Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
IS is my other closet doog love. I would lick Cfetters nacho covered grundle to have seen what this coaching staff and the 2016 team could have done with him at Qb.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
IS is my other closet doog love. I would lick Cfetters nacho covered grundle to have seen what this coaching staff and the 2016 team could have done with him at Qb.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
Fuck this debate again! Stanback didn't pop off in the Holiday Bowl, plus Jake was a much more exciting runner. Love 'em both!
Oh, sorry. I didn't realize "but Holiday Bowl". That makes everything perfectly clear now.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
Fuck this debate again! Stanback didn't pop off in the Holiday Bowl, plus Jake was a much more exciting runner. Love 'em both!
Oh, sorry. I didn't realize "but Holiday Bowl". That makes everything perfectly clear now.
Stanback got screwed by Ty and injured. Still kept battling. Watched that guy having to hoof it across campus on crutches. Idk if he could have been great but he certainly could have been better than Brownsocks if given the opportunity.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
You're talking a guy who was a four year starter versus a guy who was a two year starter. A guy who had hype as the #1 pick in the draft but spurned that to come back for another year versus a guy who was a 4th round pick at a different position. A guy whose first game was the stuff doog dreams were made of versus a guy whose first game was a blowout home loss to Fresno State in which he completed 20% of his passes and threw a pick six AND had a fumble returned for a TD.
You really surprised one of these guys has a much bigger fanbase than the other? Really?
Stanback was a talented kid who played under completely shittastic coaching staffs. But other than throwing an incredible Hail Mary to end the first half at Arizona did he have any real memorable moments? Did he ever make anyone believe he was taking UW anywhere?
Jake had Heisman hype and first round hype and every other kind of hype. Most of it was dumb, but it was hope at a time when UW fans were starved for it. IS never generated that kind of hype, or that kind of hope.
That's really my point.
A lot of what made Jake popular (and I think there were other things) was the potential and the "Great Athlete" stuff. But he couldn't throw the 15 yd. out. I remember watching him and his coaching staff try against SC like 10 times and he couldn't throw it. So Stanback had some limitations, and so did Jake.
But Stanback played in a very tuff era of Husky football, could also have gone elsewhere, also had a legitimate option to play baseball, and was an unbelievable talent. He also got hurt, but games played isn't the test because Jake had all that hype coming in and would still be a doog legend even if he'd suffered Stanback's injury. Stanback also played WR and played special teams.
Fine, give Locker the edge. I just never thought the differences between them were that huge, in the "one's great, one's mediocre" sense of the point. They were both very exciting players with a ton of upside that was never realized. Stanback had some great moments and games for Washington beyond that pass to Chambers. You're short-changing him.
We're talking about the difference between one who is a deity around Montlake, and one who is rare even mentioned.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
You're talking a guy who was a four year starter versus a guy who was a two year starter. A guy who had hype as the #1 pick in the draft but spurned that to come back for another year versus a guy who was a 4th round pick at a different position. A guy whose first game was the stuff doog dreams were made of versus a guy whose first game was a blowout home loss to Fresno State in which he completed 20% of his passes and threw a pick six AND had a fumble returned for a TD.
You really surprised one of these guys has a much bigger fanbase than the other? Really?
Stanback was a talented kid who played under completely shittastic coaching staffs. But other than throwing an incredible Hail Mary to end the first half at Arizona did he have any real memorable moments? Did he ever make anyone believe he was taking UW anywhere?
Jake had Heisman hype and first round hype and every other kind of hype. Most of it was dumb, but it was hope at a time when UW fans were starved for it. IS never generated that kind of hype, or that kind of hope.
That's really my point.
A lot of what made Jake popular (and I think there were other things) was the potential and the "Great Athlete" stuff. But he couldn't throw the 15 yd. out. I remember watching him and his coaching staff try against SC like 10 times and he couldn't throw it. So Stanback had some limitations, and so did Jake.
