Sophomore Slump

According to Wikipedia, the sophomore slump refers to "an instance when the second effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort." In other words, when your second year kinda sucks as compared to your first year.

This is a common phenomenon in football. Think Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans, Cam Newtown of the Carolina Panthers, and Andy Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals. Each of these QBs had amazing years their first year. They came out of the draft, roaring onto the field, kicking ass and taking names. Vince Young broke the record for rushing yards by a rookie quarterback. It would later be broken by Cam Newton, who rushed, threw TDs, and led the Panthers to their best record in years. Setting another record, Cam Newton threw for over 400 yards in his first NFL season opener (breaking a record sent by Peyton Manning. And, Andy Dalton led the Bengals to a playoff run his first year. Despite all of their success, the sophomore years for these guys did not go as well. They threw more interceptions, lost more games, and generally had a horrible season.

Another infamous sophomore? Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow was a rookie in 2010, but only played 3 games. His first full year was 2011 when he played for the Denver Broncos. Most would say that Tebow's success was luck. He has always been underestimated (at least, according to Tim Tebow). But, aside from what was happening on the field, most people would recognize Tim Tebow for his off the field actions. A mormon, Tim Tebow was vocal about his faith. An adamant Christian, Tebow would often "celebrate" his TDs by kneeling in prayer in the end zone.

(Found out http://bleacherreport.com/articles/913212-tim-tebow-sparks-awesome-tebowing-craze-you-must-include-in-your-daily-routine). Eventually, "Tebowing" would become a craze just like planking...Finding people taking pictures of themselves kneeling in random places...even if they weren't Broncos fans....

(Hey -- sometimes you just gotta say a prayer that your defense gets an interception. In the case of this photo? They didn't. Sad).


The buzz about last year's rookies is that they are different. Russell Wilson of the Seahawks (of Fail Mary fame); RG3 from Washington; and Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers all led their teams to the playoffs. Kaepernick would drive the 49ers all the way to the Super Bowl (ironically, after taking the job from Alex Smith). As the new season is upon us, these are the 3 to watch. Interestingly enough, the Super Bowl champs often struggle the second year; rarely making it back to the championship game the next year. So the odds may already be stacked against Kaepernick. And, you may remember that RG3 left the final game (the NFC Wild Card game against the Seahawks) with a knee injury. Although cleared to practice during the pre-season, the question remains: how will RG3 be able to cut and run after having knee surgery? Will he be as explosive?

Fortunately, we don't have to wait long for our answer about these rookies...it's almost here! Are you ready for some football?!!