Jason Cole Defends Cam Against Vince Young Comparisons

[King Taharqa]

Here's the list....

*-denotes still active

2002

1 David Carr*

3 Joey Harrington

81 Josh Mccown

137 Randy Fasani

163 Brandon Doman

164 Craig Nall

186 J.T. O'Sullivan

205 Steve Bellisari

216 Seth Burford

232 Jeff Kelly

236 Wes Pate

UNDRAFTED

Shaun Hill*

2003

1 Carson Palmer*

19 Kyle Boller

22 Rex Grossman*

88 Dave Ragone

97 Chris Simms

163 Brian St. Pierre

200 Brooks Bollinger

201 Kliff Kingsbury

232 Gibran Hamdan

241 Ken Dorsey

UNDRAFTED

Tony Romo*

2004

1 Eli Manning*

4 Phillip Rivers*

11 Ben Roethlisberger*

22 JP Losman

90 Matt Schaub*

106 Luke McCown*

148 Craig Kenzel

185 Andy Hall

187 Josh Harris*

193 Jim Sorgi

201 Jeff Smoker

202 John Navarre

217 Cody Pickett

218 Casey Bramlet

225 Matt Mauck

248 BJ Symons

2005

1 Alex Smith*

24 Aaron Rodgers*

67 Charlie Frye

85 David Greene

106 Kyle Orton*

121 Stefan Lefors

145 Dan Orlovsky

213 Derek Anderson*

230 Matt Cassel*

250 Ryan Fitzpatrick*

UNDRAFTED

Jason White (former Heisman winner)

2006

10 Matt Leinart*

11 Jay Cutler*

49 Kellen Clemens*

81 Charlie Whitehurst*

85 Brodie Croyle

148 Ingle Martin

194 Bruce Gradkowski*

2007

22 Brady Quinn*

36 Kevin Kolb*

40 John Beck*

43 Drew Stanton*

92 Trent Edwards*

151 Jeff Rowe

205 Jordan Palmer

217 Tyler Thigpen*

UNDRAFTED

Matt Moore*

2008

3 Matt Ryan*

18 Joe Flacco*

56 Brian Brohm

57 Chad Henne*

137 John David Booty

186 Colt Brennan

209 Matt Flynn*

223 Alex Brink

UNDRAFTED

Caleb Hanie*

2009

1 Matt Stafford*

5 Mark Sanchez*

101 Stephen McGee

151 Rhett Bomar

196 Keith Null

201 Curtis Painter

UNDRAFTED

Bryan Hoyer

Graham Harrell*

2010

1 Sam Bradford*

25 The Golden Calf of Bristol*

48 Jimmy Clausen*

85 Colt McCoy*

122 Mike Kafka

155 John Skelton*

176 Rusty Smith*

209 Levi Brown

233 Gabriel Torres

239 Sean Canfield

250 Zac Robinson*

UNDRAFTED

Max Hall

2011

8 Jake Locker*

10 Blaine Gabbert*

12 Christian Ponder*

35 Andy Dalton*

74 Ryan Mallett*

135 Ricky Stanzi*

152 TJ Yates*

160 Nathan Enderle

208 Greg McElroy*

2012

1 Andrew Luck*

8 Ryan Tannehill*

22 Brandon Weeden*

57 Brock Osweiler*

88 Nick Foles*

102 Kirk Cousins*

185 Ryan Lindley*

253 Chandler Harnish*

UNDRAFTED

Case Keenum*

Kellen Moore*

Alex Tanney*

Austin Davis*

116 QBs TOTAL

104 drafted

12 undrafted

63 active in 2012

6 Super Bowl Rings (Eli 2, Big Ben 2, Rodgers 1, Kingsbury as a NE backup)

4 Super Bowl MVPs (Eli 2, Big Ben 1, Rodgers 1)

1 MVP Aaron Rodgers

21 pro bowl appearances by 12 players (Palmer 2, Romo 3, Eli 2, Rivers 4, Big Ben 2, Schaub 1, Rodgers 2, Derek Anderson 1, Cassel 1, Cutler 1, Ryan 1, Dalton 1). So about 10% of the guys on my list have played in or been selected to a pro bowl over the last 10 years.

11 have Playoff wins or roughly 10% (Grossman, Romo, Eli, Rivers, Big Ben, Smith, Rodgers, Cutler, Flacco, Sanchez, The Golden Calf of Bristol)

4,000+ yard passing season = 9 players or less than 10% (Palmer 2, Romo 3, Eli 3, Rivers 4, Big Ben 2, Schaub 2, Rodgers 3, Cutler 1, Stafford 1)

When i look at this list, I dont see the next Brady in there or the next Peyton. I see a bunch of guys who didnt live up to the hype, and a handful who have and have had good careers. So out of all these guys who didnt make it, the only guys we can compare a "struggling" Cam to is someone of his own race?

