# I demand an apology for Trent Dilfer **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208 "2001-01-29T03:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/1 "2001-01-29T03:52:34Z")
All season long, ( well, the last 11 games anyway)I have had to listen to “Dilfer sucks”, “Ravens will never win big with Dilfer at QB”, “Trent Dilhole”, etc… Well, the Ravens are world champs, and Dilfer played well enough to win. The TD to Stokley, the drives for FGs would have been enough. He came back from an injured hand, and all year he has displayed humility and leadership in his role as starting QB. I think it is high time all of you who have trashed him all year give him his due. He is one of only 25 or so QBs to win the Super Bowl. This thread is for y’all to step up to the plate and enjoy your well deserved helping of crow…er Raven. Y’all were wrong, come on over and admit it. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/2 "2001-01-29T04:30:49Z")
I never had anything against Dilfer, I always liked him. He always struck me as a _good_ QB, both personally and professionally. It’s that bastard Sharpe that I hate. Too bad this isn’t the Pit or I’d elaborate. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/3 "2001-01-29T04:46:28Z")
Apology for what? Trent Dilfer still sucks. The Ravens’ offense was the same fucking joke that it has been all year. Both offenses sucked. I swear, I thought the punters were going to be the co-MVPs with the amount of times they trotted on the field. The phrase “three-and-out” was like a mantra or something. The Ravens’ victory was due more than anything to the fact that Kerry Collins couldn’t throw his way out of a paper bag than anything Trent Dilfer did. There’s a big difference between “Trent Dilfer is good” and “Trent Dilfer managed to avoid screwing up just enough to win the game.” And I say all this as someone who was rooting for the Ravens. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/4 "2001-01-29T04:49:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Trent Dilfer managed to avoid screwing up just enough to win the game And that is all he was asked, all he needed to do, with this team. He did what he had to do, give him credit for that, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/5 "2001-01-29T04:56:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by weirddave \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Trent Dilfer managed to avoid screwing up just enough to win the game > > And that is all he was asked, all he needed to do, with this team. He did what he had to do, give him credit for that, at least. \*\* Agreed. You’re absolutely right. But let’s not revise history to make him an offensive dynamo, either. ---
**Author:** ![ramesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ramesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramesh)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/6 "2001-01-29T05:06:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > It’s that bastard Sharpe that I hate. > Too bad this isn’t the Pit or I’d elaborate. I am really curious, please do. If necessary, this thread can be moved to the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/7 "2001-01-29T05:13:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Agreed. You’re absolutely right. But let’s not revise history to make him an offensive dynamo, either. I wasn’t and I won’t. But he lead his team to victory in the Super Bowl. And that’s the bottom line. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/8 "2001-01-29T05:14:30Z")
And let’s not forget that Dilfer did it (whatever you wish to call it) in Tampa, where the Buccaneers rode him out of town on a rail a year ago. To me that makes it just a little bit sweeter (wow that sounds like a Barry White lyric). ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/9 "2001-01-29T05:19:28Z")
Well, the non-violent version. \*I have been a Broncos fan all of my life. \*I have loved Sharpe, Elway, McCaffery, Atwater, Romo, and Elam (as well as the everyone else on the team) all my life. I feel Sharpe and Atwater have betrayed me. I cheered for that fucking team when they were 4-12. I never, ever stopped supporting them. I remember cheering for The Broncos when they were **destroyed** by the 49ers. I remember getting in physical altercations with 49er (and later Cowboy) fans over football in elementary school. \*I think Sharpe left his home, his “family” if you will, for money. \*I know the NFL is a business. I know money is what makes the game and the players. And I know I sound silly. But you know what? I take football and the teams very seriously. This is not just a game to me. This is almost a life. And I guess it hurts my naive-hero-worshipping heart when I see the players I look up to remind me that it’s NOT about the game, it’s NOT about the fans, it’s about the money. I’ll get over it eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/10 "2001-01-29T06:21:28Z")
Hey…I’ll take some medicine. I ripped on Dilfer. He didn’t play spectacular but he played well enough to win. This is by no means meant as an endorsement of Dilfer because the Ravens D won that game and pretty much all of their games this season but I honestly and truly expected him to throw the back breaking interception which he didn’t(narrowly avoiding it due to a penalty). I was just happy they didn’t give him the MVP for not throwing an interception. Congrats **weirddave**. Enjoy the Lombardi Trophy. That D is scary good! Now comes the work of keeping them together. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/11 "2001-01-29T06:29:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by weirddave \* > \*\*All season long, ( well, the last 11 games anyway)I have had to listen to “Dilfer sucks”, “Ravens will never win big with Dilfer at QB”, “Trent Dilhole”, etc… Well, the Ravens are world champs, and Dilfer played well enough to win. \*\* Hey, let’s face it, the Ravens defense and special teams won this Super Bowl. Anyone better than Tony Banks could have led that. Are you actually trying to say that you consider Dilhole even one of the top _twenty_ QBs in the league? He won’t even be a Raven next year for christ sakes. The Ravens best QB rode the pine this year. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/12 "2001-01-29T06:35:09Z")
