The Quarterback

 This may be one of the most important positions in the game of football. Many positions are important but this one defiantly stands out higher than the rest. He is the leader of the team. The one everyone will look up to when things seem do nothing but go downhill. They will look to him to lift them up and help them rise above the challenge. On the field he is in charge and what he says goes. It is sometimes surprising how much power one person can have on a football field. The quarterback has pretty much the same amount of power as a head coach. This power can go to heads don’t get me wrong. But if that happens they normally don’t last that long at such a prestigious position. Here are just a few things a quarterback can do that a coach can do, • Play calling • Call a timeout • Talk to the referee • Coach other players on what to do during a play Now the quarterback does not get to choose who starts and who sits on the bench. If that was the case there would be a lot of favoritism in all of football, all the way from little league to the big leagues. Then there would also be no point in having a coach at all because all the power would be relinquished to the quarterback. A special kind of skill set is required to play such an important position. You have to be able to make split second decision. The average play in football lasts 3 seconds. So you have three seconds to snap the ball, look at the receivers, decide who to throw to, and throw the ball. All at the same time as 11 defensive players are trying to make you look like a fool. The best quarterbacks are the ones that can slow down their minds and make that three seconds seem like three minutes. Height always seemed to be a big part in playing quarterback, but nowadays things seem to be changing. We are constantly seeing smaller quarterbacks such a Russell Wilson, Drew Breese, Denard Robinson…etc, some under six feet tall. There is an amazing saying that I particularly love and it goes like this, Its not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.