Standing up for teammates is noble and admirable.
Until it makes a mockery of logic and reason, that is.
Bucs wide receiver Vincent Jackson was comparing his old Chargers teams to his new digs, and then he started in with the crazy talk.
“We were a little more flashy as far as the names go [in San Diego], but I think we’re just as talented here all the way across the board.’' Jackson said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay times. “We have tight ends, running backs and obviously, Josh Freeman, and he’s a quarterback I think should be mentioned among the top five in the league.’'
If the sentence is: “Josh Freeman is not among the top five in the league,” then yes.
Let’s call the roll for a moment.
Tom Brady. Aaron Rodgers. Drew Brees. Eli Manning. Maybe his brother Peyton too.
And that doesn’t even get you into the Philip Rivers/Ben Roethlisberger/Matt Stafford class, or even into the next neighborhood which gets you Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Tony Romo, Matt Schaub and the like.
There’s 13 off the top of my head, and whether you quibble with the order or the inclusions, there’s no empirical way to chop that list to five names and include Freeman.
Although I’m sure he appreciates his teammates having his back.