Eagles

One of the Worst Takes Ever

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 21st, 2020 · 12:54 PM EST

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No introductory paragraph.

Here’s Ryan Clark on Get Up calling Carson Wentz soft:

"Carson Wentz is soft! … He don't have that Philly toughness … But Jalen Hurts does! Jalen Hurts IS Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts is freakin' Rocky!"

—@Realrclark25 pic.twitter.com/nYvJ7IsB57

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 21, 2020

This sounds like something that was lifted straight from sports talk radio. It’s like taking phone calls from Angry Al, Mad Mike, and Ingy, and then splicing them together to create one grotesque amalgam of a phone call. We’ve got references to Rocky, grittiness, “Philly toughness,” and other assorted cliches.

“As a person, Carson Wentz is soft,” says Ryan Clark.

Are we talking about the same Carson Wentz who:

• came into the league with massive expectations as the #2 overall pick
• played his way into the MVP conversation in 2017
• threw a touchdown on a torn ACL
• played through injury in 2018 while completing 70% of his passes
• publicly addressed the critical Joe Santoliquito article
• played his way out of Nick Foles’ shadow by winning four straight games to claim the NFC East in 2019 (throwing to practice squad receivers)

Is Ryan Clark living on the same planet that we are?

Yes, Carson Wentz had an incredibly poor season. He got himself benched due to poor performance. But let’s not do the revisionist history routine and pretend like the guy is new to adversity or can’t hack it in the mental fortitude department. He’s been here plenty of times before.

Obviously when you go into a draft thinking that the team is gonna get you some weapons, but they go out and use a second round pick on a quarterback, you’re probably sitting there scratching your head and wondering what’s going on. That’s natural. It doesn’t make him selfish, or soft, or a wussy.

Let’s not dump all over Carson because the guy is having a bad year. It’s so predictable and myopic.