Okay, Ballemmore won. They blew it out, even. Dilfer got them there, and frankly I’m glad he was there, because it would have been a much more boring blowout had a better quarterback been in the game. It was clear the Baltimore had cracked the Giants secondary. There were wide-open Ravens all over the place. Problem was, Dilfer couldn’t hit 'em. He flat-out missed Patrick Johnson at least three times in the first half; once, Johnson was so wide open there was scarcely a Giant on the screen. Dilfer threw it out of bounds over his head. He also threw an interception for a touchdown, which fortunately for him was called back. Fourteen of the Ravens’ points came from the defense and special teams. Six more came from two field goals. Dilfer’s contribution, lackluster as it was, was enough to win the game alone. Okay, great. He’ll always have that. But if I had anything to do with it, he’d also have a desk job next year teaching plays to Mike Vick. Frankly, I hope Baltimore keeps him, because if they cut him loose I run the risk of having him come to my town. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/13 "2001-01-29T06:38:46Z")
I ditto the last line of the prior post!!! **ROFLMAO!!** ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/14 "2001-01-29T06:59:30Z")
Y’all suck…but…WE ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!! nya. nya 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/15 "2001-01-29T07:08:08Z")
Ravens kicked ass. Dilhole sucks ass. Are you telling me this is the QB you want running things next year as your OP seems to imply? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/16 "2001-01-29T07:32:59Z")
Hey, I didn’t say this before: **congratulations, Baltimore!** All of us who watched this saw something that might not come along for quite awhile: the best NFL defense _ever_. I do not say this lightly; I watched the Steel Curtain play. The fact that this victory indirectly dashes all hopes of my getting back my Washington Senators baseball team shouldn’t taint my appreciation for the excellence to which I was treated. And you smacked down the Giants, something every Washington fan secretly appreciates. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/17 "2001-01-29T07:41:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gazoo \* > \*\*Ravens kicked ass. Dilhole sucks ass. Are you telling me this is the QB you want running things next year as your OP seems to imply? \*\* I’ll ride “Dillhole” anywhere you want to go…Face it, you lose, sucker. ;)😉 ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/18 "2001-01-29T08:09:39Z")
I think Trent Dilfer is in the running for “Worst Quarterback To Ever Win The Super Bowl.” The Washington Redskins’ Mark Rypien is another candidate for this prestigious award. That would make an interesting poll! ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/19 "2001-01-29T14:30:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\*I think Trent Dilfer is in the running for “Worst Quarterback To Ever Win The Super Bowl.” The Washington Redskins’ Mark Rypien is another candidate for this prestigious award. That would make an interesting poll! \*\* The Redskins went 14-2. Highlights include an opening-game 45-0 win over Detroit. A brief excerpt from [http://www.nfl.com/sb33/history/flashbacks/sbxxvi.html:](http://www.nfl.com/sb33/history/flashbacks/sbxxvi.html:) “Mark Rypien passed for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Redskins overwhelmed the Bills to win their third Super Bowl in the past 10 years.” “Rypien, the game’s most valuable player, completed 18-of-33 passes, including a 10-yard scoring strike to Earnest Byner and a 30-yard touchdown to Gary Clark. The latter came late in the third quarter and effectively put the game out of reach after Buffalo had trimmed a 24-0 deficit to 24-10.” Worst Quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl? Look somewhere else:-) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208/20 "2001-01-29T18:43:22Z")
Hey, Dilfer was my backup fantasy QB for the last half of the season, and I was glad to have him. 🙂 There’s clearly a lot of truth to what’s being said (factually, at least) on both sides here. Dilfer is clearly _not_ the second coming of Joe Montana, or even of Joe Theismann. (This is no rip on Theismann; I think he’s one of the best QBs not to make the HoF.) Hell, he might be more the second coming of Billy Kilmer. 😉 And right now, Dilfer isn’t one of the QBs you want when you’re at your own 20 at the 2-minute warning, and you need a TD. But he does what he’s supposed to do - he plays within himself, makes few mistakes, and helps the offense get enough points so that the defense can win the game. The debate is over how valuable that set of attributes is. In Dilfer’s current setting, I’d say it’s quite valuable. Great QBs aren’t easy to find, but pretty much all NFL QBs were used to being stellar athletes, the guys who could Make It Happen, for most of their years of playing QB - and it’s still what we expect a certain amount of from an NFL QB each week. We expect QBs to be the guys who are able to win the game; that’s why we pay them the big bucks. I don’t think there are many QBs, regardless of ability, who would be capable of accepting the reduced role that Dilfer has in the Ravens’ system, as it existed this year. Doing exactly what you’re supposed to do, no more and no less, is especially challenging when you’ve been trained to try to do considerably more. That doesn’t make him a great QB. But I think it’ll continue to make him a useful one. If you’re a coach and your QB isn’t one of the bright lights of the game, next best thing is one who’s willing to work within your system. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-an-apology-for-trent-dilfer/52208.md?page=2)