Yesterday, Netflix introduced a model new docuseries, “Quarterback,” set to air later this 12 months surrounding the experiences of three NFL quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota — throughout the 2022 NFL season. In line with the announcementthese three males had been all mic’d up for each recreation of the season, which means Netflix knew precisely who the sequence was going to deal with earlier than the season even began.
I’ve by no means been one to imagine the favored “NFL is rigged” concept. I received’t deny that my religion within the NFL’s authenticity hasn’t wavered ever, however all in all, I’ve religion that the NFL would by no means deceive us. Regardless of what former gamers like Benny Cunningham and Arian Foster have stated, I’ve held agency, however for followers who’re uncertain whether or not or not the NFL is staged, this new docuseries actually put one other tally within the “rigged” column.
You’re telling me that previous to the season, Netflix simply in some way managed to safe the eventual Tremendous Bowl champion, a strolling meme with quite a few viral moments all through the season together with main the biggest comeback in NFL historical past, and a veteran compelled to mentor a rookie who controversially stepped away from his workforce down the ultimate stretch of the season. That’s three quarterbacks with wildly completely different plot traces from 2022 all coming collectively to kind an all-encompassing narrative with a number of completely different factors of view. Name me loopy however that appears too fortunate to be a coincidence.
Mahomes, certain…however the different guys?
How do the Netflix executives even land on these three quarterbacks with out figuring out what was coming for every of them in 2022? You couldn’t ask for 3 extra random quarterbacks. Positive, Mahomes is sensible. He’s an apparent MVP candidate and the Chiefs had been all the time Tremendous Bowl contenders. However Cousins and Mariota? What on the planet made the bigwigs at Netflix go “Yeah, these guys will herald viewers?”
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I can perhaps see an argument for Cousins due to his well-known catchphrases and the “Kirk Thuggins” persona he’d developed over time, however on digicam, Cousins has all the time been fairly uninteresting. Throughout the season, Cousins was a visitor on the ManningCast throughout Monday Evening Soccer Week 9, Cousins had simply earned mad credentials for his viral shirtless video on the Vikings’ workforce airplane. His look on the ManningCast ruined any good rep he’d constructed up as he awkwardly smiled on the digicam your entire workforce.
Simply watch his moments on this compilation from that broadcast. See how he’s weirdly tilted away from the digicam. His smirk by no means leaves his face. It’s unsettling. It makes you need to take a bathe after watching. That is the man that Netflix thought could be a superb point of interest for his or her docuseries? I don’t purchase it. But in some way, this man, whose solely declare to fame previous to 2022 was three phrases — You want that?! — manages to claw his approach by way of quite a few one-possession victories, the largest comeback in NFL historyand their first NFC North title within the Cousins period, all coincidentally the 12 months that Cousins is mic’d up? No. That’s too huge a coincidence.
Then you will have Marcus Mariota. Why would anybody assume Mariota could be an important topic? Not solely was he on one of many worst rosters within the league heading into the season, however he’d by no means made a lot as a headline throughout his profession as much as that time. He’d been a backup within the NFL for 3 years at that time. Why would they select him?
However thank the fortunate stars, it simply so occurs that Mariota’s spouse has their first youngster across the similar time that Mariota will get benched for rookie Desmond Ridder. Hmmm, a probable story. Oh, then what’s this?! Mariota opted to undergo knee surgery though he’d by no means appeared on a workforce damage report? This all morphed collectively to create attention-grabbing drama throughout the closing stretch of the season, you say? All whereas the Falcons had been nonetheless within the playoff hunt within the depressing NFC South? Wow! What a stable string of luck for Netflix. Their execs will need to have been by way of the roof that they landed such unbelievable storylines and caught all of it on tape.
A coincidence? Hmm…
As I stated, I don’t assume the NFL is rigged. Having spent a lot of cash legally betting on NFL video games in my life, my unconscious isn’t in a position to comprehend the concept of the NFL being rigged. That stated, my first thought once I learn that Netflix was popping out with this docuseries was “Why these three?” That was adopted with, “Effectively really, every of them had fairly attention-grabbing seasons.” Then got here the belief, “There’s no approach this was a coincidence.”
For anybody questioning whether or not or not the NFL does in reality repair its video games, this might be the tipping level. Even probably the most rational thoughts would have hassle decoding how Netflix made these choices. The obvious reply, although, is that they and the NFL knew what every one among these males was going to do they usually knew it’d make for rattling good tv. That’s all I’ll say.
