Christian Ponder Over Josh Freeman?
October 24th, 2012
Even Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder’s girlfriend, cutie ESPN sideline princess Samantha Steele, is stunned to learn Adam Schein would prefer her beau to quarterback his team over Bucs signal-caller Josh Freeman.
Joe has heard some wild tales in his life, but the following is right up there with the best.
As regular readerd here know, Joe loves — loves! — SiriusXM NFL Radio. Joe may listen to that station more than he watches the NFL Network, which is saying something.
Monday when discussing the previous day’s games, the subject of Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder came up (and no, it had nothing to do with the tryst he is currently involved in with ESPN hottie college football reporter Samantha Steele).
Ponder had a rare day Sunday in which he threw for a grand total of 58 yards, and won. This provoked popular sports radio personality Adam Schein, who co-hosts “The Blitz” with Rich Gannon, to invoke Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman’s name in the discussion.
(And no, Steele’s name still didn’t come up.)
“Rich, yesterday, Josh Freeman throws for 420 yards and three touchdowns,” Schein said. “If I had to pick right now who was quarterbacking my team, Christian Ponder or Josh Freeman, I’d have to pick Christian Ponder.”
Gannon, a big Freeman fan, seemed to be at a loss for words right away, but admitted it’s an interesting choice, though he is still a Freeman guy and he also thought Ponder will continue to grow as a starting NFL quarterback.
The key with Ponder, Schein pointed out, is he wins, despite pedestrian statistics.
Ponder and the Vikings are currently 5-2 and have their eyes set on a sprint for a postseason berth. The Bucs are 2-4 and staring at 2-5 with an always difficult Thursday road game in a stadium the Vikings have yet to lose in this season. If those trends continue, next spring’s draft will become a popular subject around the greater Tampa Bay area.
Joe brought Schein’s thoughts up for discussion with Ponder during a conference call Tuesday with the pen and mic club.
Adam Schein
“That’s one guy’s opinion,” Ponder said, sort of dismissing Schein’s thoughts. “I think Josh Freeman is a very good player. He was a first round pick a couple of years ago. I know him. He’s extremely talented and a good guy and works hard. To throw for over 400 yards and three touchdowns, yeah, it was a loss, but that’s playing at a high level. He’s going to be a quarterback in this league for a long time.”
Now Joe knows where Schein is coming from, sort of the Chris “Mad Dog” Russo of sports philosophy. Wins trump stats. Sort of like the banter of comparing Brad Johnson to Jeff George. Johnson won and has a ring to prove it; George had mind-boggling stats but few wins.
Still, despite Ponder’s eye for talent, Joe would take Freeman, who has much more of a body of work than Ponder.
If Joe’s readers would like to share their thoughts on Schein’s choice in quarterbacks, feel free to call “The Blitz” at 1-877-NFL-KICK between 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
October 24th, 2012 at 8:15 am
lmao I Qb throws 58 and the team loses, it is all his fault. But when he throws 58 and the team wins, he gets credit for the win?
WTF is wrong with people? How is it that so many refuse to acknowledge that football is a team sport?
October 24th, 2012 at 8:23 am
If only our defense held up against the Giants, Redskins and Saints Schein would be singing a different tune and we would be sitting at 5-1.
It is a team sport so 2-4 it is…hopefully 3-4 by Friday.
October 24th, 2012 at 8:26 am
And Schein is just radio entertainment…he knows squat. Never liked him.
October 24th, 2012 at 8:36 am
Schein is a schmuck and his “Hey, I’m a loud and annoying NY Jew” shtick is wearing thin.
October 24th, 2012 at 8:37 am
Dumb. So would Schein rather have Ponder of ’12 or Freeman of ’10?
October 24th, 2012 at 8:42 am
One of the more ignorant statements I’ve heard this year
October 24th, 2012 at 8:47 am
I think Schein has an eye for talentless people though… he DID pick Raheem Morris out as a complete dud.
Of course, that ain’t sayin much I guess.
About the game, Vikings have a good defense and have AP… this could be a loooong game. Lets hope Freeman can move around and make some plays to keep the drives going. They all should be hungry tomorrow night after yet another tough loss for such a tough team… thats right, I called the Buccaneers a tough team this year.
October 24th, 2012 at 8:53 am
Adam Schein looks and sounds like Kyle’s cousin, Kyle on the South Park epidsode where heavy stereotypes are involved
October 24th, 2012 at 9:14 am
So I guess Schein would rather have Tebow because even though this stats suck he still finds a way to win? Idiot!
October 24th, 2012 at 9:14 am
People should ask how you throw for 400 yards, 3 TDs with no turnovers and STILL lose.
October 24th, 2012 at 9:15 am
lol. cmon man. i know everybody loves to hate Freeman, but he’s playing lights out this year. i hope he continues to shut the doubters up with huge games. we have a special QB. if we can put a solid secondary on the other side of the ball, we win all day.
October 24th, 2012 at 9:24 am
This guy is a clown. We need to stop the Vikings running game and make Ponder win the game. Yes we lost to the Saints but if the offense comes to play last last week and I hope to see it again Thursday!
October 24th, 2012 at 9:29 am
like last week
October 24th, 2012 at 9:30 am
I think the bucs are built to beat teams like this. The vikings have a game manager at QB and good running game. Our D can stop the run so that will require Ponder to keep up with Freeman. I think the bucs pull out a win here. If we look at all the bucs losses there is one thing in common…. the opposing teams QB was a freak of nature (RG3, Manning, Brees, and Romo is still pretty darn good). The bucs offense is playing at a really high level and Ponder is not as good as any of the QBs i just mentioned. The bucs have only one weakness, mutant superhero QBs that come along once in a life time…. and play the bucs every week.
October 24th, 2012 at 9:36 am
Have A Nice Day , precisely.
October 24th, 2012 at 9:40 am
Josh has 17 come from behind wins ,how many does Ponder have.
Josh has a stronger arm.
Josh is bigger.
Josh is a better Qb ..
Ponder is a better runner, the guy can run with the ball, hopefully we will watch out for it.
October 24th, 2012 at 9:52 am
Its unfair to compare both of them at the moment, but both are sort of similar prospects except that Ponder is less talented than Freeman is. The similarity comes from them believed to be project QBs because of flawed mechanics. Both however ended up starting in their rookie season.
October 24th, 2012 at 10:01 am
Hey Schein, prepare to have your mind blown…..Tebow vs. Ponder! Kaboom!!
October 24th, 2012 at 10:18 am
Schein, while seemingly a nice guy, is a relatively unintelligent blowhard with little insight and even less consistency in his commentary. This is the same guy that picked Freeman to be league MVP before the 2011 season and now he’s telling us he’d rather have the, if we’re being generous, unproven Christian Ponder over Josh? It’s absurd and all we can do is laugh.
October 24th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
420 yards and 3 tds vs 58 yards passing and you take Ponder?! Freeman is as responsible for Vjax gassing out on a given td as Ponder is for A.P. rushing for 150 yards! Hey and maybe the fact that our d puts no pressure on opposing qb’s and there team has 22 sacks already this season! This guy is a wet fart!
October 25th, 2012 at 11:36 pm
LOL