By Rick Anderson
For the Grays Harbor News Group
A long-ago theater critic once wrote that the best and worst jobs on Broadway both belonged to Ethel Merman’s understudy.
During a long career as a Broadway musical star, Merman became legendary for seldom missing a performance. That meant her understudies drew a regular salary for doing little except attending rehearsals, but they also received few opportunities to showcase their talent.
Whomever wins the backup quarterback job for the Seattle Seahawks this season is in a similar boat.
For the past seven years, the Hawks could have entrusted their backup job to 66-year-old Jim Zorn without risking their on-field fortunes.
That’s due to Russell Wilson’s remarkable durability.
The Seahawks have played 125 regular-season and playoff games since Wilson earned the starting quarterback job as a rookie in 2012. Wilson has started every one of them.
Aside from a 2017 meaningless regular-season finale in which Trevone Boykin played the second half as a precautionary measure, Wilson hasn’t even missed many snaps during that span.
Seattle reserve quarterbacks during the Wilson era should thus have two major qualifications.
They need to accept the situation and create no disruptions in the locker room. But since the law of averages would seem to dictate that Wilson will eventually suffer an injury, they also should be capable of taking the controls for an indefinite period.
As referenced in a previous column, the first reason is why I believe former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick — although probably deserving of National Football League employment — would be a poor fit for the Seahawks.
Having already missed two years of football for reasons likely related to his social activism, Kaepernick almost certainly would be unhappy idly standing (or kneeling) on Seattle’s sidelines.
Seahawk coaches and management, meanwhile, would be equally miffed by incessant questioning over Kaepernick’s role. Clearly, they didn’t sign Wilson to a record contract for the purpose of embroiling him in a quarterback controversy.
Tarvaris Jackson, Wilson’s backup during Seattle’s two Super Bowl seasons in 2013-14, represented the other side of the equation.
Since he was popular with teammates and didn’t push for increased playing time, Jackson was regarded as an ideal understudy.
It might have been a different story had the Hawks actually been forced to play him. As a starter during the first of two stints with the Seahawks, Jackson was mediocre at best.
Even with Kaepernick out of the picture, this year’s candidates for the backup job are a fascinating lot.
They include veteran Geno Smith, a former starter for the New York Jets, one-time Denver phenom Paxton Lynch and second-year pro (and former Ohio State standout) J.T. Barrett.
The competition is complicated by Injuries to Smith and Lynch.
The presumptive favorite due to his greater NFL experience, Smith missed Sunday’s preseason contest at Minnesota after having a cyst surgically removed from a knee. Lynch absorbed a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit late in that contest and is undergoing concussion protocol.
Although he was far from great against the Vikings, Lynch would get my vote for the job. If not Lynch, possibly Barrett or someone off the waiver wire.
Experience doesn’t count for much when it’s a negative experience.
Smith has started only two games in the past four years. Previously, as a starter for the Jets, he repeatedly demonstrated he was incapable of holding a regular job. During his career, he has committed 46 turnovers while throwing only 29 touchdown passes.
A first-round draft choice in 2016, Lynch may have washed out in Denver. But he’s only 25 years old and possesses some upside potential. Ditto for Barrett, who hasn’t been given much of an opportunity in pro football after backing up Drew Brees in New Orleans last season.
Given that preseason games provide little competitive drama, Seattle fans no doubt will pay close attention to the backup quarterback battle over the next two weeks.
After that, they hope to forget about the outcome.
On the gridiron as on Broadway, the show is usually better when the star takes center stage as scheduled.
