David Chidley/CFL.ca
One of the worst sentences in football twitter remains the following:
“Player X used to play for NFL team Y, which means he is innately better than any CFL lifer QB.”
I see this take on twitter almost every day and it USED to drive me crazy.
Insatiable anger WOULD course through me every time I saw this oblivious linguistic equation scream across my timeline from someone hoping to slam the Canadian Football League and the men who dedicate their professional lives to being the best they can at THIS game.
Then, just a few days into the 2015 calendar year, I had a realization which nullified any anger: It’s simply not true.
The game that changed my mind was the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers playoff matchup, which Ryan Lindley started for the red birds and completed 16 of 28 passes for 82 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Arizona lost 27–16 after totalling 77 yards of offence, the fewest in NFL playoff history.
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Ryan Lindley started a playoff game for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals before landing in the CFL (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Sure, there are expected exceptions to the argument that no NFL quarterback could play at a high level here, and by no means am I arguing that all CFL quarterbacks are better than their NFL counterparts. I don’t paint in the broad strokes so widely illustrated in 140 characters or less.
Every situation is its own special example of the similarities and differences of our two great games, which explains why, in reality, there has been nothing less than a multitude of varying end results with players attempting to jump north or vice versa.
The fun part of this conversation to me is playing cross-border quarterback fantasy football.
If Tom Brady stood tall in the pocket for the Montreal Alouettes, how much better would they be? I assume they would improve, but there is no guarantee by how much in the ultimate team game.
If Mike Reilly were the Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting quarterback, would they be any worse off than they are with a Blake Bortles? I assume there would be no drop off but there certainly could be.
With Ryan Lindley starting for the REDBLACKS this week, the CFL will once again get to see a pivot with very real NFL experience take the field in hopes of leading his Ottawa REDBLACKS to victory.
If Lindley is going to succeed, he’ll have to show all the elements displayed by Canadian born and raised quarterback Brandon Bridge last week in a road win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Wide side throws, patience, ability to get through progressions, diagnosis of blitzes with an extra man threatening pressure and, perhaps most importantly, the facilitation of second down conversions in order to stay on the field. A task which so many inexperienced CFL quarterbacks struggle with and a dynamic demanded by three down football.
Bridge showed plenty of these attributes without any NFL experience and while many will point to Lindley’s resume as a sure sign he is better than a Bridge, I ask you one question: If you put Brandon Bridge on that 2015 Arizona Cardinals playoff team, do they have fewer than 77 yards?
I doubt it, but that remains the joy of this endless cross-border conversation.
