QB TEE - My Clubhouse

QB & TEE
There’s something about the position that breeds great golf.
By Ted Johnson
Photographed byJeff Bayer
A
aron Rodgers walked from the 11th green toward the 12th tee like he was walking onto Lambeau Field,
down by five with less than two minutes left. Eyes steady, stride persistent, he had an objective clearly
in mind while he ignored the distractions.
To the distress of more than a few fans wearing Green Bay Packers jerseys, such cold disregard from
Aaron on a glorious summer day along the shores of Lake Tahoe during a traditional party-centric
gathering known as the American Century Championship might seem a tad, well, intense. It is a tournament played
by celebrities and athletes. Ostensibly marketed to demonstrate golf skills, it is obviously intended to give fans an
up-close brush with their heroes.
Aaron would have none of it. He was trying to win. “No, no. I won’t sign anything until afterward,” he said as he
sidestepped Sharpie-toting fans and their hats and jerseys.
The 2013 NFL season inaugurated a new generation of quarterbacks: Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Colin
Kaepernick and Russell Wilson. And yet Aaron Rodgers still ranks as the game’s best at a position requiring intense
concentration, split-second savvy, awe-inspiring physical skills, toughness and, finally, an overall competitiveness
that borders on the fanatical.
This explains why so many current and former quarterbacks play the celebrity and pro-am golf tournaments, holding their own and even excelling. They’re testing themselves. They’re competing.
Tony Romo, Dallas’ starter, had his index as low as a +3.3. He has tried to qualify a couple of times for the U.S.
Open, and his game is strong enough to make people remember John Brodie, a quarterback who, two and a half
decades ago, successfully transitioned from football to the Champions Tour. Many of football’s elite signal-callers—Ben
Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, Sam Bradford, Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Peyton
Manning, Matthew Stafford and Jay Cutler—play golf and play it well.
GRIDIRON TO GREEN
Clockwise from top: Aaron Rodgers,
Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo, Alex Smith.
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IN PLAY, FALL 2013
FALL 2013, IN PLAY
45
OUT OF THE POCKET
Bottom left: John Elway fades back. Bottom right: Mark Rypien at the
2013 American Century Championship, where he lost in a three-hole
playoff to another QB, Billy Joe Tolliver
Alex Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs is admittedly not one of those
passers who fit the “play well” description, but he thinks the QB–golf
connection is attributable to the athletic requirements of football.
“We can do anything, you know,” he says, with typical QB chutzpah.
But consider this: In the 24-year history of the American Century Tournament, for example, the name atop the leaderboard has
belonged to a quarterback six times, including four by Billy Joe Tolliver. If we think of golf as an ongoing audible, who better to be making back-nine decisions than guys used to calling plays with seconds
on the clock and 300-pound men running at them?
John Elway—Executive VP of Football Operations for the Denver
Broncos, member of the Hall of Fame and a two-time Super Bowl
winner—is a golf nut with serious chops to back up his considerable
swagger. “Football is the ultimate team game, and quarterback is the
toughest position in all of team sports,” he says. “We’re pretty good
athletes. Well … the best athletes.”
No one is likely to argue with that, at least not in his presence. And
at age 53, Elway still makes a nice poster boy for how well gridiron
athleticism and judgment translate on the golf course.
He has played in every American Century tournament. He has shot
64 several times, including a few at Cherry Hills Country Club, the
U.S. Open venue that is also his home course in Denver. It was big
news over the summer in Denver that John Elway, Peyton Manning
and Broncos coach John Fox played together at Augusta National,
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IN PLAY, FALL 2013
with Elway scoring 74 and Manning 77.
John argues that it’s better, if you want
to golf, to be a QB than just about anyone
else on the roster. “We don’t get beat up
too bad, and we’re not as muscle-bound
[as the rest of the guys], so it’s easier to
swing the club.”
And then there’s the testosterone
thing. Quarterbacks have a boundless
need to prove themselves, and golf offers
an outlet with continuous challenge—
free of all the team dynamics.
“By nature, we are competitive, and
golf is such a competitive game,” says
Arizona’s Carson Palmer. “Even when you
don’t have someone to compete against,
you’re still competing against the game
and yourself. We really enjoy that. And the game is so difficult. That’s
what I love about it. You can never be good enough. You never have
it figured out. There’s always something to improve on … something
that always needs work.”
There’s little doubt that a 5’11”, trim, tanned 64-year-old like Joe
Theismann could have had, given a different path in life, a chance
to make it in professional golf. A current 1.6 index out of the tough
WHO BETTER
TO BE MAKING
BACK-NINE
DECISIONS THAN
GUYS USED TO
CALLING PLAYS
WITH SECONDS
ON THE CLOCK?”
QB & TEE STATUS REPORT
NFC WEST
NFC SOUTH
NFC NORTH
NFC EAST
AFC WEST
AFC NORTH
AFC SOUTH
AFC EAST
Logo
Quarterback
Team
Plays
Links Note
Tom Brady
New England Patriots
Yes
6.4 handicap according to Forbes.com, AT&T Pebble Beach veteran
Mark Sanchez
New York Jets
Yes
Plays at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey
Ryan Tannehill
Miami Dolphins
Yes
Lettered in basketball, baseball, golf and track in high school
EJ Manuel
Buffalo Bills
No
Does enjoy “a little bit of Xbox” in his downtime
Jake Locker
Tennessee Titans
Yes
Has played in various charity events
Andrew Luck
Indianapolis Colts
No
Huge soccer fan, “splurged”on a ping-pong table after he signed contract
Matt Schaub
Houston Texans
Yes
Golf Digest list him as a 7
Blaine Gabbert
Jacksonville Jaguars
Yes
Post-2011 draft hosted fellow rookie Christian Ponder for golf games
Ben Roethlisberger
Pittsburgh Steelers
Yes
Index ranges from 3 to below 1; shot 81 on a soggy Bethpage Black
Joe Flacco
Baltimore Ravens
Yes
270-yard 3-woods flying par-5 greens
Brandon Weeden
Cleveland Browns
Yes
At age 27, joined storied Oklahoma State golf team; 8 handicap
Andy Dalton
Cincinnati Bengals
No
His charity auctioned 2 tickets to PGA Championship, starting bid: $7,000
Alex Smith
Kansas City Chiefs
Yes
One of the worst in Tahoe: "Two kids. No time to play."
