FanPost

"Keeps Me Searching For...A Heart Of Gold"


Heart of Gold was Neil Young's only #1 hit in 1972, but it is a song that lives in the hearts and minds of many who heard it. The key ingredient is searching. We as humans are always searching for something, anything that will enhance who we are, promote dominance, steal the show, be the best. Being the best is the most important thing in life anybody can do or hope for, because second best hardly ever is recognized in our society. The Indianapolis Colts coming off of a 3-13 season in 1998 had the #1 pick in the draft and they made up their minds right away that the best way to find that heart of gold was take a chance on one individual to get it for them. They selected Peyton Manning a quarterback who had a great career at Tennessee. No one never knows how picking a QB is going to pan out, but the Colts struck paydirt with Manning and they have never looked back, posting a 101-43 record over last decade with a 70% winning percentage and a Super Bowl victory. Bare in mind, picking any player in the first round of the draft is never a sure thing, more likely it's a crap shoot, but sometimes you just have to roll them to see what comes up.

In the same draft the San Diego Chargers had the #3 pick and traded up to the #2 spot to select quarterback Ryan Leaf.

Leaf had a successful college career at Washington State University, where he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in his junior year. He was selected as the second overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft after Peyton Manning of the University of Tennessee, and many scouts predicted he would be a better pro than Manning.

However, his time as a professional lasted only four years, and was marked by injuries, poor relations with teammates and the media, and poor performance. He is widely regarded as one of the biggest busts in NFL and professional sports history. Shortly after being drafted Leaf boosted why being paraded around San Diego that he would have a 15 year NFL career and win several Super Bowls.

Let's take a look at this just a little closer and try to determine if we can kind of sense out of this. For instance, what if the Indianapolis Colts had taken the advise of the scouting reports that Ryan Leaf would be a better choice. Leaf at 6'5 240' was bigger and stronger than Manning and the debate screamed for Leaf. If they would have selected Ryan Leaf they may still be searching for that heart of gold and San Diego might have gone on to become one the best teams of the decade. Frightening huh? That's the whole unpredictability of the thing and where history has shown us that making bad choices can be very disheartening, especially with an NFL franchise.

Let's take this a step further and talk about another quarterback by the name of Joe Montana. Considered by many as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. The funny thing is Joe wasn't drafted until the 3rd round (82nd) of the 1979 draft. There were 3 quarterbacks selected in the first round, Jack Thomson (Cin #3), Phil Simms (NYG #7), Steve Fuller (Kan #23).

Jack Thomson aka "The Thrownin' Samoan" coming from the same Alma mater (Washington State University) as Ryan Leaf is the #23 draft bust in nfl history behind Leaf who is #1.

Phil Simms went on to have a great career with the NY Giants, posting 2 Super Bowl wins and a SB MVP. phil played his entire career with the Giants and became an NFL analyst after retiring from the from the game.

Steve Fuller's 7 year career with Kansas City, Los Angeles Rams and the Chicago Bears was mainly in used in a backup role. He played with the Bears during their Super Bowl run in 1985 and became known as one of the 10 who were awarded a gold record and a platinum video award for the 1985 "Super Bowl Shuffle", for which he was the sixth of the ten solo singers.

There were no quarterbacks select in round #2 of that draft and San Francisco with the last pick of the 3rd rd selected Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana from Notre Dame. Now here's the kicker...

Montana graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in business administration and marketing. Although the NFL Combine was not formed until 1982, NFL scouts still evaluated potential draftees through the use of combines in 1979. Candidates were rated in a number of categories on a scale of one to nine, with one being the worst mark and nine being the best mark.[11] The categories they used were contingent on the position that the athlete played.[16]

Despite his performance on the field, Montana was not rated highly by most scouts. At one combine, Montana rated out as six-and-a-half overall with a six in arm strength, used to judge how hard and how far a prospect could throw the ball. By comparison, Jack Thompson of Washington State University rated an eight, the highest grade amongst eligible quarterbacks.

We can call 49er head coach Bill Walsh one lucky son-of-a-gun or we can call him a brilliant strategist. I call him great and one of the greatest football legends of all time. Walsh would bring a new offensive scheme to popularity, the West Coast offense (WCO) and saw a young man that he thought would be successful in it. Joe Montana.

Bill Walsh coaching tree

Many former and current NFL head coaches trace their lineage back to Bill Walsh on his coaching tree:[7] Walsh Coaching Tree3.GIF

In this years draft there are several opportunities and directions that a team can go. Some will fail because of their selections and others will flourish, going on to better things. Finding that heart of gold...In this years draft there are many prospects that will help guide their perspective team that gold, molding the team's face in what it will be for years to come. There are 133 quarterback prospects in this draft, some will be NFL stars one day, some will be busts and go on to different endeavours, some won't even make it to the NFL. One thing is certain and I believe this is one of the most important decisions a GM can ever make, without a very good quarterback, the chances are slim to none of ever hoisting the Lombardi trophy.

With the Combine just days away QB prospects will be strutting their stuff in front of scouts, coaches and the world to show off the product they bring. Some won't be throwing the ball or or anything physical for various reasons, but they will participate in medical evaluations and interviews. Coaches will be looking for those little tell-tail signs that might make them think that one of these prospects is the guy for them, so it is a very important event.

I'm not advocating that we draft a quarterback in the first couple of rounds, all I am saying is, if a team is serious about the future then future may be now...Keeps me searching for...a heart of gooooooold.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.