Should we question Sam Bradford’s toughness?
The new Minnesota Vikings quarterback has a spotty injury history. Does that equate to lack of toughness?
Former Washington Redskins quarterback, NFL analyst and current word-speaker Joe Theismann was asked to weigh in by twincities.com on the league-quaking trade of quarterback Sam Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles to the previously lead-quarterbackless Minnesota Vikings. Theismann immediately trotted out the №1 complaint about Bradford: injury history.
It’s true. Bradford has missed a total of 27 games over the past three seasons, including the entirety of the 2014 season and nine games of the 2013 season with the (then) St. Louis Rams, due to tearing his left knee ACL twice. He also missed two games last year for the Eagles with a shoulder injury and a concussion.
Said Theismann, “I don’t like the part that he appears to be fragile. I think it’s a position where you need to be physically tough and mentally tough.” Hold those thoughts.
There is a recent example of a young quarterback, a player that has been seen wearing purple between the white lines in games of skill and athleticism, who recently tore his ACL and did other gruesome damage to his knee, untouched, in practice. That young player’s name is Teddy Bridgewater.
Does Bridgewater’s mangled knee cause the player it belongs to to be categorized the same: fragile? Not tough?
Not according to Theismann. “I’ll tell you this, Teddy Bridgewater is one tough kid,” pronounced Theismann.
What’s the difference? Get your knee mangled once — hey, that’s OK. Shit happens. Get your knee mangled twice … what’s wrong with you, straw man?
Ram tough
When Bradford suffered his first torn ACL in October 2013 (with the Rams) after getting hit while going out of bounds, his season was suddenly over. His task was to rehab to be ready in time for the 2014 season. By August 2014, Bradford was sufficiently able to resume playing until he once again re-injured the same ACL in a week three preseason game. His entire season was ruined. His career was in jeopardy.
Ask anyone who’s had to rehabilitate a knee injury how tough it is. To NFL players, a knee injury is the worst injury imaginable. Narrow your focus group down to someone who’s had to do it twice, 10 months apart. How tough would that be to overcome? Rehab for the better part of a year. Have all that work undone in an instant. Then do it again. And resume your NFL career at a high level, if you can. If you’re allowed.
Enter the 2015 version of Sam Bradford. The quarterback was traded to the Eagles and earned the starting role. Yes, he missed two starts in the Eagles’ last year of the lamentable Chip Kelly tenure, but neither absence was knee-related. He made it back from double knee devastation.
The fate of Bridgewater is far from being determined. His once very bright career is now more than partly cloudy, with rampant rumors that his knee may not sufficiently heal in time for him to play again in 2017. That’s going to be tough.
Which is different from already overcoming tough circumstances. Twice.
The sudden arrival of Bradford in Minnesota has been opined as further evidence that Bridgewater’s injury may impact the 2017 Vikings. Bradford does have another two years on the contract the Vikings assumed when they traded first- and fourth-round picks to the Eagles. If the Vikings want, they can keep Bradford on-hand to cover their bases should Bridgewater’s tough immediate future not proceed to satisfaction.
My belief is that the arrival of Bradford is more about the Vikings’ understanding that their current Super Bowl window is now. This season is virtually certain to be Adrian Peterson’s last in Minnesota, due to the exorbitant cap cost ($18M) he will have in 2017 and his age. It’s “win now” in Minnesota.
No running back, maybe no franchise quarterback for the Vikings in 2017. Change isn’t coming; it’s already here if you’re sitting in the general manager’s chair. The Minnesota Vikings appear to be buying in to the belief that Bradford’s record of bouncing back from devastating knee injuries reveals a level of physical and mental toughness they can tolerate. How long until that same evidence can convince the Joe Theismanns of the world?