Eagles fans rejoice; “Ginger Jesus” is here to save the day. On Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles announced that their team doctors have finally cleared quarterback Carson Wentz for full-contact, and he will start this Sunday when the team takes on the Indianapolis Colts in a matchup that showcases another premiere-gunslinger, Andrew Luck. Both Luck and Wentz had season-ending injuries in 2017 that derailed their growth as superstar quarterbacks.
Last season, Carson Wentz was one of the top candidates to receive the Most Valuable Player of the Year award. Before Wentz tore his ACL and LCL versus the Los Angeles Rams, he led the league in passing touchdowns, with 33 in just 13 games. Those 33 passing touchdowns also set a franchise record for the most passing touchdowns in a season by a Philadelphia Eagles quarterback. In addition, he only threw 7 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 101.9. If you compare Wentz’s stats to the player who actually won the MVP Award, Tom Brady, you see that they had pretty similar seasons.
Tom Brady threw 32 touchdowns and 8 interceptions last season, while also possessing a quarterback rating of 102.8 in 16 games. The question will always be out there: If Carson never got hurt, could he had snatched the trophy away from Brady?
Nevertheless, that is all in the past and Wentz needs to learn how to protect himself if he wants to become a legend like quarterbacks: Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. The thing that is synonymous between all the previous mention quarterbacks is their availability. If you can’t stay on the field, it doesn’t matter how talented and smart you are as a player. Those Mount Rushmore quarterbacks were always there for their organizations and football teams.
They didn’t do things that put the franchise in jeopardy, aka themselves. Quarterbacks more than any other player have a huge responsibility to stay injury-free because they are the franchise representative. These organizations waste high-overall draft picks and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these players, teams need them in uniform ready to start on Sunday’s and not holding a tablet on the sidelines.
Carson Wentz needs to be cautious because he could be potential one hit away from becoming the nest Robert Griffin III. Griffin, known as RG3, was an ultra-talented quarterback from Baylor who was picked second overall in the 2012 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins. Similar to Wentz, RG3 had a stellar season were he catapulted a franchise to new levels of success. Griffin even won the Rookie of the Year Award beating out quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson.
Nonetheless, Griffin tore his ACL that season in the NFC Wild Card round against the Seattle Seahawks. The next season, Robert rushed his rehab to get back on the field. In doing so, he ended up getting injured again-and-again throughout his career and now he is currently the backup quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. He went from a generational talent to a backup role on a team that is arguably not a playoff contender. Wentz is returning from his injuries 3 months ahead of schedule.
After losing Wentz at such a pivotal point in the season, the Eagles looked to veteran backup quarterback Nick Foles to lead the Birds in the playoffs.
Needless to say, Nick Foles went on arguably the greatest run in NFL playoff history as he led the Eagles to a Super Bowl LII victory.
Of course, the controversy was very heated from all people Philadelphia Eagles, on whether to start Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles behind center or go with Wentz, who was proven to be the starter in Philadelphia after a great 14 starts for the Eagles in 2017.
Wentz will have much harder of a regular season schedule, it being the year after his team raised the Vince Lombardi trophy. Which definitely makes it safe to say that it will be very hard for this years Eagles to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.
Philadelphia Eagles Head coach Doug Pederson spoke on the final steps to clearing Wentz to play.
Pederson told reporters, “I’m not going to get in the whole report because it’s lengthy, but just medically, you know where from the date of surgery to where he is today, through all of his rehab, through 11-on-11, through what he did in the weight room. Everything about it was a big part of getting to this point.”
The Eagles and Colts are set to kickoff at 1 p.m. on Sept. 23 at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
