Fans dread seeing it happen.
Their star player, the leader of the team, the on-field commander other players look toward to perform in times of greatest need, is lying on the field, writhing in pain, succumbing to injury. In the blink of an eye, the untested backup is thrust into the spotlight in front of thousands of fans hanging on his every movement. For the team, his performance will play a critical role in the their success without their superstar. If he performs well, laud and glory await him, but if he should falter, the career he’s worked for years to build could crumble just as quickly as it was made.
Modern NFL teams stack their squads with a slew of backup players, often keeping five or six players of the same position on the roster at a time. While most of these position players make far less than their starting teammates in terms of salary, they still rake in a sizable amount of cash for a job that requires them to stand on the sideline for the majority of their work-time, leading many fans to wonder why a team would even bother employing so many players who rarely, if ever, make any sort of contribution on the field.
Backup players are employed for one primary reason: security.
The team pays them, trains them and transports them all so, come game time, a little bit of the pressure surrounding the health of key starting players can be alleviated. In a game such as football, injuries are a common occurrence. It’s not an uncommon occurrence to witness an injury during the course of a game, or perhaps even multiple injuries. It’s part of the nature of the sport, and star players are no exception to the rule.
Few NFL fans will forget the predicament the New England Patriots found themselves in when their superstar quarterback Tom Brady suffered an injury in the first game of the 2008 regular season. Matt Cassel, perennial backup at both the collegiate and professional levels, was charged with replacing the future Hall of Famer Brady, nothing short of a Herculean task. However, Cassel performed respectably by providing enough offensive firepower to lead the Patriots to a winning record.
Conversely, the Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback in 2011, Kerry Collins, failed miserably at filling the shoes of injured star Peyton Manning. The Colts toiled through one of their roughest season stretches in franchise history under Collins, a slump the team is only now beginning to arise from.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans were forced to accept the importance of backup players during this season while their starting quarterback sat injured on the sidelines. City-favorite and long-time second man, Charlie Batch, was from competent in filling Ben Roethlisberger’s shoes, and the team’s record shows it.
Backup players are vital to the success of any team who understands the frailty of its superstars, and realizes that at any given moment the face of the team may undergo a drastic change. Without second string players who are prepared both mentally and physically to take the field at the drop of a dime, teams suffer.
To succeed year after year, teams must learn from the mistakes of others in years past and seek out backup players who can, and want to, perform at the highest level possible.
