lawnboy1977 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 The news to me isn't a big deal, its what Alex Smith actually said that is hilarious. "I know how this works," said Smith, the top overall pick in this year's draft. "This is a team game. This isn't all about me. I think the team wants to win now. We expect to win now, and as of right now, this looks like the right decision." He does realize he was the number 1 draft pick for the worst team in football doesn't he? Rattay gets the Nod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Maybe he understood that if he starts, the 9ers will have the #1 pick again next year, but if rattay starts, they may fall down to the #2 or 3 spot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarthur31 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 What he should've said is: "the team prizes my future contributions and now that we suck and will do so for the next several years, it was smart of them to save me for the day that we can win". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-dog Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 If I was the coach of the 49ers those wouldn't be the words I would want to hear from my 1st pick of the draft qb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux of Borg Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Did Manning, Rivers, Roethlisberger, or Losman start the 1st game last season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e-dog Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 As usual the point is missed. It's not necessarily about starting the first game, but about his mindset and attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawnboy1977 Posted August 24, 2005 Author Share Posted August 24, 2005 As usual the point is missed. It's not necessarily about starting the first game, but about his mindset and attitude. 416159[/snapback] Its certainly not about him starting the first game, thats why i didnt think that issue of him not starting was just that a non issue. I simply thought what he said was funny. That his team is trying to "win now"!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Did Manning, Rivers, Roethlisberger, or Losman start the 1st game last season? 416157[/snapback] Interestingly, no. But Eli's big brother and that year's #2 pick, Ryan Leaf, DID both start in game 1, year 1.... as did Bledsoe, at Rich Stadium in September 1993. (I was at that game, and I still remember Bruuuce chasing him all over the field. Bills smoked the Pats that day, but you could tell the kid was going to turn out OK.) Looking a little further - Carson Palmer and Daunte Culpepper sat their first year. David Carr and Tim Couch didn't. I think Jeff George started his first game - but didn't finish it, thanks to Cornelius Bennett.... Aikman and Elway were two other #1s thrown into the fire right away. Overall, I'd guess the ratio isn't far from 50:50 - and it doesn't seem to correlate to whether or not that QB turns out to be a bust. I'm with lawnboy, though - if Smith believes the 49ers can "win now", I'm thinking he's been partying with Randy Moss and Ricky Williams up there in NoCal...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Interestingly, no. But Eli's big brother and that year's #2 pick, Ryan Leaf, DID both start in game 1, year 1.... as did Bledsoe, at Rich Stadium in September 1993. (I was at that game, and I still remember Bruuuce chasing him all over the field. Bills smoked the Pats that day, but you could tell the kid was going to turn out OK.) Looking a little further - Carson Palmer and Daunte Culpepper sat their first year. David Carr and Tim Couch didn't. I think Jeff George started his first game - but didn't finish it, thanks to Cornelius Bennett.... Aikman and Elway were two other #1s thrown into the fire right away. Overall, I'd guess the ratio isn't far from 50:50 - and it doesn't seem to correlate to whether or not that QB turns out to be a bust. I'm with lawnboy, though - if Smith believes the 49ers can "win now", I'm thinking he's been partying with Randy Moss and Ricky Williams up there in NoCal...... 416962[/snapback] I guess it really depends if a team has a chance to compete, or is in a rebuilding year. If the rest of the team is decent, it makes sense to stick with a veteren like Warner, Kitna, Maddox, or even Bledsoe. But if the team has no chance to compete, why not give the rookie the reps? The 9ers look to be fooling themselves here, and really gain nothing by having Rattay take the opening day snap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 I guess it really depends if a team has a chance to compete, or is in a rebuilding year. If the rest of the team is decent, it makes sense to stick with a veteren like Warner, Kitna, Maddox, or even Bledsoe. But if the team has no chance to compete, why not give the rookie the reps? The 9ers look to be fooling themselves here, and really gain nothing by having Rattay take the opening day snap. 417005[/snapback] Depends - if the team is REALLY bad, throwing a rookie QB to the wolves might be a good way to screw him up. David Carr took a horrific beating in his rookie year, setting a league record by being sacked 76 times. With all the $$$ the Niners have invested in Smith, they may just be better served by letting Rattay serve as the crash-test dummy until the rook can fend for himself a little better. I think that's what Coughlin tried to do with Eli at the beginning of last year - everyone knew Kurt Warner was never going to be the long-term solution there..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Depends - if the team is REALLY bad, throwing a rookie QB to the wolves might be a good way to screw him up. David Carr took a horrific beating in his rookie year, setting a league record by being sacked 76 times. With all the $$$ the Niners have invested in Smith, they may just be better served by letting Rattay serve as the crash-test dummy until the rook can fend for himself a little better. I think that's what Coughlin tried to do with Eli at the beginning of last year - everyone knew Kurt Warner was never going to be the long-term solution there..... 417031[/snapback] Maybe. Carr was beat up, but he lived through it. Elway also comes to mind as someone who took a beating. I think it's along the lines of what you mentioned before, where 1st year or 2nd year starting doesn't correlate to overall success. I don't know of any good QBs that failed because they were beat up their first year. They failed because they weren't really good QBs. Wasn't Warner something like 5-3 as a starter in NY, and in the playoff hunt? What needs to be mentioned too, is that it's not really that good a sign if Smith isn't ready to challenge Tim Rattay for the starting spot. You'd expect the first overall pick to put up more of a fight against a mediocre QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Plus there's no sense throwing Smith in there until Jonas's widdle finger gets better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 As usual the point is missed. It's not necessarily about starting the first game, but about his mindset and attitude. 416159[/snapback] And what's wrong with his mindset? Obviously, he was trying to express a 'whatever's best for the team' attitude. What was he supposed to do, call out the coach and throw a tantrum? JHC, he's a 22 year old kid trying to answer a tough question without putting his foot in his mouth because he knows millions of idiots will hang on and criticize his every word. I’ve seen a hell of a lot worse written here by people who had all day to prepare their answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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