Football For Dummies, USA Edition
416
Football For Dummies, USA Edition
416Paperback(7th ed.)
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781394181261 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| Publication date: | 05/31/2023 |
| Edition description: | 7th ed. |
| Pages: | 416 |
| Sales rank: | 42,749 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 4 |
Being a former defensive player, I hate to admit that the quarterback is the most important player on a football team. My only consolation is that although quarterbacks command the highest salaries in the NFL, my fellow defensive linemen are number two on the list. That's because their job is to make the quarterback's life miserable. Quarterbacks get all the press during the week, and defensive guys knock the stuffing out of them on weekends. |
 | I like my quarterback to be the John Wayne of the football team. He should be a courageous leader, one who puts winning and his teammates ahead of his personal glory. Joe Montana, who won four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, and John Elway, who won his first Super Bowl in 1998 with the Denver Broncos, quickly come to mind. Both of them played with toughness, although they also had plenty of talent, skill, and flair to somehow escape the worst situations and throw the touchdown pass that won the game. In this chapter, I talk about the fundamental skills that you need to play quarterback. I also discuss stance, vision, and arm strength and solve the puzzle of that mysterious quarterback rating system. |
The Quarterback's Job
With the exception of kicking plays (see Chapter 12), quarterbacks touch the ball on every offensive play. A quarterback's job is to operate and guide the offense efficiently. In a typical NFL game during the 1997 season, each team possessed the ball only 11 times during a game. (When I talk about a possession, I'm not talking about a single play, but a series of plays in which the offense either scores or is forced to punt the ball away.) The quarterback's goal is to direct his team toward the end zone and score as many points as possible. During the 1997 season, the typical team scored on one-third of those offensive possessions, resulting in either a touchdown or a field goal. So you can see that there is enormous pressure on the quarterback to generate points every time the offense takes the field. The quarterback (QB) is the player directly behind the center receiving the ball, as shown in Figure 4-1. He is the player who announces the plays in the huddle. The quarterback may receive adulation for a fine performance, but coaches on all levels of football (peewee, high school, college, and the NFL) decide what plays the offense will use. I know that my partner at FOX, Terry Bradshaw, called his own plays, but that's another story for another time. |
Figure 4-1: The quarterback lines up directly behind the center at the beginning of each play. |  |
In the NFL, a quarterback receives plays from a coach on the sidelines via a hearing device placed in his helmet. In high school and college football, an assistant coach generally signals in the plays from the sidelines after conferring with the head coach or offensive coordinator. In critical situations, a player may bring in the play when being substituted for an offensive player already on the field. When Bradshaw played in the 1970s, many coaches allowed their veteran quarterbacks to call their own plays after practicing and studying all week. But eventually, the coaches wrested control of the play-calling away from the quarterbacks, believing that the responsibility was too much of a mental burden for those players. When the game became more specialized (with multiple substitutions on both offense and defense) in the 1980s, coaches decided that they wanted the pressure of making the play calls. They didn't think a quarterback needed the additional responsibility of facing the media after a game and explaining why he called certain plays in a losing game. Head coaches wanted to be the ones to answer those tough questions. |
 | Although NFL coaches don't allow quarterbacks to call their own offensive plays (except in no-huddle situations when little time remains on the clock), a player must be prepared to change the play at the line of scrimmage if it doesn't appear that the play will succeed. Changing the play at the line of scrimmage in this fashion is called audiblizing. After the quarterback is in possession of the ball, he turns and, depending on which play was called, hands the ball to a running back, runs with the ball himself, or moves farther back and sets up to attempt a pass. Depending on the design of the offense, the quarterback takes a three-step, five-step, or seven-step drop before throwing the ball (see the section "Dropping back," later in this chapter, for more information). |
