start agreeing with ESPN and Terry Bradshaw is the greatest QB ever. You’ve also talked about how Manning has to beat a whole slew of other QBs, when, in fact, Football is a team sport, won and lost by teams. This was the main point of the article, not another Peyton Manning love fest, which you obviously are quite sensitive to.

QBs get too much credit for wins, and too much blame for losses. QBs who are legitimately good don’t have to have their number of wins lauded. Like Brees, along with Manning.

I think someone read a little too much into this article…

I think he will be a good to very good QB in the NFL. However, that is not because “he is a winner.” It is because he has great football IQ, makes good reads and can see the whole field.

We are not bashing other QBs, we are bashing the media for portaying QBs as "winners’ when they don’t really deserve that tag, and that calling a QB a “winner” is kind of stupid. In a team sport, no individual is a winner, other than like a goalie in hockey.

Colt McCoy had 13,253 yards and 112 TDs for his career, set NCAA records for completion percentage and passing efficiency, and also the record for most wins by a QB, one once held by Manning.

What number pick was Colt McCoy again? You mean the great Colt McCoy, the guy with better stats than any other college QB ever, was passed over 84 times before being selected. Much like Jay Barker, Troy Smith, Ken Dorsey, etc., NFL teams have decided that even with all those numbers, he was only a 3rd round pick, but Manning, with his inferior stats, was selected first overall. I’m sure all those NFL scouts don’t know what they are doing.

Again, this wasn’t a Manning puff piece. He was merely used to relate my point to the Colts. I can easily make a claim Manning is the greatest ever without tearing anyone else down. In fact, it’s been done quite a few times around here, if you cared to look around. I don’t think Brees is as good as Manning, but I’m certainly not bashing him at all in here. In fact, I was quite nice to the guy who helped beat my favorite team in the Super Bowl. He’s a great QB. I absolutely hate Philip Rivers with a passion, but can’t say much about his ability to play QB, as he’s become really good at it.

And you better stop with the “dishonest” claims without anything backing it up. Prove it. Quote me being dishonest.

Are you saying Tom Brady/Pats fans don’t bash Manning?

They did it to the Pats in 2007, figuring the team has to lose at some point so they’ll be “right” when it finally happens.