Every red-blooded competitor in the sport has a breaking point. One humbly accepts their plight for only so long.
Talent cannot be confined to a practice field forever. Frustration boils over. And the night of Nov. 27, 2022, Jordan Love proved he deserves to start in the NFL.
Against the NFC’s best team, he was nearly perfect. Afterward, however, he was in no cheery mood. When longtime mentor and personal quarterbacks coach Steve Calhoun texted him — “unbelievable game” — Love was… glum. “But Steve,” he responded. “We lost.” Love made it clear how badly he wanted to win this game. Deep down, both knew a comeback win smashes perception for good.
“It would've put the rest of the NFL on notice,” says Calhoun. “Like, ‘OK, you got somebody to deal with here over the next 10 years.’”
Love received all of seven snaps the final five games.
Of course, he wanted to remain the Packers’ starting quarterback after that game. Of course, he’s growing irritated by this whole charade.
“We’re all human,” Calhoun says. “There’s definitely frustration but you understand the dynamic and you’ve got a future Hall of Famer in front of you that you can’t be upset about. You can be frustrated but you just control what you can control. He is working. He’s trying to learn the offense as well as Coach LaFleur knows it. That's his whole deal: ‘I want to know the offense as well as Coach LaFleur.’ Almost be that second coach on the field. If Coach starts to talk about a play or how they can scheme up, Jordan wants to finish the sentence. That’s what he's working toward every day.”
Good news, Jordan.
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