Among the criticisms Star Tribune‘s sports columnist Jim Souhan has of Tarvaris Jackson‘s performance Monday night is that the QB would "bail out on a game because of a leg cramp, as he did Monday night."
This kind of stuff drives me nuts. I can only assume that Souhan does not play football or perhaps any sport because he clearly doesn’t understand how a leg cramp feels.
It doesn’t last long but it hurts a lot and freaks you out even more because your body is behaving in a way it does not usually behave. It’s not a condition with which you can effectively play.
There was plenty to criticize about Jackson’s game but taking himself out for a few plays because of painful and disruptive leg cramps is not one of them.
And is Souhan had had just a bit of experience with the sport he writes about, he’d understand that.
Update: Add Patrick Reusse to the list of desk jockey sports writers: "Against Chicago, Jackson threw three interceptions, had a quarterback
rating of 50.0 and bailed out with a cramp when his team was inside the
10 on the winning touchdown drive."
Update II: Sadly, add the Star Tribune’s generally very good Vikings beat writer Kevin Seifert to the list: "…oddly succumbing to leg cramps in the Vikings’ 20-13 victory over the Chicago Bears at the Metrodome."