But Stanback played in a very tuff era of Husky football, could also have gone elsewhere, also had a legitimate option to play baseball, and was an unbelievable talent. He also got hurt, but games played isn't the test because Jake had all that hype coming in and would still be a doog legend even if he'd suffered Stanback's injury. Stanback also played WR and played special teams.
Fine, give Locker the edge. I just never thought the differences between them were that huge, in the "one's great, one's mediocre" sense of the point. They were both very exciting players with a ton of upside that was never realized. Stanback had some great moments and games for Washington beyond that pass to Chambers. You're short-changing him.
We're talking about the difference between one who is a deity around Montlake, and one who is rare even mentioned.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
You're talking a guy who was a four year starter versus a guy who was a two year starter. A guy who had hype as the #1 pick in the draft but spurned that to come back for another year versus a guy who was a 4th round pick at a different position. A guy whose first game was the stuff doog dreams were made of versus a guy whose first game was a blowout home loss to Fresno State in which he completed 20% of his passes and threw a pick six AND had a fumble returned for a TD.
You really surprised one of these guys has a much bigger fanbase than the other? Really?
Stanback was a talented kid who played under completely shittastic coaching staffs. But other than throwing an incredible Hail Mary to end the first half at Arizona did he have any real memorable moments? Did he ever make anyone believe he was taking UW anywhere?
Jake had Heisman hype and first round hype and every other kind of hype. Most of it was dumb, but it was hope at a time when UW fans were starved for it. IS never generated that kind of hype, or that kind of hope.
That's really my point.
A lot of what made Jake popular (and I think there were other things) was the potential and the "Great Athlete" stuff. But he couldn't throw the 15 yd. out. I remember watching him and his coaching staff try against SC like 10 times and he couldn't throw it. So Stanback had some limitations, and so did Jake.
But Stanback played in a very tuff era of Husky football, could also have gone elsewhere, also had a legitimate option to play baseball, and was an unbelievable talent. He also got hurt, but games played isn't the test because Jake had all that hype coming in and would still be a doog legend even if he'd suffered Stanback's injury. Stanback also played WR and played special teams.
Fine, give Locker the edge. I just never thought the differences between them were that huge, in the "one's great, one's mediocre" sense of the point. They were both very exciting players with a ton of upside that was never realized. Stanback had some great moments and games for Washington beyond that pass to Chambers. You're short-changing him.
We're talking about the difference between one who is a deity around Montlake, and one who is rare even mentioned.
I didn't say he didn't, I said he didn't do anything else that was memorable.
I was a huge Stanback fun from his HS days, I'm a pretty big Metro League/city schools homer. I wanted him to do well. Even more than I wanted Jake too. But Jake, for all his considerable flaws (and I'm absolutely in the "he's overrated on this bored" camp) had the Syracuse debut, knocked off USC (twice) including the huge pass to Kearse in the first one, beat a ranked Oregon State in double OT or whatever it was where he kept hitting Kearse, engineered the game tying drive against Hawaii only to have Marcel Reece drop it in the end zone and gave LSU all they could handle.
He also had the shit Nebraska games, the ND 12 QB sneaks that could never break the plane, broke his wrist throwing a block that lead to owen, and of course the 5 Reasons Oregon game. Even Locker's failures were memorable.
Stanback, OTOH, literally did five things I remember: The disastrous debut against Fresno, the Chambers bomb, started 4-1 then the "we needed more clock" comeback attempt against USC and breaking his ankle the next week against OSU. I'm not saying he didn't do more than that, I'm just saying he didn't do shit that registered in the way Jake's did.
Saw a special on him. Didn’t know him but seemed like a family guy that was a good qb, not great, but made his $$$ and said fuck it...
Bought what he wanted, settled into what he wanted, and all the power to his ass for “making it” ...I guess...
Seemed like good dude.
according to @RoadDawg55 he is fucking failure go figure
He’s a failure as a NFL QB. Nobody ever said he wasn’t a good guy or that he didn’t make a lot of money.
I was shocked when he was picked #8 overall. My theory was that the Titans thought he'd be highly marketable in the South
You're overthinking this. Did you see how high Josh Allen went?
