
Frankly, it's gotten to an irresponsible level.
Yeah, yeah, got it. We're all grown up here (supposedly), and we're just talking about non-important stuff (supposedly) with football. But, push comes to shove, it's a highly impressionable group that those in the Philly sports media try to reach on a daily basis, and what they write or say, especially en masse, has a large impact on emotionally charged brain waves attached to those listening or reading or watching.
Put simpler ... a lotta “pack” mentality involved, especially when it comes to the Eagles, and things related to them, particularly the quarterback.
Did you know Carson Wentz, all 17 games into his NFL career, is the bridge between Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers? Did you know he's a match to Michael Vick on elusiveness and quickness? Did you know he's already the equal, at minimum, of Donovan McNabb?
Well, if you live in and around Philly, or pay any attention to the Eagles regardless of location, you must. That's what you've been told ad nauseam, if not from the day he was drafted back in April 2016, then certainly by now after a Week 1 performance that saw the team's record improve to 8-9 under Wentz's watch.
Oh, they're not saying he's a Hall of Famer ... they're just saying he's a Hall of Famer. Just to be clear, you know. It's a fait accompli, after all, that his bust will make a permanent stop in Canton, Ohio, after a few Super Bowl wins.
Yo, got no issue with the kid himself. He's a good athlete with a decent, but not particularly accurate or strong arm who has shown a nice propensity to make things happen at times and an impressive ability to lead in short order. No doubt, he made a couple “plays for the ages” this past Sunday, but he still gave a pretty flawed performance – can this guy ever be “money” on a deep ball, or better than “in the vicinity” on any ball?
Thing is, he ain't Roethlisberger, he ain't Rodgers, he ain't Vick, and he ain't McNabb, and those drawing any corollary line between him and them – right now – is, well, yeah, being irresponsible.
No question. It's creating false hope, and unnecessary pressure. All on Wentz.
Roethlisberger and Rodgers are surefire Hall of Famers. Vick was a Hall of Fame talent, and McNabb was borderline on both. Wentz is NOT faster than Roethlisberger in his prime, as fans are constantly, albeit “oh, just to mention” subtly, told. Big Ben clocked in at 4.75 seconds at the 40-yard dash when he was at the combine. Wentz checked in at 4.77. He can't throw with Rodgers (few can), and he can't throw or run with Vick (again, few can).
McNabb? Well, considering the franchise's best QB all time takes a hit for “never winning the big one,” get back to us when Wentz reaches five NFC championship games, as McNabb did. Or even one.
We even got the city's ringleader of pomp, circumstance and “E-A-G-L-E-S” hype himself, Ang, taking his “authentic ... mmm, maybe not” act from the airwaves to the Internet this week to “now, now” disapprove of the public for not praising Wentz enough – yes, that's right, the most praised pro athlete already in the city over the last 40 years, just not enough – and criticize it for allowing any crossover allegiance to new Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins.
Umm, not for nothing, but when Wentz does anything even remotely comparable to what Hoskins has in just one month, please wake me.
With Hoskins, we're talking historic actions that already have occurred courtesy of his swing. With Wentz, we're talking hope and potential. What Is Vs. What Could Be – that's a major difference.
All for getting excited about possibilities, but it would be wise to hold off actually crediting them before they actually happen.
Not convinced that things are being overstated, irresponsibly overstated, about Wentz at this point? OK, consider this: the dude Howie Roseman ditched to make room for the kid to start immediately last season not only trumped Wentz's initial effort to this 2017 campaign, he blew it away ... and he stinks, remember?
Sammy Sleeves, we hardly knew ye ...