Steven Threet made a wise decision to give up football.
Over the last five years or so, football health coverage has surged, which is good.
No one likes to see tragedy, like the recent suicide of former NFL player Dave Duerson, whose death is strongly correlated to the hits he endured during his career. But much as Duerson had to end his life to get his message out, there is no such thing as news over-saturation on this issue.
More football players should place long-term health ahead of ego.
It’s less a secret than it used to be: NFL players’ life expectancy is much shorter than the average citizen.
The NFL’s pension and disability programs are a complete joke, retirees’ standard of living is pitiful and we can imagine how bad it can get for a college player who never earned $1 million dollars a year.
Retired players could have avoided physical and mental hardships had they been smarter, not pressured by teammates, coaches, trainers and doctors to play through injury, or had they simply been advised by someone looking out for their interests.
While the mantra “winning is everything” is the impoverished notion that guides all sports, seemingly from pee-wee on, it’s shocking how many basic considerations it supersedes — and that’s our fault.
Yes, you’re sick of hearing the speech, but all of that reflects on our society’s insatiable blood lust. Football fandom fills that primordial void, and it’s certainly a better alternative to other forms of aggression.
While many fans don’t openly condone (Raiders fans) violence, we do cheer bone-crushing hits.
Most of us are hypocrites on the topic, myself included, but it’s good to see the NFL making progress. Changes the NFL makes trickle all the way down to pee-wee.
The acceptance of athletes making the kinds of decisions Threet did is a positive sign for society — and perhaps in part a result of awareness the NFL helped create.
However, my position is slightly nuanced in that I believe high-speed collisions should never be taken out of football (I told you I’m a hypocrite). I’m against rules about how to hit (leading helmet) and where to hit (Tom Brady treatment) so long as they are not egregiously dirty.
That’s the essence of the game and its risks are implicitly accepted by walking onto the field. It’s what happens after the play where we need to keep evolving.
Moving on.
For close to two seasons Threet was ASU’s best quarterback.
From practice squad star to starter for most of 2010, he teased fans with mostly “good” play, but there was also the head-shakingly “bad” play. He was not so much an enigma as he was a guy who’d do just enough to keep you in a game — only to throw it away.
It was predictable.
Maybe he would have gotten over the “hump” this year, but he never made significant progress last year in critical areas such as the red-zone, third down and detecting underneath coverages. Had Threet simply been average in those situations, ASU could have won three marquee games in 2010: Oregon, Wisconsin and USC.
Had a couple of those losses turned into wins it would not have just changed the Sun Devils’ bowl fortunes in 2010, but perceptions about the program and coach Dennis Erickson’s long-term future with it — perhaps ASU doesn’t get “poached” in the best recruiting class in state history.
As it turns out, a few boneheaded plays are a pretty big deal.
While it was often said that Threet was an A-plus student in the film-room, that he could articulate football “x and o” jargon as well as diagnose and regurgitate play information better than his teammates, it never seemed to translate on the field.
As it seems to have turned out, Erickson was being completely honest when he said he was making the switch at quarterback to Brock Osweiler because of Threet’s concussions (for the UCLA game in November).
While the media should never regret questioning coaches’ intentions and motivations for such a move, most in the media felt Erickson was concealing his reasoning.
Now that it isn’t likely Erickson made the switch solely out of confidence for Osweiler, we are left to question how much faith he actually has in the 6-foot-8-inch signal caller.
Last year’s quarterback battle lasted until the end of camp last year, and some would argue, and I would agree, it should have lasted into the season.
While true freshman Mike Bercovici has a big-league arm, it’s unlikely he challenges Osweiler this year. Redshirt freshman Taylor Kelly doesn’t seem to possess the kind of arm strength to lead a Pac-12 team to a Rose Bowl, which ASU has the talent to make.
It’s Osweiler’s job.
While we thought we knew less about who would start in 2011 after the season than we did before the start of 2010, that changed with Threet’s announcement.
What hasn’t changed is what we don’t know about Osweiler.
For the sake of ASU reaching its potential, let’s just hope a quarterback battle doesn’t emerge this spring and that Osweiler is the player we saw against UCLA and in the second half against UA.
Reach the columnist at nick.ruland@asu.edu
