Don't judge a quarterback by his height

The decision has finally come down from the mountain, and we now know that Kyler Murray will try and be a football star instead of a baseball star.  My main confusion over this turn of events derives from something I heard in passing on ESPN about how he now had to return “most” of the bonus money he had received from the Oakland A’s; shouldn’t he have to return all of it?

The choice between football and baseball has perplexed several athletes over the years, although not many have the skills to excel at two very different sports.  John Elway chose football but used the leverage of switching to baseball in negotiating his early contracts.  Kirk Gibson chose baseball because he was less likely to be injured, and then spent a large part of his career on the disabled (excuse me, injured) list.  Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson tried to do both at the same time, but neither was able to excel at both for long.

Baseball might want to re-think how it develops young talent, vis-à-vis how the NFL does it.  High draft picks in football are immediately ushered into the professional ranks, given a large (but not magnificent) salary, and in many cases the chance to start right away.  The days of Aaron Rodgers sitting on a bench for three years behind Brett Favre are largely over; any team with a high enough draft pick to select an elite quarterback (or other position player) is probably bad enough to want him to start playing immediately.

There is no immediate glory for athletes choosing baseball.  Even elite draft picks are sent to the low minors, forced to live in small towns, paid a paltry amount, required to endure long bus rides, and are only able to most up after a full season, if then (and then where they move to is a slightly larger town but not much more money).  And then, after all that, the chance to star in the majors may never develop.  Maybe a hot prospect struggling in AAA will be brought up to sell a few tickets or jerseys, but mostly you have to be exceptional in AAA to even get invited to Spring Training with the big club.  Compared to that, the prospect of immediate fame in the NFL seems to be worth the higher risk of injury (assuming the risk is higher; almost all hard throwing pitchers seem to require Tommy John surgery at some point, and Kirk Gibson was perpetually impaired by injury but managed to succeed despite this).

I am sick of hearing about how teams might be leery of drafting Murray with a high draft pick because he is “only” 5’ 10”.  Despite the fact that success stories do exist among the vertically challenged (Drew Brees, Russell Wilson), skeptics argue that being a successful quarterback is impossible for anyone under 6’ 4” because short players can’t see over the defensive line.  This is poppycock; shorter quarterbacks learn to look around or through the on-rushing linemen.  I’ll say the same thing about Murray that I said in response to claims that Tim Tebow wasn’t a good quarterback; if Tebow was such a bad QB, then how did he win so many games in college (and a Heisman and two National Championships)?  Was every defensive coordinator in the SEC incompetent? 

Going back further in history, the “impairment” of shortness seems less critical.  Eddie LeBaron succeeded in college and the NFL in the late 1940’s/1950’s despite being 5’ 7”.   After being an All-American in his senior year of college (and subsequently being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame) he was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1952, was named to 4 Pro Bowls, and threw for a total of 13,399 yards.  Did I mention he was 5’ 7”?

Fran Tarkenton was somewhat taller at 6’0” (and weighed only 190 pounds), but despite this crippling handicap he managed to win an NFL MVP award in 1975, was named to 9 Pro Bowls, threw for 47,003 yards and is in both the College and Pro Halls of Fame.  Just imagine how much better he would have been if he’d been able to see over those pesky defensive linemen!

Of course the most discriminated against tiny quarterback was Doug Flutie.  In college Flutie won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award for best all-around player, and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, but for some reason he was drafted in the 11^th round of the NFL draft.  Oh wait, the reason was that at 5’9” he was obviously too short to be a successful quarterback.  He ended up going to the Canadian Football League, where he had some success, if you call winning 6 MVP awards in 7 years a success). 

He made it back to the NFL in 1998 at age 36 when the Buffalo Bills decided he might just be good.  He took over as starter after several weeks and the Bills subsequently went 8-3, with Flutie being named to the Pro Bowl.  He went 10-5 the next season but the owner ordered Coach Wade Phillips to start a taller quarterback in their playoff game, which they lost.  He had sporadic success after that, but at the advanced age of 38 there was alternative reason for his not getting playing time.  He did set a record, at age 41, as the oldest player ever to score a touchdown in the NFL, and in his last game he became the first person to score a point by executing a drop kick since 1941 (a play designed by a then-obscure coach named Bill Belichick). His overall record as an NFL starter was 37-28; he should have won more games if only the NFL had given him a chance.

Not bad for a 5 foot 9 inch tall quarterback.  Just think what Kyler Murray could accomplish by being a whole inch taller!