| | The area in which the quarterback operates, most likely with a running back and the offensive line protecting him from the defense, is called the pocket. It is as wide as the positioning of the quarterback's offensive tackles. The quarterback is instructed to stay within this so-called protective area; if he ventures out of the pocket, he's likely to suffer a bone-crushing tackle. And the last thing a coach wants is for his quarterback, the leader of his team, to get injured. The quarterback rarely runs with the ball unless he's being chased out of the pocket or instructed to run a quarterback sneak when the offense needs a yard or less for a first down. In a quarterback sneak, the quarterback takes a direct snap from the center and either leaps behind his center or guard or dives between his guard and center, hoping to gain a first down. However, the quarterback's main job is to throw the football and encourage his teammates to play well. While the quarterback is setting up a play, he also must be aware of what the defense is attempting to do. In Chapter 5, I discuss how quarterbacks "read" a defense. |
The Qualities of a Quarterback
When scouts or coaches examine a quarterback's potential to play in the National Football League, they run down a checklist of physical, mental, and personality traits that impact a quarterback's success on the field. These qualities are required for success at all levels of football; however, in this chapter, I discuss them in terms that relate to a professional athlete. Some scouts and coaches break down a quarterback's talent and abilities further, but for this book's purposes, the following are the main criteria necessary to excel in the NFL. If a quarterback has five of these seven traits, he undoubtedly ranks among the top 15 players at his position. Arm strengthUnlike baseball, football doesn't use a radar gun to gauge the speed of the ball after the quarterback releases it. But velocity is important when throwing a football because it allows a quarterback to complete a pass before a single defensive player can recover (react to the pass) and possibly deflect or intercept the ball. Consequently, the more arm strength a quarterback has, the more able he is to throw the ball at a high speed. Many good quarterbacks, with practice, could throw a baseball between 75 and 90 mph, comparable to a Major League Baseball pitcher. Because of its shape, a football is harder to throw than a baseball, but NFL quarterbacks like the Oakland Raiders' Jeff George and the Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre throw the fastest passes at over 40 mph. CompetitivenessA player's competitiveness is made up of many subjective and intangible qualities. A quarterback should have the desire to be the team's offensive leader and, ideally, overall leader. No one should work harder in practice than he does. |
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The quarterback's performance affects the entire offensive team. If he doesn't throw accurately, the receivers will never catch a pass. If he doesn't move quickly, the linemen won't be able to protect him. He also should have the courage to take a hard hit from a defensive player. During games, quarterbacks must cope with constant harassment from the defense. They must stand in the pocket and hold onto the ball until the last split second, knowing that they're going to be tackled the instant they release the ball. To be a competitive player, a quarterback must have an inner desire to win. The quarterback's competitive fire often inspires his teammates to play harder. Competitiveness is a quality that every coach (and teammate) wants in his quarterback. IntelligenceThe quarterback doesn't have to have the highest IQ on the team, but intelligence does come in handy. Many NFL teams have a 3-inch-thick playbook that includes at least 50 running plays and as many as 200 passing plays. The quarterback has to know all of them. Not only does he have to know what he's supposed to do in every one of those plays, but he also needs to know what the other skilled players (running backs, receivers, and tight ends) are required to do. Why? Because he may have to explain a specific play in the huddle or during a time-out. On some teams, the quarterback is also responsible for informing the offensive linemen of their blocking schemes. Prior to the NFL draft, the league administers an intelligence and personality test called the Wonderlic Test. Most quarterbacks score above 30 (out of a possible perfect 50 score). Conversely, more than 50 percent of all players score below 20. Many quarterbacks are what coaches call "football-smart." They know the intricacies of the game, the formations, and the defenses. They play on instinct and play well. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana had football smarts; he may have been the best of all time in that category. The New York Jets' great, Joe Namath, was also very instinctive on the field. Current San Francisco quarterback Steve Young is both football-smart and book-smart. Young is a lot like former great quarterbacks Otto Graham of the Cleveland Browns and Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys. Being book-smart and football-smart can be an unbeatable combination on game days. MobilityA quarterback's mobility is as important as his intelligence and his arm. He must move quickly to avoid being tackled by defensive players. Therefore, he must move backward (called retreating) from the center as quickly as possible in order to set himself up to throw the ball. When a quarterback has excellent mobility, you hear him described as having quick feet. This term means that he moves quickly and effortlessly behind the line of scrimmage with the football. A quarterback doesn't have to be speedy to do this. He simply must be able to maneuver quickly and gracefully. In one simple step away from the line of scrimmage, a good quarterback covers 41/2 feet to almost 2 yards. While taking these huge steps, the quarterback's upper body should not dip or lean to one side or the other. He must be balanced. |
