Unpopular Opinions- The Truth Shall Set You Free

Unpopular opinions is back! Get your popcorn ready for this one as we will have you scratching your head and questioning yourself again.

 

“Troy Aikman was an average quarterback” – Raphael Haynes

When you think of a three-time Super Bowl quarterback, usually greatness comes to mind. Well Troy Aikman shouldn’t be in the same sentence as greatness unless you’re talking about Emmitt Smith or Michael Irvin.

Aikman is a quarterback that benefitted from one of, if not the best team in NFL history. The Oklahoma native played with an all-time leading rusher, top 10 and at that time, top-three wide receiver, Pro Bowl tight end, the greatest offensive line in NFL history and one of the most talented defenses in history.

Here are the facts. In his 12-year career, Aikman has only two seasons where he threw for more than 19 touchdowns (23 in 1992 and 19 in 1997) and eight seasons with 15 touchdowns or less. He has 141 interception compared to 165 touchdowns for his career and 61% completion rate for his entire career.

He had one big game in their first Super Bowl but besides that, what big game did he put his mark on? He had all of the weapons to succeed but he didn’t. We always use the word game manager but Aikman might be the biggest (not meaning great) game manager in NFL history.

You might say they gave Smith the ball a lot, OK, So why anoint Aikman as a great or good quarterback if he doesn’t have the stats to back it up. Super Bowls matter huh, then we can name 20 quarterbacks that’s not considered good who could have done the same.

He’s not even ranked as a top three quarterback in their franchise so again, again, he’s not a good quarterback, serviceable but not a good quarterback.

 

“Rob Manfred is the worst commissioner in sports.” – Eric Urbanowicz

If you ever watch the NFL draft, commissioner Roger Goodell always finds a way to get booed. Most hockey fans will also tell you that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman isn’t that great either because of the three lockdowns. However, has anyone really looked at baseball under commissioner Rob Manfred?

Despite having an agreement through 2021, Manfred is looking at the baseball season possibly slipping away, while owners and players squabbled over how much money should be awarded through the season.

If this was it, that would be one thing but his laundry list of issues range from trying to shorten games while increasing offense (makes no sense) to botching the investigations into the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros illegal sign stealing scandals (with more teams seemingly coming out) to calling his own sports championship trophy “just a piece of metal.”

The sad thing is, he’s only five years into the job, imagine what he could do in the time that Goodell and Bettman have had. He’s an embarrassment and even if the players association and owners can agree on something, he may have just helped cost Baseball quiet a few fans.

 

“The NFL has more parity than the NBA.” – Mike Patton

The NBA has more teams qualify for the playoffs in providing a sense of parity but if you look at how the championships are spread around, there are two teams that have dominated that: the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics.

Those two teams have combined for 33 championships and when you add in the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors, that makes 45 championships won by just four teams. Doesn’t seem like that much parity does it?

If you go over to the NFL, there isn’t even one team with even double-digit title wins. To total 45 titles, you have to include 12 different teams. The wealth is evenly spread out throughout which means there is more parity and more of a chance for teams that may seem like they have no chance to win.

The NBA may appear to have more parity but with 53 players on a roster and more people that can affect a game, the NFL has more parity and will continue to in the future.