A Team - The Quarterback

Ask around in any UK street, for the "name of a player position in American Football ?" and amongst the blank faces, someone will inevitably come up with "Quarterback" in reply.

It must rate as the number one answer to this question and many would argue that's just how it should be.

The Quarterback is the Top man, head honcho, number 1, the leader, play maker and the decision taker !!??

But what is a Quarterback?

The QB is the one player everyone in the team, the opposing team, coaches and coordinators, spectators and TV viewers will be watching at the start of every play.
He is critical to the team and his job is relatively simple, 'get the ball to someone who can score or gain some forward movement, ( yardage), against the opposing team'.

Ok, maybe it's not that simple, he does have many hundreds of pounds of opposing team looking to thwart his plans, and the quarterback needs to trust his shield, his offensive linemen, there to prevent him being flattened.

 

When a play begins, the quarterback gets the ball from the 'center' and steps back a little, before passing or throwing the ball to someone whom he hopes will score for the team.

He has to act fast, relay any last second changes to his own team, while not giving the game away to the other side. A glance left or right might be all the other side needs to "Read" the play and stop any advance. So he needs to act smart and stay alert at all times.

Few players in the premier National Football League. NFL, are as well known as the QB and while other players can be considered stars, it is the quarterback who invariable gets the lions share of the media attention.

Even at grassroots level here in the UK, it is usually the quarterback who is the spokesman for the team.

But the QB is just one member of a team, where every player counts.

Coming soon,....the Running back.