Doug Gottlieb (5:08)
It should feel good. It should feel good. And you feel good about him being rewarded for playing when you know, plenty of people in society would give him an out for not playing. Ah, you're not going to make the playoffs. They can't ever protect you. You're always getting hurt. Why, why would you even play? And when your coaches, you know, what it says to me is, is two things. One, I mean, Joe Burrow is a guy that's true leadership, right? Anyone can play when you're in the playoffs or you're fighting to one game to be like, who doesn't want to play then? But you make all that money as a quarterback to lead your team and to play hard when you don't have to play hard, or to. To play when you don't have to play. I'll give you the sports radio analogy. J Stew, you know this to be true. You know, at Some people told me before, like, morning shows are pretty well compensated, right? In. In local radio, it's always been morning and afternoon drive. And they'll tell you like a morning show isn't. You're not getting paid necessarily for talking on the radio. You're getting paid to show up every day when people want to sleep in. I mean, on at 6, you got to be there, you know, no later than 5, 5, 15. And that means you got to lock in and get up at 4 and be alert and aware and awake and after it. They don't pay to do the show. They pay to get up. Well, the same is true at quarterback. You're not just getting paid to throw touchdown passes at the end of games. You're getting paid for everything. Every practice, every game, anytime you're available. That's what true leadership is. And it's weird. Like, we've gotten to this place to where Joe Burrow playing when he's healthy enough to play is somehow heroic when it should be what he's supposed to do. He even sounded like he felt that way, didn't he? This is more of an us problem than a him problem. It's like that Chris Rock line. Remember Chris Rock? This is like four or five comedy specials ago when he talked about, you know, guys bragging about taking care, that I take care of my kids. Well, that's what you're supposed to do. I play. I'm playing this weekend. Well, that's what you're supposed to do if you're Joe Burrow. The other part to it is that it shows you that he wants Zach Taylor to be his head coach. That's what shows me. Because if you don't want that guy to be your head coach, you don't play. And the likelihood of them losing and have a terrible record is greater. And the worse the record, the more likely they're going to replace the coach. It's not a Jimmy Chitwood, but it's close to. And for people who don't know the Jimmy Chitwood reference, it goes back to the movie Hoosiers. Gene Hackman's character is under pressure. He's a new coach. He's from outside the small town. The townspeople want to get rid of him. They've already voted to get rid of him. And that's when the star player, who had not yet been playing, comes in and says, it's time that I start playing ball. Everybody cheers. He says, hey, one more thing. Coach goes, I go, Coach days I play, that's the Jimmy Chitwood. And when you're the best player and the highest paid player, when he's playing, and he doesn't necessarily have to, he wants to. It shows. He wants. Zach Taylor's his head coach. One's like terror said coach. So, I mean, I think. I think both of those things are absolutely true, that he is one. I mean, that's a football player. Football players play football, right? It's kind of matter of fact to it. And he was. And I'll give you one more thing that it does. You know, there's. There's lots of talk about us, how we make the mvp, a quarterback award, we'll make the Heisman Trophy, a quarterback award. When reality of it is nothing says that quarterback is the most important position in the league. Like Joe Burrow, who didn't play great, but simply his presence, his demeanor, his abilities. Ja' Marr Chase has been great. Ja' Marr Chase is great. I think Ja' Marr Chase is the best wide receiver in the league. And I don't know if there's a close second, but Jamar Chase can be great, and they can still not win. Joe Burrow can be good upgrade over older Joe Pleco, and they can still win. Can't say that. Jamar Chase, quarterback, just a more impactful, more powerful. And I'm not telling you anything I didn't know, but we do, at some point get in that denial phase of, well, we're overvaluing quarterbacks. No, we're not. It literally is that important. And in order to be a leader as a quarterback, these are the things that some people don't get to be a leader. You have to play in that game to be a real leader. You know, that's the thing with. I'll. I'll give you one Cam Newton, right? Cam Newton, famously, in the super bowl, ball was on the. On the ground there. They're down six, and he doesn't dive on it. And after the game, he was. He was eviscerated by the press, rightfully so, because he said, I can't. I can't go get that ball. I got to worry about my legs, my knees. In other words, his legs. His knees are more important than his team and the Super Bowl. Same thing goes for. For Cam Newton. What he said recently, which is, you know, on espn. On espn, he said. Or maybe it was on a. Was on a podcast, Jason, where he said personal success is more important because you make more money based upon audience. Yeah. Personal success is more important than team success because that's how you get paid. That's how everyone knows you're not really a leader. When you're about yourself more than everybody else. And more than winning, everybody sees through that real leadership. The real stuff is what Joe Burrow's doing. This is what Joe Burrow's doing. You know, I've said this honestly about Mike, about Mike Trout, like, in many ways more impressed over the years for him going to work with the Angels when they had no hope of the playoffs. Then you would have Mookie Betts, who knows he's gonna be in playoffs every year. That's way easier. Here's Cam Newton, like a week and a half ago on espn.