NFL GMs and coaches think they can develop a kid with great tools who doesn't know how to play quarterback.
81% of the time, they can't.
You make good points, but I also think that being white didn't hurt Jake. And I'm usually not one to immediately point to race.
His lack of chintelligence would have almost certainly been a bigger draft issue had he been a different color.
I agree. Stanback was a bit ahead of his time. I wonder what could have been had he come up in this era, which is so much less obsessed with rigid criteria for a classic NFL drop back passer.
Lest anyone forget, on any given Sunday, IS would be the fastest human being on the field. When you start getting down into 10.4 for the 100 meters, the company you keep is quite limited.
And the guy could throw 100 miles without stepping into a pass.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
You're talking a guy who was a four year starter versus a guy who was a two year starter. A guy who had hype as the #1 pick in the draft but spurned that to come back for another year versus a guy who was a 4th round pick at a different position. A guy whose first game was the stuff doog dreams were made of versus a guy whose first game was a blowout home loss to Fresno State in which he completed 20% of his passes and threw a pick six AND had a fumble returned for a TD.
You really surprised one of these guys has a much bigger fanbase than the other? Really?
Stanback was a talented kid who played under completely shittastic coaching staffs. But other than throwing an incredible Hail Mary to end the first half at Arizona did he have any real memorable moments? Did he ever make anyone believe he was taking UW anywhere?
Jake had Heisman hype and first round hype and every other kind of hype. Most of it was dumb, but it was hope at a time when UW fans were starved for it. IS never generated that kind of hype, or that kind of hope.
That's really my point.
A lot of what made Jake popular (and I think there were other things) was the potential and the "Great Athlete" stuff. But he couldn't throw the 15 yd. out. I remember watching him and his coaching staff try against SC like 10 times and he couldn't throw it. So Stanback had some limitations, and so did Jake.
But Stanback played in a very tuff era of Husky football, could also have gone elsewhere, also had a legitimate option to play baseball, and was an unbelievable talent. He also got hurt, but games played isn't the test because Jake had all that hype coming in and would still be a doog legend even if he'd suffered Stanback's injury. Stanback also played WR and played special teams.
Fine, give Locker the edge. I just never thought the differences between them were that huge, in the "one's great, one's mediocre" sense of the point. They were both very exciting players with a ton of upside that was never realized. Stanback had some great moments and games for Washington beyond that pass to Chambers. You're short-changing him.
We're talking about the difference between one who is a deity around Montlake, and one who is rare even mentioned.
Locker was God on campus because since high school every coach in Washington claimed he would be elite in the NFL.
Then he showed some rare viking athleticism in that Syracuse showcase game.
He became revered among students and fans to a level even he didn't feel comfortable with. Just something to get excited about in a shit era.
Edit: oh, you said a lot of this in your original post that I only read half of. Students and fans of the era have more respect for Stanback than you think, but Jake was such a legend from high school. I remember getting my shit pushed in in the playoffs against Ferndale while my dads talked about how much Jake could bench and how demigod his chest was. Was definitely a doog fuckfest from the beginning of his career.
Had to go to school during his era. He came back to play ball at our then loser school instead of being drafted after already coming to our then loser school in the first place. Was not surprised at all by his early retirement. Dude always did what he thought was right for him regardless of what anyone else said.
Objectively, I recognize he wasn't a great QB. My doog heart will always love the guy for picking UW as the home town team and then winning us a shitty Holiday Bowl after the dark dark years.
I get that. What I don't get is why there isn't even a fraction of the same appreciation for Isiah Stanback, who was arguably the best pure athlete to play football at UW (or in the Pac 12).
Fuck this debate again! Stanback didn't pop off in the Holiday Bowl, plus Jake was a much more exciting runner. Love 'em both!
Oh, sorry. I didn't realize "but Holiday Bowl". That makes everything perfectly clear now.
