I am not really a sports fan. I gave it a try as a young boy, but my early experiments rooting for the Chicago Cubs were not a wholesome experience. So I stopped short of choosing an NFL team to root for, and did not make the leap even after moving to California.
In spite of my lack of NFL fan bona fides, I think that the breakout season of the 49ers’ Brock Purdy is a great story. The NFL likes its quarterbacks big. At 6 foot 1, he is no Doug Flutie, but most of the guys out there tower over him. He was the very last pick of the 2022 NFL draft, automatically earning him the title of Mr. Irrelevant, which sounds like an R. Crumb comic book character.
Ever since his ascent over two crumpled bodies to the 49ers’ starting quarterback position, he has done nothing but amaze. Initially, he benefited from low expectations, a strategy that I have embraced in my own career. But game after game, it has become clear that this kid, the unlikeliest of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, is a cold-blooded killer in an Opie wrapper.
