At a time when the Redskins quarterback is the center of so much controversy — the benching of Donovan McNabb at the end of the Detroit Lions game two weeks ago has turned into a public relations tsunami for the franchise — it may be worthy to step back and take a look at the value of the position in this town.
Next to the leader of the free world who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, there may be no more important office in this town than that of the quarterback of the Washington Redskins.
Whoever is under center is often the focal point for most teams, but in this town the job seems to take on political overtones — certainly in the case of the McNabb benching and coach Mike Shanahan’s post-benching performance.
Maybe it is because the Washington Redskins have had perhaps two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.
It’s an observation that many have lost sight of, because that greatness was so far in the past. But since debates take place almost daily about who was the greatest ever — fueled by the NFL Network’s list of top 100 players of all time — it may be a good time to reexamine why it is worth getting so worked up about who takes the snaps.
Maybe because Sonny Jurgensen and Sammy Baugh — two of the best ever — did it before McNabb, Jason Campbell, Mark Brunell, and on and on.
In the current issue of Sports Illustrated, writer Tim Layden — in an article titled “The Art of the Pass” — threw in these comments about the two Redskins greats. Neither is ever brought up in those debates about the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
“Almost everybody agrees that the most precise passer in history was pot-bellied, 5-foot-11, 202-pound sidearm slinger Sonny Jurgensen,” Layden wrote.
He went on to say that “respected modern-day quarterback guru Steve Clackson, who has schooled dozens of major college and NFL quarterbacks, will go back even further and argue that Sammy Baugh, who played from 1937 to 1952 (and in 1945 completed 70.3 percent of his passes, when the average quarterback connected on 45.6 percent), was a truly great passer even by modern standards.”
Baugh was ranked 14th on NFL Network’s top 100 list, but by all rights he is one of the top 10 players of all time. But Jurgensen is not even among the top 100, which seems like an oversight if he is indeed acknowledged as the most precise passer.
After all, isn’t that the point of the quarterback?
Jurgensen’s career statistics — 255 touchdowns, 32,224 yards — are Hall of Fame caliber for his era (1957-1974), but don’t stand up under the numbers passers produce in today’s game. But again, if you are generally acknowledged as the most precise passer in the history of football, your name should come up in a few more conversations about the best to play the game.
For more than 30 years now, generations of Redskins fans have come to know Sonny Jurgensen as an entertaining and insightful analyst on Redskins radio broadcasts. They might want to know that he was one heck of a quarterback, too.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN 980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