Peyton Manning
Denver Broncos
Yes
Golf Digest puts him at 4.1; avid off-season golfer
Terrelle Pryor
Oakland Raiders
Yes
Reported to have played at Scioto Reserve CC while at Ohio State
Philip Rivers
San Diego Chargers
Yes
Worked at golf course in college, got down to 13
Eli Manning
New York Giants
Yes
7.1 index at highly touted Garden City CC in New York
Robert Griffin III
Washington Redskins
Yes
Owns home in Virginia's Creighton Farms golf course community
Tony Romo
Dallas Cowboys
Yes
Best of the bunch; +2.1 according to Forbes.com in 2012
Michael Vick
Philadelphia Eagles
Yes
16 handicap according to YouTube's "Michael Vick Golf Story"
Aaron Rodgers
Green Bay Packers
Yes
A 2 handicap; recorded ace in hometown of Chico, California
Christian Ponder
Minnesota Vikings
Yes
Hilarious 2009 9-hole match vs. FSU punter Shawn Powell on YouTube
Jay Cutler
Chicago Bears
Yes
12 handicap; golf in January proved thumb fully healed
Matthew Stafford
Detroit Lions
Yes
Golf Digest lists him at 15; YouTube video lesson with Bubba Watson
Matt Ryan
Atlanta Falcons
Yes
Last reported handicap 3.8
Drew Brees
New Orleans Saints
Yes
Golf Digest puts him at a 3 handicap
Cam Newton
Carolina Panthers
No
Shares Auburn alumni connection with PGA Tour’s Jason Dufner
Mike Glennon
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Yes
Filmed at golf portion of the ACC Kickoff in 2012
Colin Kaepernick
San Francisco 49ers
Yes
Hosts Against All Odds Golf Tournament at Del Rio Country Club,
benefitting Camp Taylor (for children with heart disease)
Russell Wilson
Seattle Seahawks
No
Drafted by the Colorado Rockies baseball team as a college junior
Sam Bradford
St. Louis Rams
Yes
Wanted to play Oklahoma golf team, rumored to be scratch
Carson Palmer
Arizona Cardinals
Yes
Best round is 74; plays at Del Mar in San Diego
FALL 2013, IN PLAY
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IN MOTION
Top: The sartorially adventurous Jim McMahon.
Bottom: Joe Theismann.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Manassas, Virginia attests to that.
“I really think that Ara Parseghian put it as well as anybody when
he talked about [how] the game of golf relates to everything, including football, particularly the quarterback position,” Joe says, referring
to the former Notre Dame football coach. “From the first moment you
put that peg in the ground to start your round, you begin a series of
management decisions. Through the course of a football game, you
have to make decisions. If you’re backed up near your end zone, you
don’t take chances. You want to know what the score is. What the conditions are. How well is your defense playing? On the golf course, you
have to consider what shot do you want to hit? Where’s the problem?
What’s the bunker layout? Where’s the position of the pin? There are
positions on the football field where you take chances for a TD. There
are positions on the golf course where you go for the flag.”
Control—getting it and holding it—may be what becomes so addictive to quarterbacks. The Rodgers and the Mannings and the Bradfords can make perfect throws, but there’s always the chance that a
defensive back can tip the pass or a receiver drop it. In golf, they’re
entirely in charge of their destiny.
And then there are those nerves at the tee. “Football helps with golf
because you’re able to deal with people watching and not getting as
nervous,” Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger told Golf Magazine in 2006.
Big Ben gives hockey players an overall advantage at golf, though,
because “they’re used to swinging an object at another object.” But
when it comes to the gridiron-to-green transition, he’ll put his money
on the QB.
Trent Dilfer, who like Rodgers, Elway, Theismann and Roethlisberger is also a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, points out that for
guys having spent their lives honing a specific athletic process, golf
opens wide an entirely new opportunity. “Golf is a craft, and quarterbacks like craft. So yes, we love the challenge of the game because
it’s so hard. It appeals to our nature because it is always so hard. It
forces us to do new things,” he says. “The worst I feel on the course is
when I’m not doing want I want. The best is when I execute the shot.”
Such delicacy, it has to be said, doesn’t impress all players. Red
Grange, the great Chicago Bears running back of the 1920s and ‘30s,
famously said that golf would be better if, once in a while, someone
tackled you in your backswing.
“There’s nothing that translates from this game [golf ] to the other
game,” says former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, also a Super
Bowl winner. “I didn’t shank too many behind the center. And I hit
six shanks yesterday.”
These are all men who live or have lived at the very center of the
sound and the fury—the pocket during a pass play. But, of course,
a football career does not endure forever. It is brutal, and it can
be short. Golf provides a continuance of a sort, a bucolic arena in
which these athletes can still strategize, still excel, still compete and
continually attempt that unique symbiosis of vision and execution.
“Hitting a nice 3-wood onto a par-5 green, getting home in two—
those shots are what keeping me coming back to the game,” says
Carson Palmer.
“Six-iron at No. 6 at Canyon Oaks in Chico, California,” Aaron Rodgers says succinctly. “Hole-in-one.”
For some, only perfection will do. 
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IN PLAY, FALL 2013