Let's think about this for a bit and then discuss...if this were 1979, would many Zoners be ripping Roger for losing to the Steelers? He should've thrown a better pass to Jackie Smith, Landry was a genius in the early 70s, but now, the league has caught up to him...etc. what else would we be complaining about?
We almost saw the end of Tom Landry, and people treated him like a god, furious at Jerry for letting him go. But if that had happened in today’s era of social media and analytics, they’d have been calling for his head long before 1989. And look at how far Bill Belichick has fallen, this guy led one of the greatest dynasties ever, went to nine Super Bowls, and doubled everything Landry accomplished.
Yet in such a short time, he’s treated like he’s done and forgotten, with people focusing only on the negatives and ignoring all the positives he achieved.
That’s what social media, the internet, and the oversaturation of everything have done—every snap gets analyzed, every mistake magnified. They’d have been calling for Roger’s head. I still remember Troy; he was never perfect. He threw interceptions in big games but had teams to bail him out. Same with Matthew Stafford, led the league in interceptions, threw two in the Super Bowl, and it didn’t matter. He was let off the hook by a great team.
Players in the ’70s didn’t have to deal with that. These days, everything is real-time, and even in the ’90s, with fewer outlets, it wasn’t like now. I can’t imagine Troy surviving his rookie year today. Back then, there was controversy—multiple quarterbacks said maybe they should’ve drafted one of the Steves over Troy.
That would blow up now, and I’m not sure fans wouldn’t have talked about him like they do Prescott or Romo. The only reason he gets respect is because he has the rings. You remember like 2017 a lot of the really hardcore Tony Romo fans couldn't let it go that dak took over and Started really breaking down and criticizing every little thing that did including oh he can't score he doesn't score enough touchdowns and that whole narrative started the thing that he wasn't good at, And yet it was the same thing The stats were low just like Troy's Just like Troy had Emmett Smith in that offensive line and a whole bunch of great players and a great roster and somehow Troy didn't have that narrative now But he should have he never carried the Dallas Cowboys he was never asked to, He put up very average numbers just within the framework of the offense and yet if Prescott in 2017 wasn't putting up numbers all of a sudden stats matter but now that he owns all the stats stats don't matter...
Troy was fortunate to have a team that ensured he didn’t have to carry them alone and allowed him to make mistakes. Nowadays, it’s not just quarterbacks, no one is allowed to make mistakes.
In just about 60 seconds, all the replays and so-called expert analyses are breaking down your plays, and you’re being compared to hundreds of players before you. The amount of pressure these guys are under now is just crazy.