| | Mobility is also critical when a quarterback doesn't have adequate pass protection and has to move out of the pocket and pass while under pressure and on the run. Coaches call this type of mobility escapability. Both Steve Young and Brett Favre are great at escaping defensive pressure. Maybe the best of the old-timers was Fran Tarkenton, who played with the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings. Roger Staubach of the Cowboys was nicknamed "Roger the Dodger" because he was tough to trap. ReleaseIf a quarterback doesn't have exceptional arm strength, he'd better have a quick release. After the quarterback raises the ball in his hand, usually near his head or slightly above and behind it, he releases, or rapidly brings his arm forward and lets loose of the ball. Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who holds virtually every NFL passing record, probably has the game's quickest release. His arm and hand remain a blur when filmed and replayed in slow motion. For you Western-movie fans, the release is comparable to the quick draw that Alan Ladd had in Shane. Quarterbacks with great releases generally are born with the ability. Average quarterbacks can improve and refine their releases, but their releases will never be great. A quarterback either has this coordinated motion between his arm, elbow, and wrist, or he doesn't. Throwing a football is not a natural arm movement like slinging your arm to roll a bowling ball. SizePlayers of all different heights and weights have played the quarterback position, but NFL quarterbacks are preferably over 6'1" and 210 pounds. A quarterback who is 6'5" and 225 pounds is considered ideal. A quarterback wants to be tall enough to see over his linemen -- whose average height in the NFL is 6'5" to 6'7" -- and look down the field, beyond the line of scrimmage, to find his receivers and see where the defensive backs are positioned. |
| | Weight is imperative to injury prevention because of the physical wear and tear that the position requires. A quarterback can expect a lot of physical contact, especially when attempting to pass. Defenders relentlessly pursue the quarterback to hit him, tackling him for a sack (a loss of yards behind the line of scrimmage) before he can get off a pass or making contact after he releases the pass. These hits are sometimes legal and sometimes illegal. If the defensive player takes more than one step when hitting the quarterback after he releases the ball, the hit is considered illegal. Regardless, defensive linemen and linebackers are taught to inflict as much punishment as possible on the quarterback. They want to either knock him out of the game or cause him enough pain that he'll be less willing to hold onto the ball while waiting for his receivers to get open. When a quarterback releases a pass prematurely, it's called bailing out of the play. VisionA quarterback doesn't necessarily need the keen peripheral vision that basketball greats Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird possessed, but it doesn't hurt. A quarterback must quickly scan the field when he comes to the line of scrimmage prior to the snap of the ball. He must survey the defense, checking its alignments and in particular the depth of the defensive backs -- how far they are off the receivers, off the line of scrimmage, and so on. After the ball is snapped, the quarterback must continue to scan the field as he moves backward. Granted, he may focus on a particular area because the play is designed in a certain direction, but vision is critical if he wants to discover whether another receiver -- other than his first choice -- is open on a particular play. Most pass plays have a variety of options, what are known as passing progressions. One pass play may have as many as five players running pass routes, so the quarterback needs to be able to check whether any of them is open so that he has an option if he is unable to throw to his intended (first choice) receiver. A quarterback needs to have a sense of where to look and how to scan and then quickly react. Often, a quarterback has to make a decision in a split second, or the play may fail. Vision doesn't necessarily mean that the quarterback has to jerk his head from side to side; often, his passing reads (how a quarterback deciphers what the defense is attempting to accomplish against the offense on a particular play) follow an orderly progression as he looks across the field of play. A quarterback must have an understanding of what the defensive secondary's tendencies are -- how they like to defend a particular play or a certain style of receiver. Sometimes, after sneaking a quick glance at his intended target, he looks in another direction in order to fool the defense. Many defensive players tend to follow a quarterback's eyes, believing that his eyes will tell where he intends to throw the pass. |
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