Superman arm key to NFL quarterbacking? Don't believe it

Once upon a time there was a TV commercial where Michael Vick -- then the quarterback in Atlanta -- drops back and rockets a short pass into the chest of a receiver -- knocking him off his feet and catapulting him three yards in the air downfield.

"Did you see that?" says an off-camera voice. "That's Michael Vick! Number 7!"

Nobody questioned the strength of Michael Vick's arm. (US Presswire)

Then Vick takes a snap, retreats to the 5-yard line and does what only a quarterback with the help of the Special Effects Department can do: Launch a bomb that sails up, up and way out of the stadium. You heard me, out of the friggin' Los Angeles Coliseum.

"Oh, no! No!" says the voice. "That's crazy!"

The point of the commercial was to portray Vick as Superman -- capable of accomplishing the unimaginable because of an extraordinary passing arm. As a commercial, it made its point. But as a pro football primer it missed.

By a mile.

That's because arm strength may be the most overrated quality in NFL quarterbacks. Don't get me wrong, you like having it in a passer. But if you don't -- I mean, if he can't clear the Coliseum peristyle with a single throw -- it doesn't mean he spends a career backing up Matt Cassel.

Exhibit A: Chad Pennington of Miami. For years, people said he didn't have the arm to make it as a starter -- only he not only was the starter for the New York Jets, he was the starter on a playoff team.

So then the mantra changed, with critics charging that Pennington's arm strength somehow held the Jets back; that they suffered because he/they couldn't make plays downfield.

Maybe. But what they forgot to mention was that Pennington was accurate and smart with the football. In fact, he was so dead-on with his throws that, statistically, he's the most accurate quarterback in the history of the league.

Two weeks ago, Pennington made all the right throws in an upset of San Diego, his third straight game without an interception. One week later he hit touchdown passes of 53 and 80 yards in a near-upset of Houston.

Now he's the sixth-ranked passer in a league that is supposed to belong to quarterbacks who can bench the Astrodome, and it wasn't throwing a football 75 yards that got him there.

"The whole arm strength thing has gotten overplayed," said San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers, "and it starts at the combine, where the 40-yard dash is overdone. I mean, how many times do you get in that kind of stance for a 40-yard straight?

"I think arm strength certainly can help you. The more you have it can help you on certain throws and in tight windows. Ultimately, though, a lot of guys make up for it with timing -- a guy who gets the ball out of his hand quickly or who knows where to go with the football. A lot of times anticipation can make up for a guy who can throw it 80 yards.

"I've always said there's something about being able to put 'zip' on the ball -- a guy who can gun it in a window. That's certainly an asset that some have more than others. But the guy who can throw it 85 yards? I've never seen anyone get an opportunity to throw it that far. Most 'go' routes are caught between 44- and 47 yards; you're not throwing it 65 or 70 yards."

Kyle Boller made himself famous among scouts for a combine fling. (US Presswire)

Funny that Rivers should mention the NFL scouting combine in connection with Herculean arms because it was there that then-Cal star Kyle Boller was discovered -- with scouts drooling over a workout where, according to legend, he threw a football 50 yards from his knees.

That was supposed to make Boller a first-round cinch, and maybe it did. All I know is that five years after making him a first-round draft pick the Baltimore Ravens were forced to return there to find his successor.

"To me," said an AFC quarterbacks coach, "you ask: Is the guy 6-2, and does he have enough arm talent -- whatever that means? From there it's retention, mental toughness, physical toughness and accuracy. Arm strength doesn't even factor into the equation. That's something the bean counters can see and talk about, but it has nothing to do with it."

I don't know that I'd go that far because ... Brett Favre? Yep, he has a big arm. Ben Roethlisberger? Big arm. But both guys fit our coach's shopping list with mental toughness, physical toughness and accuracy, too.

OK, so Favre has the momentary brain lock. He's also experienced enough to know when he can and should take a chance, with this year's season opener a perfect example. On fourth-and-13 at the Miami 22, he escaped a near sack and lobbed a prayer high into the Miami secondary. When the ball descended the Jets' Chansi Stuckey grabbed it, and New York had a six-point lead.

"Arm strength can definitely be overrated," said Rivers, "but it certainly can help. What it does is allow you sometimes to get away with being late. It allows you to think: 'Let me take another hitch because I can get it in there; I can throw the comeback late and make sure (a defender) is not sitting on it.' "

When I asked a general manager I trust to cite the qualities he looks for in quarterbacks he listed the following: Can he make all the throws necessary? Mobility. Poise. Accuracy. And, is he a winner?

I'm still waiting for arm strength to make the cut.

"Arm strength," said an NFC head coach, "is tied into the intelligence of the quarterback. If he is smart, understands defenses and anticipates his throws well -- like a Chad Pennington -- arm strength is not a big factor.

"But if he is young or not the brightest guy then arm strength is more important because he will be late on some throws and need a stronger arm to get the ball in a tighter window."

When Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts struggled late in his career, critics started dissecting his arm, charging that he couldn't make throws down the field anymore. Assistant coach Ernie Zampese, who coached Fouts in his greatest seasons, scoffed at the idea.

"He never had a big arm," he said. "It was all about accuracy and getting the ball out on time."

I believe it. I was at a practice when Monday Night Football filmed Fouts making a routine throw to receiver Charlie Joiner on a 7-yard sideline pattern. There was nothing extraordinary about a drill the two ran daily except for this: Fouts was blindfolded.

Which was why Monday Night Football was filming. The idea was that Fouts was so accurate, so precise with his throws, so sure where he was going with the ball, that he could hit a target ... well, with his eyes closed.

So he proved it. The pass reached Joiner's hands just before he stepped out of bounds.

"You want all the qualities you're thinking about in a quarterback," said San Diego coach Norv Turner, "like decision making, timing and accuracy. But this is what I think about arm strength: It's like if you have a high performance car you like to have that little extra ... just in case you need it.

"And that's what I see in arm strength. With the guy who -- when he has to -- can cut it loose and fit it in a tight area, it makes him just a notch better than a guy who doesn't. But it's not the key deal."

The key deal is finding someone who can win. The knock on Dallas quarterback Brad Johnson is that he can't throw the ball downfield -- with one teammate nicknaming him "Checkdown Johnson." OK, so he can't get the ball downfield. He won a Super Bowl, and, I'm sorry, I'll take wins over style points.

I covered Hall-of-Fame quarterback Steve Young for years, and he wasn't exactly known as the Nolan Ryan of passers, either. But he completed a high percentage of passes, made smart plays, was extraordinary on the run and won.

Most of all, he won.

In fact, when the 49ers achieved their last Super Bowl in 1994, they won 13 of their last 14 games, with Young throwing 35 touchdown passes and three interceptions over that time -- including a Super Bowl-record six TD passes.

Steve Young couldn't throw a ball 50 yards from his knees. He didn't break the sound barrier with his fast ball, either. And, to the best of my knowledge, he never reached the parking lot of the L.A. Coliseum from within the stadium.

Instead, he was accurate and smart with the football, and give me that quarterback any day over Michael Vick.

In fact, the next time someone tells you how far, say, a JaMarcus Russell or Jay Cutler can launch a football direct him to YouTube for the Vick commercial. Then ask which quarterback he'd rather have throwing the football for his team: Michael Vick or Chad Pennington?

I rest my case.