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I am a Sam Bradford supporter. Not because I am an OU fan, but rather because I want Sam Bradford to succeed, and I believe he has all skill to do so. However, its no secret that people suspect that Bradford has not lived up to his draft status, potential, college success and more importantly, his contract. No one is saying he is a bust, but he isn't yet what the fan base wanted or needed. He hasn't taken the Rams franchise to success, to the promised land. That is what I seem to understand from only some people, not everybody, but it still seems to hang in the air. What I would normally say is this: Sam Bradford has no weapons, he has no o-line, he has an overall a bad team. He has had only two years in the NFL, one of which had a lockout, and a stupid coordinator. The problem is that people expect him to be elite. Elite means Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees. Now people can say how these Quarterbacks have good teams, have been in the league for quite a bit. That's what I would say. However, here I am looking at what Sam Bradford lacks,that prevents him form being elite, that these people have. For the record, the Saints are horrible, they have a worse record then us. Do you hear anybody calling Drew Brees not elite? Peyton Manning turned around the colts in his second season from 3-13 to 13-3. So the excuse of bad team and second year guy go out the window. Sam Bradford has the skill set, and the potential equal to all of these quarterbacks, so why isn't he considered elite?

I have already shown (Drew Brees) that your team does not need to be successful to be considered elite. Football is a team sport, if the quarterback plays well, but everyone else collapses, then the team will lose. Elite quarterbacks try to bring up the play of their team, their O-line, their wide receivers. How do they do this? Well this is my two cents. Think about what Manning, Brees, Brady, Rodgers and the college Sam Bradford, who I think was good enough to consider elite at the college level. What do they have in common? A good arm. They are all smart. So whats the difference between them and the current Sam Bradford? Confidence. On the game thread, I was arguing/discussing with someone how Austin Davis has something Sam doesn't. I couldn't place it, until I talked to my Dad about Rodgers. What Austin Davis has is confidence, a swagger. He isn't as good as Sam, but he is confident in himself and his team. He has a fire. And because of that, the team seemed to do better. These Elite Quarterbacks have this fire, this confidence, except with the physical tools to go along with. Austin Davis may one day become great, because of this confidence. Sam Bradford on the other hand has confidence, has the competitiveness, the fire, and obviously the tools to succeed.

The problem is that Sam Bradford no longer has the confidence he had at OU. He doesn't seem to believe in himself to make those throws.It seems that these losing seasons have got to him. If you notice, he almost always looks for the safe, designed throw. There have been plays were he throws it to the check down, and it results in a 4 yard loss. But worse yet, he doesn't seem to believe in his team. That's why he keeps passing to Amendola, its the only guy he trusts. And while the team may not play well, and not deserve his trust, he should believe in them. When the team begins to feel that their quarterback believes in them, they play better. They gain confidence. If Sam believes that Danny can make those catches, then Amendola does to. He feels better knowing that someone believes in him. Sam is a quarterback who can raise the level of anybody he plays with. For example, Chris Givens. Givens has been making the plays. Sam now believes that Givens can make those plays, and looks for him. Givens knows Sam has confidence in him, and therefore does his best to not disappoint. We have seen what happens.

You can notice how Sam Bradford has played quite good in the last couple of games. Slowly, his confidence is retuning. He is no longer looking around nervously for Danny Amendola, but instead seems to believe he can make the play, and that this team can play well, he doesn't need Amendola anymore. It is like how a toddler breaks away from his security blanket. We have to see how Sam does in his next couple of games, after this big loss, but if he can bounce back, show some fire, the desire to win, and the confidence to believe he can, then I think Sam Bradford can finally be considered Elite, or at least darn near it.