Jaxson Dart’s Brain isn’t Broken — Yours Is
This discourse needs to be put into the blue tent…for good.
“He lives in the blue tent!”
“He needs to learn to protect himself!”
“Injury Prone!”
This narrative wasn’t created by doctors. It was invented by the most unintelligent football fans you know, and echoed by the dumbest media personalities we’ve got.
From his very first start, Jaxson Dart has been unfairly profiled as some sort of invalid who suffers Antonio Brown-level brain damage each time he touches the turf. Despite instantly transforming an offense that has been anemic for the better part of a decade, his reputation as “Blue Tent Guy” has somehow proceeded all on field success.
Somewhere along the line, this stupid fucking tent became the main character in Dart’s story, rather than the faulty piece of medical equipment it was designed to be.
A massive run called back on a bullshit penalty? That mix of disappointment and fatigue is misdiagnosed as brain damage. Into the tent.
First and goal, QB Draw for no gain. A Washington player is injured on the play. Lets throw Dart in the tent for good measure while Jonathan Vilma has a conniption about designed quarterback runs.
Of course, our former head coach didn’t help. Daboll’s clown-like sideline antics were nationally broadcast streamed for the entire country to see. Him barging into the much-maligned piece of tarp had every stay-at-home doctor, hall monitor, and mall cop up in arms.
For some nonsensical reason, our own fans latched onto this lazy, low-hanging-fruit narrative — blaming Dart’s usage in the run game as the reason for the team’s failures. Let’s ignore the blown leads, a putrid defense, and general organizational incompetence, and instead point fingers at the play style of the only competent QB we’ve seen since..what, 2015 Eli?
Media perception only hardened as every Tom, Dick, and Stephen A. with a microphone misinformed the masses that blue tent evaluations = violent concussions.
By this logic, my 5-year-old nephew is one pillow fort away from CTE.
The reason I’m re-pissed off about this nonsense is because its now costing our franchise quarterback well earned awards and recognition. Tyler Shough seems like a nice guy, but him getting the PFWA All-Rookie nod over Dart is an absolute joke.
Dart posted significantly better Pass EPA, Rush EPA, and QB Success Rate, with 11 more touchdowns. One quarterback is propped up for bullying the Titans and Jets; the other is penalized for his over competitiveness and non-injuries.
If Drewski or some other cornball celebrity tries to give the PA Award to someone else, I hope Eluemunor power-bombs them.
While individual awards don’t ultimately matter, this snub proves that the noise around Dart isn’t harmless anymore.
What if that Washington game — where Dart was sidelined for the potential game-tying, goal-line sequence — was for a playoff spot? We’d be eliminated in part due to internal bitching and moaning.
That shit needs to stop immediately.
In case you haven’t heard — “We’re gonna do football”. Newsflash for all the pansies praying for a pocket passer — Harbaugh (and presumably Monken) aren’t going to put the training wheels back on Dart. He’s going to run. He’s going to get hit. He’s going to kick some fucking ass.
If contact scares you, that’s fine. I’d just rather you spend your Sundays on the pickleball court instead of feeding the lame-brain media machine with your cowardice.
Physical quarterbacks absorb worse hits on a weekly basis. Josh Allen Routinely barrels into defenders. Trevor Lawrence has become a dual threat in the red zone and no one bats an eye. Fernando Mendoza was universally praised for taking a flying forehead to the chin in the national title game.
It’s the NFL, safety standards are applied extremely selectively. As fans, we need to cut the nonsense as this team transitions from perennial losers to legitimate contenders.
Dart’s brain isn’t broken. The conversation around him is.
It’s time to fix it.
