From the FanPosts. -Chris

Great article by Jon Yoon over at MVN about Brodie Croyle and his unpopularity with the national media.  Kind of got me thinking.

I don't know what the grudge the media (and some Chiefs fans) have against Croyle is.  Its nearing an unreasoned hatred, as though he was the worst QB prospect to come into the NFL in years, which is clearly ridiculous.

Whenever defending him, we always have to say things like "Well he did better than Peyton Manning or Troy Aikman in their first years starting.... NOT THAT CROYLE IS AT THAT GOOD!"  We are always quick to add that last part in so as to try to prove how open minded and unbiased we are, just like people who espouse a religious belief and then quickly try to explain away recorded miracles in scientific or mythological terms so that they don't look ridiculous to non-believers.

Why do we do this?  How do we know Croyle can't be a Peyton Manning or Troy Aikman?  Well those guys had great stats in college and were high draft picks.  Lets ask 'How do we know that Croyle isn't a Joe Montana or Brett Favre or Tom Brady?' 

The truth is, NOBODY knew Joe Montana was going to turn into Joe Montana in the NFL, otherwise he would never have fallen to the 3rd round.  Nobody knew Tom Brady was going to become possibly the most successful QB in NFL history, otherwise 32 teams wouldn't have passed on him 5 or 6 times.  The Atlanta Falcons certainly didn't know Brett Favre was going to be a future Hall of Famer when then head coach Jerry Glanville said it would take a plane crash for him to put Favre into the game and traded him away.

Nobody knows how a college player is going to translate to the NFL.  Ryan Leaf was considered by many to be a better QB prospect than Peyton Manning.  The Chiefs picked Todd Blackledge over Jim Kelly and the Jets took Ken O'Brien over Dan Marino.  Sometimes it takes these young guys to develop and blossom into what they are going to become. 

I think Ben Roethlisberger is one of the very few  young QBs in recent memory that grabbed the reigns of his team and took off with it never missing a beat.  But he was in an unusual situation.  The Steelers are probably the most stable and consistently talented teams in the NFL.   There was no question of what the teams offensive identity was going to be, it had been the same for 30 years.  They had an established offensive line with established running backs and lets face it, Roethlesburger was a quicker study than most.

But the Mannings, Aikmans, Elways and yes, Croyles; found themselves on teams largely devoid of a talented core.  It took time for Aikman to develop a relationship with Irvine and have an Emmitt Smith to depend on with a reliable offensive line.  It took time for Manning and Harrison and Edgerrin James to all gel together with a reliable offensive line.  And it is going to take some time for Croyle, Bowe and LJ (or an unknown future RB) to gel together with a reliable offensive line.

The QB is the most important position on the offensive side of the ball.  But one guy can't do it all.  Croyle will not be able to block for himself or catch his own passes or plough through the line.  The pieces must be around him and they all have to learn to work together.

It seems that the national media has forgotten this.  They (and many Chiefs fans) are so easily distracted by shiny things (the overhyped college prospect of the day) that they take for granted that some of the greatest QBs in the NFL were overlooked until they got the chance to prove themselves.  Maybe Croyle didn't have the shining college stats playing for the conservative Alabama Crimson Tide that a Matt Leinart playing for a national championship college team had. 

But that doesn't matter.  What matters is what he does now.  I for one am done making excuses for the hope I have in Croyle.  I will not be cynical and view him as a failure until he proves me wrong.  I will view him as a potential Joe Montana or Brett Favre until he proves he's not.