Blaine Gabbert – The Face of the Franchise
By Luke Sims
Blaine Gabbert is the face of the Jaguars.
What you thought it was Maurice Jones-Drew? So did I.
But you and I are wrong.
I didn’t realize it until yesterday, when looking at the new Nike uniforms that Blaine has usurped the face of the franchise very quietly (some would say silently) from MJD. Take a look at the Nike uniform picture. Look closely. It isn’t Maurice Jones-Drew (the reigning league rushing champion) sporting the new duds, it’s Blaine Gabbert (the unproven quarterback).
Look at the other quarterbacks in the photo: Matt Ryan and Michael Vick stand out (ok, Alex Smith is in there too). But other teams are represented by their better players – Marshawn Lynch is prominent, Larry Fitzgerald, Wes Welker, hell even Clay Matthews as if to prove it doesn’t have to be an offensive player. So, maybe Gabbert’s agent just managed to convince the Jags and Nike that they needed him on their cover rather than Maurice Jones-Drew, Rashean Mathis, or Daryl Smith.
To be honest, I would have even expected Josh Scobee to be on there before him.
Yet there he is, shiny golden locks and all.
I’m not saying that Blaine Gabbert can’t be the face of the franchise. In fact we all expect him to be. Or we’re hoping and praying really, really hard. But now?
Why now?
Why after a terrible (statistical) season? Why after a season when some (lunatic) draftniks are contemplating the Jags grabbing another quarterback? Why when the Jaguars are so far back in rebuilding mode?
It certainly wasn’t Blaine Gabbert that won games for the Jags in 2011. We may not see that happen for some time. But he’s on the Nike cover.
He’s in the picture.
I think, as fans, we should get behind him. But when I see the Jags new uniforms out on the field, I won’t be thinking that Blaine Gabbert is the face of the franchise.
Not yet.
Until he stops running, Maurice Jones-Drew is my man. The man.
Our man.
– Luke N. Sims