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Downside to athleticism (MICHAEL VICK & THE PROBLEM WITH "BLACK" QUARTERBACKS)
Yahoo! Sports ^ | December 21, 2006 | Jason Cole

Posted on 12/24/2006 9:00:38 AM PST by Chi-townChief

Atlanta Falcons left tackle Wayne Gandy is about to finish his 13th season, continuing one of the most consistent and dependable careers in the league. Although 35, Gandy is still planning to play two or three more seasons. He's played well enough this season that the goal seems within reach.

But the most intriguing fact about Gandy is not that he has only missed one start in his career because of injury. That impressive mark, which has survived through a shoulder injury that forced Gandy to sleep in a chair for three months, is trumped by his impressive perspective of the game.

In particular, Gandy has a pretty interesting take on why black quarterbacks such as current teammate Michael Vick undergo so much public scrutiny. Gandy has watched teammates – Vick, Aaron Brooks in New Orleans, Kordell Stewart in Pittsburgh, Tony Banks in St. Louis and Dameyune Craig at Auburn – operate under a different set of standards.

Gandy, who could have a post-football future in anything from broadcast to working as a team executive, has seen the same situation play out from team to team.

"When fans and coaches see a black quarterback, it's automatic that they expect to see a guy who is more athletic," Gandy said. "So what happens when you get around the goal line or you get in those situations where most quarterbacks are taught to throw it away or get rid of the ball for a short gain if the play breaks down? The black quarterback is told, 'Do something, make a big play.'

"That's where you see a lot of Michael's sacks come from. He's supposed to make something happen in a situation where it's probably not going to work. You see where the coaches and fans are expecting that, but it's not really teaching him the right way to play.

"It's all about the tutelage they get from the time they're in college on. I saw that with Dameyune Craig. He was told, 'If your first read isn't there, take off and run.' Do you think that anyone ever told Peyton Manning or Tom Brady to do that? Again, it's about the tutelage they get."

Over the years, Vick, Brooks and Daunte Culpepper have consistently been sacked more than the likes of Manning and Brady. Vick has been sacked 39 times this season – one more combined than Brady (24) and Manning (14) – which is just under three per game. That's an odd number for someone who's seemingly hard to catch.

Furthermore, mobile quarterbacks such as Vick, Brooks and Culpepper have consistently had worse interception rates than Manning and Brady.

To Vick's credit, he is showing some progress this season. He has 19 touchdown passes, putting him one short of his first 20-touchdown season of his six-year career. Also, Vick's TD-interception ratio of 19-11 is the second best of his career to the 16-8 mark he had in his second season, which was also his first as a starter.

Vick has done that while also setting an NFL record for rushing yards (990) by a quarterback. He is a virtual lock to surpass 1,000 yards rushing and is currently averaging a stunning 8.5 yards per carry, meaning that Vick also appears to be picking the optimal times to take off.

Is that progress enough for a player of Vick's caliber? No, but the problem may be that he's being asked to do too much. Unlike Manning, for instance, Vick has played in an offense that has constantly changed. He began his career under Dan Reeves. Now, under coach Jim Mora, the offense has morphed from allowing Vick to be a runner to trying to rein him in as a passer to again being a more freelance offense.

Manning, by comparison, has played in only one offense with the same offensive coordinator (Tom Moore) his entire career. Moreover, Manning has played while surrounded by great skill players the entire time. The Falcons have struggled to find consistent receivers, although a significant share of the burden falls on Vick.

"The offense here has been different over the years," said Gandy, who was acquired by the Falcons via trade in the offseason. "Sometimes they've tried to make Michael work with a certain offense and sometimes they've tried to make the offense work to his skills. I think we've gotten back to making it work around his skills this year and he's made progress."

Gandy said one of the biggest problems the Falcons have had in running a conventional offense is that the timing is always off because Vick sets up so quickly. In most offenses, by the time the quarterback sets up on a standard three-step drop, the wide receiver is coming out of his break, ready to get open. With Vick, the receivers are still in their patterns. The problem impacts the entire timing of the offense, leading to further problems. On top of that, the Falcons wide receivers have had way too many drops this season.

"I see why people get on Michael, but there have been stretches where our receivers haven't made the catches. We had a lot of drops and the receivers have to help him out," Gandy said.


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: falcons; nfl; quarterbacks; vick; vicksnextvic
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To: Kid Shelleen; NCC-1701; evad; The Old Hoosier
"White men can't scramble."

"Oh yeah? Say that to MY face hairball. And BAM!"

21 posted on 12/24/2006 12:18:35 PM PST by Enterprise (Let's not enforce laws that are already on the books, let's just write new laws we won't enforce.)
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To: Chi-townChief

Why does your headline annex have black in quotes? Is Vick really white?


22 posted on 12/24/2006 12:49:34 PM PST by gcruse (http://garycruse.blogspot.com/)
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To: gcruse

Because the perceived problem is with scrambing QBs who aren't always black.


23 posted on 12/24/2006 1:31:23 PM PST by Chi-townChief
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To: NCC-1701

I expect Jeff Garcia to get tackled hard when entering Dallas territory in a way that illegal aliens are not.


24 posted on 12/24/2006 2:36:42 PM PST by nhoward14
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To: nhoward14

Garcia or any Eagle doing that needs a severe burping when they have the ball.


25 posted on 12/24/2006 2:45:36 PM PST by NCC-1701 (To boldly go where no FReeper has gone before. Live long and prosper.)
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To: Chi-townChief
Quite simply, a team that "needs" a scrambling QB is generally one that has a particularly poor offensive line..so during the QBs formulative first couple of seasons, they DO need to scramble a lot and as they are able to do it it is what they do. By the time the team improves - if it improves - the time to train the QB to be a passer is past as the QB already has instilled in them the running way of thinking, and the line is probably ruined as well.

So there is a grain of truth in the article...though perhaps not for the reasons stated.

26 posted on 12/26/2006 12:42:27 PM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: The Old Hoosier

Fran Tarkenton was black?


27 posted on 12/27/2006 6:01:36 AM PST by freepy smurf (Brought to you by The Frog Council - "Frog; The Other Green Meat")
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To: Chi-townChief
It's not black quarterbacks, it's running quarterbacks.

Notice how he didn't mention Warren Moon or Doug Williams.

I couldn't stand McNabb until he got hurt and started staying in the pocket.

28 posted on 12/27/2006 6:06:57 AM PST by Tribune7 (Conservatives hold bad behavior against their leaders. Dims don't.)
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