Sure, luck means a lot in football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.
The team only goes as far as their quarterback takes them.
There probably isn't another position in all of team sports that I can think of that has the same level of import as the quarterback.
We need the quarterbacks. It's a passing league and a quarterback-driven league. We need the Peyton Mannings in football uniforms out there playing - the Tom Bradys, the Drew Breeses, the Philip Riverses - we need those guys instead of them standing on the sideline.
The simplest way to win in the National Football League is to knock out the starting quarterback. You know, throughout the years, history has proven if your number one quarterback goes down, your chances for success become very limited.
The quarterback is the most vulnerable one on the field. He's in an awkward position a lot of times when he throws the ball. So he does have to be protected. You lose a quarterback, you're in trouble. I don't know if they can make it too safe. I think health becomes an issue.
Obviously, when you take a quarterback, when you take anybody in the first round, it means something.
If you can have a really good coaching staff, and you can have a really good young quarterback and do a really good job in player personnel and string together multiple successful drafts, your window is not small in the NFL because of the quarterback.
If you chart SEC champions over a 20-year period, the one consistent thing to me is you're not going to win if you don't have a quarterback. It's too critical of a position. He decides something every play.
