A Tale of Two Hopefuls
In a few weeks, the NFL draft will make instant millionaires of 20-something year-old men that have dreamed, fantasized about suiting up professionally on the gridiron since they were tiny tikes playing Pop Warner football in their respective city leagues. Aside from my concern about how coming into virtual, dynastic wealth after an existential state of middle and lower class sensibilities, this draft provides another layer of comparison and contrast above the legends that have gone before them.
Dwayne Haskins is being compared, by some pundits, to New England Patriots demi-god Tom Brady. Of course, throwing one into the rarefied air of Mt. Olympus before you've taken a single snap is the feeding trough for ESPN conjecture and spectator commentary. The lofty expectations for Haskins-by-some, even in the effervescent hype bubble of Heisman trophy winner Kyler Murray, reminds me of the optics by which I believed Florida State's Jameis Winston was fully capable of rising to. As a Florida State fan, I saw first hand the transcendent talent he displayed in two of the most successful back-to-back seasons of one of the premier football programs in the nation...at least until recently.
From the first spring practice, until the final snap of the 2013 National Championship against Auburn, Winston was a force of nature on and off the field. His ebullient personality made him a natural leader and his preternatural ability at the QB position literally led to a kind of messianic sports worship that is all too familiar below the Mason Dixon line. Florida State was absolutely destroying everybody in its wake and for two years they only came close to sniffing defeat once.......due to Jameis' absence from under center. Therein lies the conundrum. The dichotomy of uber measurables and intangibles on the field and questionable, head-scratching conduct off of it. The ignominious cloud he brought to the Garnet and Gold made his early departure, even after unprecedented success for the team, imminent and quite frankly welcomed.
This is where the the comparison stops. Although Dwayne and Jameis are almost identical in their physical dimensions, Haskins enters the league with none of the baggage following an all-time record-setting season for Big 10 quarterbacks. He will also be the first, well maybe after Alex Smith, Urban Meyer field general with a legitimate shot at having a substantial career under center. Sorry Tebow! Like Jameis, Dwayne is a true pocket passer with a very high football IQ and absolute command of the ever shrinking area his offensive line provides him to do work. He is god awful slow, which makes his proficiency under center paramount; something I believe that has led to Superman's ( Cam Newton) marginal improvement at passing completion percentage.
In an order of magnitude that matches the history making accomplishment of Doug Williams and what should have been back-to-back Super Bowls for Russell Wilson, I believe Dwayne Haskins can throttle the still dormant, pernicious, racist undertones of putative ineptitude ascribed to blacks at the most coveted position in sports. He checks all of the boxes: height, intelligence, leadership, ability. It is my hope beyond hope that he lands with a team that can develop him into what truly has the potential to be something special.
