‘Quarterback’ Is an Inside Look at the NFL, But Does It Go Hard Enough?

With the never-ending popularity of the National Football League, the desire to go behind the curtains and watch teams and players on the sidelines, practice, and film rooms is in high demand. Between various programs on the NFL Network and the long-running HBO series Hard Knocks, fans are used to receiving unprecedented access not shown during game broadcasts. The new Netflix sports series, Quarterback, immerses viewers into the treacherous world of the most prominent and arguably most difficult position in all of sports. While being pure candy to the tastes of die-hard NFL fans, does the series fully go in-depth on the turmoil and danger of the sport of football?

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‘Quarterback’ Follows Three Stars With Intriguing Narratives

The documentary series, similar to Netflix’s recent behind-the-scenes look at professional golf in Full Swing, follows the 2022 NFL season from the perspective of three quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings, and Marcus Mariota of the Atlanta Falcons. Fortunately for the filmmaking team, each quarterback is attached to a compelling narrative. Mahomes is a former Super Bowl champion and league MVP trying to remain at the top of his class. Cousins was an underdog success who is battling his way to league supremacy. Mariota, once a prized commodity as a former Heisman Trophy winner and #2 overall pick, is trying to rebuild his status as a starting quarterback in the league.

While the sport isn’t scripted, the ultimate outcomes of the three QBs could not have resulted in a more dynamic exhibition of the most profound realities of the NFL. For the second time in his career, Mahomes, at merely 27 years old, was the regular season MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Super Bowl MVP. After a promising regular season with incredible peaks and valleys, Cousins continues to plateau, losing in the first round of the playoffs. Mariota shows signs of a career revitalization, but he is eventually benched after a stretch of lackluster performances and subsequently goes AWOL on his team.

While Omaha Productions, founded by NFL Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning, partnered with the NFL to create this series, Quarterback stands out from the pack of behind-the-scenes examinations of football. Every casual sports fan is aware of the excruciating efforts required to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, with Manning emphasizing the difficulty in the opening of the series. To glowingly demonstrate to the public how tough and resilient their modern-day gladiators are, the NFL is proud to espouse that message. Quarterback, however, shows this sentiment in the bluntest and ugliest fashion.

The Subjects of ‘Quarterback’ Open Up About the Grueling Labor of Playing the Position

The damage to the human body caused by football is an unavoidable topic, and all three subjects express such concerns. The series operates as a passionate counter to the claim by many critics that the league’s officiating has gotten “too soft” and has acted too cavalier in diminishing the physicality of the sport in recent years in an effort to protect the health of star quarterbacks. In Episode 3, “Kings of Pain,” we see Mahomes partake in a laborious three-step training program designed to allow his body to be functional throughout the season and life after football. Through intimate sound bites pulled from game action, Cousins openly expresses agony after a brutal string of hits in the pocket.

Just as paramount as the physical aspect, quarterbacks need to be mentally sharp, and this documentary series allows plenty of attention to this forefront. The playcalling process for quarterbacks has the complexity of a NASA engineer reading code. Before they can muster all of their abilities to make the perfect pass, QBs must first memorize an interminable sequence of non-sequitur words in the huddle that assigns a role to the 10 other players on the offense. Cousins, who emerged as the breakthrough figure throughout the doc, records play calls on his phone and listens to the audio while driving. Additionally, we see the Vikings QB utilize a neurofeedback device intended to stimulate his brain to concentrate on his phone screen, thus training himself to be more alert on the field.

In-Game Audio Captures an Authentic Side of the Quarterbacks

NFL players being “mic’d up,” or having a recorded device attached to them during gameday for broadcast purposes is nothing new. In most instances, sound bites captured from players feel programmed — nothing problematic enough to stain the image of the league. Netflix excelled in the art of mic’d up recording, and supplemented the documentary subjects with a layer of personality. Through spontaneous reactions to the fast, hectic, and volatile nature of football, Patrick Mahomes evolves into a three-dimensional public figure. Since he became the Chiefs starting QB in 2018, he was attached with a reputation as a humble and reserved star player. He carried himself with a business-like public persona right out of the gate, and this can even be attributed to his talking head interviews throughout the series.

Thanks to the in-game audio, Mahomes is heard displaying a fierce, eye-of-the-tiger competitive edge, unafraid of trash-talk and boasting his talents and success. In moments of intensity with the opposing team and jubilation regarding an impressive execution of a play, the QB does not shy away from NSFW proclamations. The audio recordings also signify Mahomes’ self-assurance and weighty responsibility of carrying the burden of the entire team’s success. Perhaps his most passionate state arises when, after suffering a high ankle sprain in the playoffs against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the QB is deadset on returning to the field despite futile attempts to put weight on his injured ankle. He is almost brought to tears when his head coach, Andy Reid, temporarily pulls him from the game so Mahomes can be diagnosed. He defends his case to stay on the field as if his life depended on it.

Kirk Cousins is an equally reserved figure elevated as a personable voice and charismatic leader thanks to Quarterback. In the show’s bid to humanize the trio of players, Cousins blossoms as the most authentic. He is just as passionate about growing and nurturing his body as he is throwing touchdowns. When in the pocket dropping back to pass and sitting on the sideline, he expresses a variety of emotions, from gratefulness to doubt and insecurity. His analytical breakdowns with his coaches and teammates are an alluring window into the sport. Marcus Mariota certainly receives the least amount of coverage, but his aurora of a humbled former star is wholesome at the very least.

For as transparent as Quarterback imagines itself to be, the series tends to fall for shallow traps. Too often, the documentary plays like a hagiographic infomercial about the glory of being a professional quarterback. The series is reckless in crediting the success and failure of a team exclusively on the quarterback’s shoulders. If a viewer didn’t know any better, the series would let them be oblivious to the fact that there are 52 other players on a football squad. Mahomes’ historic success never alludes to the aid of the offensive mastermind and head coach, Andy Reid. Cousins routinely accumulates impressive statistics, but the series fails to shine a light on his teammate, Justin Jefferson, arguably the best wide receiver in football.

This, in addition to the show’s heavy reliance on game recaps to fill time, leaves Quarterback in an uncanny valley that feels like you’re being taken behind the curtain to see the unflinching truth, but in reality, what you’re watching is approved by the NFL. The narrow scope of following the journey of three different players sharing a common goal makes the series intimate, but it restricts it from tackling the broader issues surrounding player safety at a league-wide level. The quarterbacks’ painstaking efforts to protect their well-being are not thoroughly examined enough when looking at the responsibility of the league.

Despite its flaws, Quarterback is riveting in its quest to open up three famous athletes through vulnerability. They are privy to the discourse surrounding their name, including the Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Joe Burrow having Mahomes’ number, and Cousins’ playoff woes and his inability to shine bright at prime time. In sacrificing a critical eye towards the league, Quarterback shows that even the finest athletes, the ones who play the most prominent position of the most physically and mentally taxing sport, have to come to grips with their humanity, first and foremost.

The first season of Quarterback is now available to stream on Netflix.