© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.

Super Bowl 50's Quarterbacks: So Talented And So Different

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning meets with Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton after an NFL game in Indianapolis in 2011. Manning and Newton will square off in the 50th Super Bowl, in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday. The two quarterbacks were No. 1 overall draft picks 13 years apart.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning meets with Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton after an NFL game in Indianapolis in 2011. Manning and Newton will square off in the 50th Super Bowl, in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday. The two quarterbacks were No. 1 overall draft picks 13 years apart.

I firmly believe that football games are best when both the quarterbacks are stars, which is what we've definitely got Sunday.

Yeah, yeah, I know: Defense wins games and a football takes funny bounces, and, as every bad analyst regularly declares, man, those turnovers can kill you, but football absolutely needs quarterbacks. Otherwise, the sport only has all those faceless battalions of fungible gladiators.

But, ah, the quarterback. His position is unique in team sport, all the more so in today's passing game. And this Super Bowl looms as even more of a dandy because the two quarterbacks are so in contrast.

Click the audio to hear Frank Deford's take on quarterbacks, Cam Newton, Peyton Manning and the Super Bowl.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
Frank Deford died on Sunday, May 28, at his home in Florida. Remembrances of Frank's life and work can be found in All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and on NPR.org.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.