I met Stanback on campus while working on the row boathouse. I was really thrilled and I am old as has been previously reported
I'm the guy that saw his film at the recruiting banquet and compared him to Elway. He was always my choice to start. Dawgman posters were borderline racist in their treatment of him
Watch A Football Life on Doug Williams. Michael Wilbon is saying its the mid 80's people and the idea of a Black QB was controversial. Think about that. Jimmy the Greek called him a choker before the 87 playoffs that ended in a SB win so I'm glad that fat fuck got fired
Stanback needed help and coaching. He came out of Garfield before Joey Thomas was there as one of the great coaches of our lifetime
Stanback has a Super Bowl ring even if it wasn't as a QB. Is there any other UW QB other than Brunell that has one?
The answer will shock you
Damon Huard was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1996, and played twelve seasons in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Kansas City Chiefs. While with the Patriots, he won two Super Bowl rings.
Comments
Please don't send me to the gulag.
A lot of what made Jake popular (and I think there were other things) was the potential and the "Great Athlete" stuff. But he couldn't throw the 15 yd. out. I remember watching him and his coaching staff try against SC like 10 times and he couldn't throw it. So Stanback had some limitations, and so did Jake.
But Stanback played in a very tuff era of Husky football, could also have gone elsewhere, also had a legitimate option to play baseball, and was an unbelievable talent. He also got hurt, but games played isn't the test because Jake had all that hype coming in and would still be a doog legend even if he'd suffered Stanback's injury. Stanback also played WR and played special teams.
Fine, give Locker the edge. I just never thought the differences between them were that huge, in the "one's great, one's mediocre" sense of the point. They were both very exciting players with a ton of upside that was never realized. Stanback had some great moments and games for Washington beyond that pass to Chambers. You're short-changing him.
We're talking about the difference between one who is a deity around Montlake, and one who is rare even mentioned.
I was a huge Stanback fun from his HS days, I'm a pretty big Metro League/city schools homer. I wanted him to do well. Even more than I wanted Jake too. But Jake, for all his considerable flaws (and I'm absolutely in the "he's overrated on this bored" camp) had the Syracuse debut, knocked off USC (twice) including the huge pass to Kearse in the first one, beat a ranked Oregon State in double OT or whatever it was where he kept hitting Kearse, engineered the game tying drive against Hawaii only to have Marcel Reece drop it in the end zone and gave LSU all they could handle.
He also had the shit Nebraska games, the ND 12 QB sneaks that could never break the plane, broke his wrist throwing a block that lead to owen, and of course the 5 Reasons Oregon game. Even Locker's failures were memorable.
Stanback, OTOH, literally did five things I remember: The disastrous debut against Fresno, the Chambers bomb, started 4-1 then the "we needed more clock" comeback attempt against USC and breaking his ankle the next week against OSU. I'm not saying he didn't do more than that, I'm just saying he didn't do shit that registered in the way Jake's did.
Lest anyone forget, on any given Sunday, IS would be the fastest human being on the field. When you start getting down into 10.4 for the 100 meters, the company you keep is quite limited.
And the guy could throw 100 miles without stepping into a pass.
Kid was a freak.
Then he showed some rare viking athleticism in that Syracuse showcase game.
He became revered among students and fans to a level even he didn't feel comfortable with. Just something to get excited about in a shit era.
Edit: oh, you said a lot of this in your original post that I only read half of. Students and fans of the era have more respect for Stanback than you think, but Jake was such a legend from high school. I remember getting my shit pushed in in the playoffs against Ferndale while my dads talked about how much Jake could bench and how demigod his chest was. Was definitely a doog fuckfest from the beginning of his career.
I'm the guy that saw his film at the recruiting banquet and compared him to Elway. He was always my choice to start. Dawgman posters were borderline racist in their treatment of him
Watch A Football Life on Doug Williams. Michael Wilbon is saying its the mid 80's people and the idea of a Black QB was controversial. Think about that. Jimmy the Greek called him a choker before the 87 playoffs that ended in a SB win so I'm glad that fat fuck got fired
Stanback needed help and coaching. He came out of Garfield before Joey Thomas was there as one of the great coaches of our lifetime
Leave IS alone and fuck Locker and Ty