[Captroop]

When i look at this list, I dont see the next Brady in there or the next Peyton. I see a bunch of guys who didnt live up to the hype, and a handful who have and have had good careers. So out of all these guys who didnt make it, the only guys we can compare a "struggling" Cam to is someone of his own race?

First of all, you look at a list with Aaron Rodgers on it and you don't see the next Peyton or Brady? Not the issue at hand, just amusing.

Never the less, there were maybe two QBs on that list who were even marginally comparable to Cam Newton as far as playing ability, pre-draft hype, early career struggles, potential to flame out, and relative draft position. Most were either late round picks, so it's no surprise they never succeeded, a majority never played, much less started, and more still in the relative draft range have had success, and therefore aren't being considered.

Maybe, just maybe you could compare the Cam Newton situation to Matt Leinart. But first, their playing styles are totally different. Second, Leinert never even had a modicum of success in the league. He didn't have a sophmore slump, he had a Pro Career slump.

So yeah, Vince Young is an apt comparison. Sorry, I think the facts control for race.

[Argus Plexus]

THANK GOD SOMEONE IN THE MEDIA FINALLY REALIZED THIS

[jdogg66]

Pulling the race card in a league that is predominantly black athletes. Go take your shoe off and kick a brick wall KT

[beastson]

Pulling the race card in a league that is predominantly black athletes. Go take your shoe off and kick a brick wall KT

Thats the exact thing though cause the QB is predominatly what?

[jdogg66]

Thats the exact thing though cause the QB is predominatly what?

Yeah that's fine but I don't care to hear anything about race in the NFL when,

WR is dominated by what?

RB is dominated by what?

CB is dominated by what?

[Fox007]

Cam hasn't shot anyone, beat up anyone, raped anyone, or had a DUI.

So how about we stick to talking about his play.

[Montie_0123]

That was a good write up, and like most I really wish the media would stop comparing the two but we all know that will never happen.

[PhillyB]

Yeah that's fine but I don't care to hear anything about race in the NFL when,

WR is dominated by what?

RB is dominated by what?

CB is dominated by what?

i used to agree with this, but it's dodging the heart of the issue, which is that perceptions of a black QB playing a predominantly white position are far different than, say, perceptions of a white RB playing a position that is predominantly black.

nobody's calling anyone racist, but there are definitely misconceptions and biases based, commonly if not always intentionally, on a racial basis.

[Guest Bwood]

I guarantee Cam Newton succeeds in this league

Hahahaha!

In the words of Katy Perry "You, change your mind, like a girl, changes clothes."

[CatMan72]

Finally someone in the media is making sense.

[LinvilleGorge]

i used to agree with this, but it's dodging the heart of the issue, which is that perceptions of a black QB playing a predominantly white position are far different than, say, perceptions of a white RB playing a position that is predominantly black.

No, they're not really that different at all. They're both based on negative racial stereotypes. They're based on the stereotype that white guys aren't athletic enough to play CB or RB and they're based on the stereotype that black guys aren't smart enough to play QB. They're both negative, just one is physical and one is mental. That's really the only difference.

[Marguide]

No, they're not really that different at all. They're both based on negative racial stereotypes. They're based on the stereotype that white guys aren't athletic enough to play CB or RB and they're based on the stereotype that black guys aren't smart enough to play QB. They're both negative, just one is physical and one is mental. That's really the only difference.

Here's where I think the difference lies...white players are often characterized as less athletic than black players. It is a negative, that is true, but compare that to black players, especially QB's. Too often, when they struggle it is attributed to a fault in their character, as opposed to what their bodies can do.

Whether it's McNabb getting blasted for a lack of courage or Cam taking heat for not acting "properly" when he is coming off a loss, it is a different kind of attack than is typical with white players. Sure, there are outliers on both sides, like character flawed Ryan Leaf or Jeff George or even Cutler, but character attacks seem to come much easier when dissecting the game of black QB's.

In Cam's case, the guy has done nothing since he joined the league to warrant the character attacks. He hasn't yelled at his coaches or the officials. He hasn't pushed one of his teammates or a cameraman. He hasn't publicly called out a teammate. He has done none of that (and all the above are real things that high profile white QB's have done). So ask yourself the question, why him? Why is he the guy that gets singled out?

[CRA]

Again, because Cam didn't fail when entering the league. He did well. So did Vince Young. They both then struggled with their emotions in their 2nd year.

If the comparison was to Jamarcus Russell, I'd agree with you. But Vince Young's situation was very similar to Cam's. It's now just about how he deals with it from here.

Newton's emotions are no different than when he rewrote the record book last year...

VY and Cam have very little in common