Brian Billick, former NFL head coach, current Fox commentator, and lifetime millionaire, shares his opinion on Cam Newton.
My problem is the attributes that Cam Newton brings to the game has not translated to the NFL very well. I would put it to you this way. Who in the history of the NFL who's won a championship looks like Cam Newton? Now that's very narrow, conventional thinking but either the league much like we said last year with Tim Tebow is going to totally change because of this unique athlete or he's going to have to change his style of play to compete in the National Football League. Now he's an excellent athlete. He's got better throwing action than either Vince Young or Tim Tebow. He's very smart. So those are going to bode very well for him. This type of athlete coming off really only one year, two hundred eighty-some odd throws. I had one quarterback coach tell me that you can only take about 10% of the throws in the spread and translate them into the NFL. Well that means you're making a decision to give a guy maybe $50 million on less than a couple dozen throws. That concerns me. We all know Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks have not done well in the National Football League and his off-field issues from Florida, obviously to Auburn, right down to the pre-combine media workout that he had, the way he's handling himself, his Lebron James-ish approach to it are major, major red flags for me.
A couple of points from Billick's mindless blabbering.
- "Look's like Cam Newton" = racist motherfucker. Doesn't matter the context or what you meant by it. Get ready for the onslaught.
- Of course Cam is going to have to change his style of play to fit into the NFL. I challenge you, Brian, to find me a quarterback that didn't have to adjust his play when going from college to the NFL.
- He's a unique athlete and an excellent athlete. There's highlights of him making numerous future NFL stars look silly, and you're saying that's a problem? Sounds more like NFL coaches don't want to adjust their style of gameplanning to utilize someone like Cam. Perhaps Vick and Young were lucky to play for the teams they played for since their legs were vital parts of the offense they ran.
- Better arm than Young and Tebow and he's smart. Well, Billick, add in his "unique excellent" athleticism and what do you get? Oh, I didn't think you'd say "future bust in the NFL."
- His one year of experience is a red flag, but that's what talent evaluators are for. That's what camps, pro-day's, and combines are for. People have watched him closely enough to determine whether or not he's worth the pick. Some teams say yes. You from your comfy leather chair have determined those teams are idiots because Cam just doesn't "look" the part.
- If there was a rookie salary cap, do your opinions change? It's ridiculous that any quarterback - Andrew Luck included - would be paid $50 million up front before taking a snap. But if money wasn't an issue, is Cam the easiest #1 pick in this draft? If he is, then please shut the fuck up with the nitpicky analysis.
- The last statement makes me question how you ever won a super bowl. (Ray Lewis says, "Hi.") Where to begin....
- Heisman trophy quarterbacks have never done well, so perhaps teams should stop drafting them? That would be the easiest choice if the trophy is a curse.
- Off-field issues at Florida were three years ago. Mark Sanchez had off the field issues. Vick had off the field issues and he's successfully come back. There are countless players that have off the field issues, and most of those players do just fine.
- "Obviously at Auburn" - what the fuck does this even mean? Name ONE off the field issue he had at Auburn. Was it how he worked his ass off all summer just to have a shot at the starting job? Was it how he came in and built relationships with guys on the team in order to ensure good team chemistry for the year? Was it how he volunteered weekly - including during the season - at a local elementary school? Was it how he was well-liked on campus and always willing to sign something or take a picture with students? What was it at Auburn that was "obviously" a red flag? Oh, you mean the sorta-kinda-maybe-possibly rumors from sources through media dweebs like Joe Schad bullshit at Miss State? Which maybe-possibly-sorta-kinda involved his father? None of which caused him to miss a snap at Auburn?
- "Lebron James-ish." Sigh. This is the worst criticism of a player I've ever seen. Lebron is a future hall of fame inductee. He single handedly took a few subpar Cleveland teams to the finals. He's a marketing dream. He's one of the most dominant forces the NBA has every seen. And because Cam Newton compares to him, that makes Cam Newton a red flag?
- Last but not least, who is Brian Billick? As an NFL head coach, he was labelled an offensive guru. However, everyone who follows the NFL knows that the Ravens struggled on offense during his entire tenure. The defense was #1 in the league, and that's how he kept his job for longer than two seasons. He never drafted a decent quarterback. He never trained a young quarterback to be a good quarterback. In fact, the quarterback position on the 2000 Super Bowl team was more of a game manager (Trent Dilfer) than anything special.
- Billick was fired. Billick was not hired by another team. Billick is part of a broadcast crew on Fox that is scheduled for the lowest rated game of the weekend. And Billick has to rely on youtube videos from his leather chair to get his analysis out there.
I don't know why I decided to pick this one apart, but it rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.
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