After a strong start to the season, Kyler Murray’s quarterback performance for the Arizona Cardinals has been a bit of a belly flop. His quarterback rating has plummeted, he’s turned the ball over, and he’s just not playing like he means it.

When something goes wrong in a game, he pouts, he ignores his teammates, he sits alone. He probably agonizes over whether he made the right choice between football and baseball. And maybe he needs to grow up, be a man, be a leader.

But why is it all on the quarterback to be the leader of the team? Why does it fall on the shoulders of a 23 year old to rally the troops? There’s a whole field of grown men that should be able to get themselves motivated, to help motivate those around them. There’s more than one person on the field whose jersey has a “C” on it.

But it does fall to the quarterback and some of the best quarterbacks, current and past, are great at motivating their teams. Drew Brees comes to mind, I love his pregame circle chant with his teammates. Russell Wilson is another. He can be seen stalking up and down the sidelines during games, greeting players as they come off the field, giving words of encouragement even if it looks like all is lost. Then there’s the story of Joe Montana asking his teammates – in one of the biggest games of their lives – if they saw John Candy in the stands, all to keep them calm and help them maintain perspective. Or maybe the best example of all: ‘Footsteps’ Falco. Glory lasts forever and all that.

The quarterback is most often the highest paid person on the team and the face of the franchise. He needs to share that limelight with the fellows around him, he needs to take blame for the mistakes in the games, and he shouldn’t point fingers. He should learn how to bring out the best in his teammates. He should know his teammates.

A quarterback that sits alone on the bench sulking isn’t going to inspire the other men on the field with him to give more, do better, try harder. Cliche or not, the quarterback has to be a leader of men.

Is it a lot to ask of a 23-yr-old who’s most likely still trying to figure out how to handle the pressure of an organization’s hopes pinned on him? Yes. But, no one said the NFL was easy.

Baseball isn’t either, by the way.

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