When legendary football players begin to speak on your behalf, you start to have credibility. For San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, he continues to work hard and block out the negative noise, something he receives plenty of.

Purdy is going into his second season with the team and has had a unique path that puts him in categories with the all-time greats. Being a seventh round draft pick and having been labeled ‘Mr. Irrelevant’, Purdy is just one game away from solidifying himself as a Super Bowl winning quarterback.

There is just one thing that continues to surround his name and that is the stigma that he only is a “game-manager”.

The term game-manager is when a quarterback does just the bare minimum and is surrounded by so much talent that he just distributes the football to those athletes. The quarterback is not seen as a key factor in the team’s victories; however, this title is just bogus and lacks merit.

You want your quarterback to distribute the ball to the playmakers, that is how football works.

When Joe Montana was the quarterback for the 49ers, he had legendary players that surrounded him. He did everything in his power to distribute the football to those playmakers, the likes of Jerry Rice receiving the football, and Roger Craig who carried it on the ground. These two players alone accounted for the majority of their yardage and not one individual back in the day discussed how Montana was a “game-manager”.

Recently on the Pat McAfee Show, Montana discussed Purdy and his game-manager role. He said, “The thing I see [with Purdy] is something that I figured out early on in my career – what the offense is about. It wasn’t about me. It was about getting the ball to the people who knew what to do with it because I’m the mailman – [the football] doesn’t belong to me – I want to get it to somebody who knows how to run, knows how to catch.” This quote is exactly how a quarterback should operate in the National Football League.

The good news about Purdy and being labeled a game-manager is he has an opportunity to set the record straight and win his first Super Bowl this Sunday against the Chiefs. If he does that, the label may start to fade, and that is exactly what should happen. It is hard to win in football, especially in the NFL. It should not matter how you win the big game but that your team did more than the other team to win the contest.

Another good part about Purdy and his label is that he is not bothered by it but rather just laughs it off. I always enjoy when a football player blocks out the noise and just focuses on his craft. Purdy is a dang good football player and the title needs to go away. This season his statistics are just as good as anyone in the NFL and that is due to him giving the football to the playmakers and allowing them to make plays.

Purdy’s 2023 statistics are: 

 Regular Season: 

308 Comp

444 Attempts

69.4 CMP%

4,280 Yards

31 TDs

11 INTs

113.0 RTG

Postseason: 

43 Comp

70 Attempts

61.4 CMP%

519 Yards

2 TDs

1 INT

87.7 RTG

I’d admit that Purdy has won me over in the respect category as he is just someone who goes to work every single day and no negative comments can affect his mindset.

The whole game-manager tag should be put to rest, along with calling him a system quarterback. Yes, while he is in a fantastic Shanahan system, one that makes it easier on quarterbacks to give the football to their playmakers, every NFL quarterback should want to be associated with a solid system. If not, do they even want to win?

Ultimately, the comments regarding game-manager will likely always exist until Purdy can solidify himself on the NFL’s biggest stage. Until then, he will continue to smile when the comment gets brought up and work his butt off to be an even better athlete and person.