June 21, 2012 marked the day LeBron James and the Miami Heat won the NBA Championships. It also marked the day the "LeBron will never get a ring" jokes died. Let's just say it was LeBron's expiration date on never holding a title. Now that the king has been crowned, people might start saying LeBron can't win again, or that he will win again, or they will start picking on another player who has never won a ring. So, who shall it be? Since I am not very familiar with all of the NBA teams and players, let's take this conversation over to the NFL.
There are 32 teams in the NFL and only one will be crowned each year. The two organizations that I think should be in the hot seat are the San Diego Chargers and the Atlanta Falcons. The Chargers took a risk with not going after their free agent quarterback Drew Brees but sticking with their younger quarterback, Phillip Rivers. In Drew Brees's book, "Coming Back Stronger," which I recommend, you get a inside look on how the Chargers head coach and staff treated Brees and how they wanted so badly to taste a Super Bowl. They started to get frustrated and demanding that they ended up putting all their faith in Phillip Rivers. If the Chargers didn't lose faith in Brees, I believed he would have brought the Super Bowl title to Southern California instead of New Orleans.
I don't see the Chargers getting rid of Phillip Rivers anytime soon because they want to prove they had made the right decision by sticking with Rivers. But how much longer are they going to stick with this? I do believe the Falcons are going to stick with "Matty Ice" Ryan as their quarterback, but they can't pass the first round of the playoffs and I don't see them getting passed the first game until they change something in their coaching staff. The players aren't the problem -- Matt Ryan is a great quarterback with great targets in tight end Tony Gonzalez, wide receiver Julio Jones and so on. Yet they can't win in the playoffs!
I think it's already given that Cam Newton, quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, is going to receive non-stop criticism for not winning. But as for a newer player, RG3 (or Robert Griffin III), the new rookie quarterback for the Washington Redskins will take the crown. D.C. is a tough fan base, as it should be. Didn't they go through three quarterbacks last season? I would be mad, too! He is going to get judged because sports analysts and fans want to see the Redskins bring home the Super Bowl. And after what happened last season, they have no problem looking for a new quarterback. Should we talk about Andrew Luck?
The new quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts is coming into this league as the leader of the Colts since the head offices released all of their leaders in Peyton Manning and Dallas Clark. He's going to have so much pressure on him when he wins and looses because his team, coaches and fans are all relying on him to do what Peyton Manning has done in the past.
I think it's good to have this pressure. You'll get to show people what you're really made of. It shows your emotion, toughness and what drives you. It's like people are in the middle of reading your book and they're just wanting to read the last chapter but can't. Thank goodness LeBron James book is done! It felt like it took nine years. On to his next one, I guess!