Arguments Versus Opinions

With a lot happening in football now that the draft is over, a lot of opinions are being stated and arguments being made. What people seem to not understand is that while opinions are to be respected, they are not arguments. An argument is something with factual data to back up the issue and stance at hand. When one makes an argument, they have something behind it to explain why they feel the way they do. An opinion is what a person feels about a certain subject, however they do not have solid evidence to back up what they feel. For instance:

One states that Tim Tebow is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Fine. They cannot however present any statistics on why he is one of the best. That is an opinion.

Someone else states that while Tim Tebow is a tremendous athlete, he is not a very strong quarterback. They then explain that his career completion percentage in the NFL is about 46% while his touchdown to interception ratio is less than 2:1 (17 touchdowns to 9 interceptions). That is a valid argument. They have an opinion and back it up with solid data to explain why they feel the way that they do.

This has been getting out of hand as of late. Loyalty has a place in sports, however people need to stop using invalid points to serve their opinion. While I hate Tebow as a quarterback, I cannot use his religious stance as an argument. That would fall under a totally different topic. I shall post a few of my arguments here and add to them how people use invalid opinions to solidify them.

Tony Romo. Before you even get started with the Homo jokes, hear me out. Tony Romo is a good, not great, quarterback. You may feel he sucks because of the Cowboys playoff record. That isn’t on him. You need to remember the other 52 players on the roster that aren’t pulling their own weight. Evidence to support? Yeah I got it right here. With the exception of his first season under center full time, Tomo Romo has posted crazy numbers. Every season that he started all 16 games, he has posted over 4,000 yards as well as a completion percentage of 64%. Add 26 touchdowns as his lowest total in a 16 game season, but as many as 36 to that. I would say that is pretty good. Now if you look at the Dallas defense in those same years, you get a picture of why he hasn’t had so much success. Yes, he made a mistake that cost his team the game in his first playoff appearance. That unfortunately defines his whole career. He has had some trouble with turnovers, but he bounces back and puts his team in a position to win it.

Philip Rivers. I hate this guy. Unfortunately my opinion has no solid backing. While I can’t stand him as a player, he puts up numbers that challenge Brady, Manning, and Brees. Once again, his defense gives games away. With the exception of his first two seasons when Tomlinson was getting 100 carries a game, Rivers put up over 3,600 yards. Add to the stat sheet a 63% completion percentage and 26-34 touchdowns a season. Damn near Pro Bowl numbers. His stain is his interception percentage the last two seasons. With that has been the horrid offensive line he has been dealing with along with the ever rotating receiving corps that he has. Losing Vincent Jackson was a huge blow. It was even worse when they lost Darren Sproles. Antonio Gates can’t be the only receiver for Rivers. With the addition of Keenan Allen, look to see Rivers put up better numbers this year.

Tom Brady. Is there anybody I hate to respect more? While you can make a very valid argument that Montana is the greatest of all time, Brady combats it with astronomical numbers. And don’t say Moss was the reason. If it was Moss, than Anthony Wright and Aaron Brooks wouldn’t still be looking for a second job outside bagging groceries. Brady’s run has been tarnished as of late due to lack of success in the playoffs. Some forget what he did from 2003-2007. You can use “Spygate” as an excuse, but please don’t fool yourself in thinking that Brady wasn’t good enough to win anyways. While recent years he hasn’t won a Super Bowl (he was there last year), he still puts up monster numbers. Last year alone his defense was ranked dead last in the league. You can’t win without a complete team. Oh, and for the facts I said you needed to make an argument: 44,806 career passing yards. Over 3,500 every season minus his ACL ending season in Week 1 of 2008. 63.7% completion percentage. 334 touchdowns as to 123 interceptions, over 3:1. To top it off, a career 96.6 quarterback rating. Commence hating opinions with non-existent data to back up opinions.

Ray Lewis. My personal favorite player of all time. Most state that he is a murderer or something along those lines. That is your opinion, however I wasn’t aware that you had new evidence to support your claim. You claim that he paid off the family, whatever. You weren’t there and are just speaking out of hate. Regardless of all that, those things are not football. On the football field, this guy is a future Hall of Famer. He brought severe intensity to the game which helped him be great. He is the only member of the 40+ sack/30+ interception club. He was a two time defensive player of the year. He was voted by his peers into the Pro Bowl 13 times. He consistently lead the team in tackles. You can hate him all you want, but there is no denying that Ray Lewis was one of the greatest linebackers of all time. And what’s with everyone hating him for his religious stance? Yeah I get that it got obnoxious at times but here’s my issue. You hate Ray Lewis for it, yet you love Tim Tebow who is way more extreme?

Eli Manning. I have trouble on him as a quarterback. I think he rides on the coattails of a great defense. He gets credit for winning the Super Bowl twice. What people don’t consider, especially Giants fans, is that the Giants held football’s most prolific offense to 17 and 14 points in both Super Bowl appearances. 14 points being the undefeated season in which the Patriots broke the single season scoring record. Eli gets’s credit for that based off of one pass where David Tyree saved him. Mario Manningham did the same in 2012 (2011 season). Granted Eli made a great throw, Manningham made one hell of a catch keeping his toes inbounds. You also have to consider that Eli only managed to put up 21 points, 14 being from rushing, field goals, and a safety by Brady, on the league’s worst defense. How is that “elite”? Why does Eli get so much credit for what his teammates did for him? Here are some stats to back it up:

2004- 6 touchdowns to 9 interceptions.

2005- 24 touchdowns to 17 interceptions

2006- 24 touchdowns to 18 interceptions

2007- 23 touchdowns to 20 interceptions

2008- 21 touchdowns to 10 interceptions (first and last season above 2:1…..barely)

2009- 27 touchdowns to 14 interceptions

2010- 31 touchdowns to 25 interceptions

2011- 39 touchdowns to 16 interceptions

2012- 26 touchdowns to 15 interceptions

People need to start putting facts with their arguments. If you can’t do that, then you need to stop jumping on people for something you don’t agree with. Someone who can clearly explain why they feel the way they do AND use factual data to back it up, well you have yourself an argument there. But if you just disagree because you don’t like someone for whatever reason and have nothing other than that, don’t even bother speaking. You can state your opinion, but don’t get upset when someone challenges you or doesn’t respect your opinion at that point.

Disagree? Let me know how you feel about this! Please remember to keep it respectful and professional. Thanks again!