Outlandish, weird, and wonderful NFL conspiracy theories gain traction pretty easily these days. Framed in that context, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young is atypical of the type who could indulge in any bizarre conspiracies.
Alas, when it comes to the chronic lack of southpaws earning their crust in the present-day NFL, Young went above and beyond claiming lefties are merely being dealt a bum hand.
“By definition, by obvious scientific truth,” Young recently told Time Magazine, “football is biased against lefties.”
Many young, hard-throwing lefties who assess their chances of a successful career in professional sports will be greatly enhanced by choosing the baseball diamond over the gridiron. Remarkably, only Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa took NFL snaps as a southpaw slinger in 2023.
That scandalously low number may double next season with Washington prospect Michael Penix Jr. in the 2024 Draft pool. However, not many analysts have been linking the quarterback-needy Denver Broncos with the former Husky's massively useful skill set.
Furthermore, if inescapable left-handed biology were to hold negative sway over Penix's draft stock — Broncos included — Young figures to be incensed.
"I have tremendous emotion about this," he said. "I'm like, what the freakin' hell is that?"
After all, Penix's credentials and his glossy resume scream rather than whisper politely. Especially after he compiled a 25-2 record over the last two years spent up on the Pacific Northwest, and of course, he came second in the most recent Heisman trophy voting behind LSU standout Jayden Daniels.
That prodigious body of work has won Penix even more notable friends in the southpaw fraternity of former NFL signal-callers, including ex-Bengals legend Boomer Esiason.
"He's got huge hands and incredible accuracy that you very rarely see," Esiason insisted, via Time. "It just comes so natural to him."
If lefties are still covertly being labeled with a red flag, NFL talent evaluators likely will never admit as much. Instead, they will simply find other flaws to fall back upon, and in the case of Penix, it's surely fated to be his pair of ACL tears and a dislocated shoulder he suffered when playing at Indiana.
Circling back to the sage old wisdom of Young is key, and how the former Super Bowl champion believes being a lefty should instead be a considerable advantage for Penix, because it carries the vital element of surprise.
"Since football is so right-handed, being lefty is an advantage," Young suggested. "That split second of a defense thinking, 'Oh, that's different' can make all the difference. Everything is run right-handed. Every practice is run right-handed. Eighty percent of every formation is right-handed. People install offense right-handed. It's just how they do it. Michael Penix coming out as a lefty, that should heighten his draft status."
Young is screaming passionately from the rooftops about his fellow lefty. Are Sean Payton and Co. listening?
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