John Beck has impressed pretty much everyone this week in a series of radio interviews where he has explained why he believes he should be the Washington Redskins' starting quarterback next season. He's so impressive as an interview subject that LaVar Arrington followed one of his answers in his interview on 106.7 The Fan by saying "you're a well-spoken individual."
(Of course, Arrington later said that Beck's speaking made him feel like he was speaking to himself, but I digress).
There's so much to like about Beck's interviews, but I wanted to highlight this one answer he gave Arrington where he manages to use the word "opportunity" 15 times in three minutes. This would be a fun drinking game (not that we support that).
"When they drafted me, they told me that 'we're not going to play you right now, but down the road, you'll be the guy for the future.'" After one season, everybody that brought me on on that staff was gone. So the next opportunity was in a situation where, I think, in their eyes, they were giving me a shot to be a starter, but once they got [Chad] Pennington, I was deemed a backup.
Now you're in a backup role. When I went to Baltimore, I was not brought into Baltimore to compete to be a starter. Baltimore has Joe Flacco. I was brought into Baltimore to compete to be a backup. So, there is no opportunity to be a starter. But yet when I work and I train, I'm trying to be a starter.
Now, I come to Washington. Donovan McNabb has just signed a deal and was traded to the Washington Redskins. He is the guy. OK, so what situation am I in now? I'm still in that backup role. I have to have something to change that. Let's say that Donovan McNabb has a great season last year and goes to the Pro Bowl. Am I going to have an opportunity to become the starter over him? No. Regardless of whether the coach likes that guy, it doesn't matter because they have a guy. If a team has a guy, there is no way they're going to still give an opportunity to a backup. Well, maybe he can play better, but that doesn't happen.
In this league, your opportunities are slim and you're not always going to get more than one. I feel like it was going to take something to give me Opportunity No. 2. Opportunity No. 1 came when our team was 0-9, the ship was sinking and I became a starter as a rookie. Was it a great opportunity? No. But was it an opportunity? Yes.
That was an opportunity number one. I had to have something happen to have opportunity No. 2. No team was going to say 'This is the guy we're bringing in right now, and we totally believe in him and we're going to give him every opportunity we can to be the starter, like he was redrafted.' I do not get to go through the draft process again where I come into the NFL with a clean slate from college where nobody knows how it's going to shake down in the NFL. Everybody is going to remember me from what happened my rookie year.
So I have to get an opportunity, by whatever circumstance it may come from. That's how my opportunity is going to come.
Now, listen, I think Donovan is great. Donovan and I got along great. I think Donovan is a heck of a fooball player, and I will say that forever. I watched this dude on tape make some of the most amazing plays, and I watched him while growing up. I was the biggest fan of Donovan. I remember watching Donovan's 'Beyond the Glory,' then seeing him a few days later in Arizona when we got together. Donovan's a stud in my book and he always will be.
But, it doesn't change the fact that I needed to have an opportunity to be a starter, and the only way I was going to get it was a situation like this. So now, I have an opportunity, and I'm just trying to make the most of it.