Everything excellent has to come to an end. Blake Bortles, a former quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, has announced his retirement for this reason. But this shouldn’t be a surprise. Given that the BOAT hadn’t participated in a regular season game since 2019, this has been planned for some time.
During a visit on the Pardon My Take podcast, Bortles made the announcement that he was putting up his cleats. By way of NFL Media, Bortles claimed, “I haven’t touched a football since January.” I am now formally retired.
The former UCF Knight was selected third overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, and in 2015, when he completed 58.6 percent of his throws for 4,428 yards with 35 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, he drew the attention of the national media. While these statistics seem impressive at first glance, a deeper inspection reveals that output occurred during waste time.
After the 2017 season, Bortles was once more in the spotlight. In spite of Bortles, the Jags finished the season 10-6 thanks to their strong defense. However, the quarterback was given a $54 million, three-year contract by the front administration. The Jaguars’ management quickly realized their error and cut him loose after only one season.
After being cut loose, Bortles’ career took on a somewhat roving character as he played for the Rams, Green Bay Packers, and New Orleans Saints. In fact, his career had grown so commonplace in recent years that if he hadn’t announced his retirement, you wouldn’t hear about him in the media.
You may like former Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles and acknowledge his shortcomings.
Bortles is popular not for his football skills (which he lacked), but rather for the fact that he rose to the status of a folk hero. In his best statistical year (2015), the Jaguars went 5-11, but because of how much he inflated the stats, he rose to fame in fantasy football.
Similar to how the Jags advanced all the way to the AFC South Championship in 2017, Bortles had a fantastic supporting cast. His lack of talent became apparent the next season when injuries struck the defense. However, he never seemed out of his depth and was always relatable, which made him a fan favorite.
Additionally, someone created the Blake Bortles profile on Twitter, a page devoted to tweeting arbitrary statistics about the quarterback that made him appear much better than he actually was. Being likeable and being a franchise quarterback, however, are two whole different things, and neither the Jaguars nor any other NFL team would be able to use Bortles.
Since football is a team sport, every position is crucial, yet the quarterback has the greatest influence on a game’s outcome. The Jaguars acknowledged it and stopped focusing on Bortles. But it took them some time to get it properly. The turnover at the position didn’t end until they selected Trevor Lawrence in the 2017 draft. That is how challenging it is to identify a capable quarterback.
The main line is that you may respect a football player while yet acknowledging his lack of skill. Blake Bortles is the ideal illustration.
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