Article:A Failed System, A Failed Draft

Winning, it’s what we were taught to do since birth. Right, seemingly so. How else were we the ones that were able to discover life out of all of the other sperms racing to the lone voyager?

We were born champions. However, somewhere between birth and adulthood, we became lost in someone else’s system. We went astray and followed a stranger’s playbook. And success to them wasn’t necessarily success to us, especially in the long run.

It is the very principle that made mobile, African-American quarterbacks “here today and gone tomorrow.”  It is this very thought that has seen Tim Tebow go from hailed Superman to just an afterthought in the 2010 NFL draft. It is the very premise that will ultimately see Sam Bradford sink to his demise.

Sam Bradford, the former Oklahoma Sooners QB, is predicted to go number 1, numero uno, in this upcoming draft. You can’t blame the kid for being completely stoked at the wonderful opportunity placed in front of him by the system.

What is the system? For Bradford, the system was stay in the pocket and wait for the open receiver. He’ll get open, just give it time. The system paid off. Bradford completed 604 passes out of 893 attempts on his way to a 68% passing rate and accumulated 8,403 yards and 88 TDs as a Sooner. In the end, his stats as a Sooner proved to be a fantastic way to play the game if one expected to be in a college program for his entire career.

Ask Donovan McNabb. Ask Vince Young. Ask Tim Tebow. System players. System players that were brought down by the very systems that taught them that success right now, at the [college] level, was the only thing important. Well, it was important to Syracuse, Texas and Florida.

It, too, was important to Oklahoma. Bradford will fail unless he becomes Peyton Manning’s protege. He will fail unless a professional organization builds a team around his talents.

Players that are taught to succeed in a broken system, players that are taught to survive in the worst possible conditions,  are the ones that strive in the NFL. They come from the broken elite schools, from the mid-major schools and from the arena leagues. They are the Joe Flaccos and the Kurt Warners of the NFL.

Sam Bradford is a talented player. If one didn’t see that by the way he played at Oklahoma, then that person can just look at his stats once again. 604 out of 893 completed passes. 8,403 passing yards. 88 TDs. Sadly, the numbers are misconstrued.

As implied before, his numbers only mattered in the system, in his Oklahoma system. Given way to this thought, Bradford will be a good NFL quarterback but no amount of heart can overcome corners and safeties that play well-above the average skill level.

Henceforth, Jimmy Clausen should be the top-rated QB in this draft. He has been through hell as a Notre Dame QB. He has fought through the worst premier college system brought to you by Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish.

Sam Bradford is another quarterback that the system failed and whichever team he lands on he will almost surely fail them, unless they build around his Sooner system.

The college systems installed at these programs are meant to succeed only at that particular school and at that particular level, and the hype created by the success of the standout players hailing from the Oklahomas and the Floridas of collegiate football establish a false sense of hope, security, surrounding these soon-to-be multi-million dollar kids. All of this lead to a failed system and a failed draft.

Good luck, boys! Out-play the system before it gets the best of you.