We as sports fans collectively, judge players (and especially quarterbacks) with these sweeping attitudes, as if they're legacies are carved in stone. The reality is that these legacies are built by moments as fragile as a tower built out of lego pieces.
If the Bengals defense gets one more stop, if they triple team Kupp on that final drive, then Joe Burrow is a Champion and probably a Super Bowl MVP.
I went back and watched the highlights from Rodgers' only Super Bowl. Up 3 late, the Packers had 1st and goal. They ended up settling for a field goal to make it a 6-point lead with over two minutes to go. Think about how many times we've seen Brady or Mahomes or Rodgers come down and get a TD. Heck, we saw it two years prior with Big Ben in Super Bowl 43 vs the Cardinals. If Big Ben does it in Super Bowl 45 vs the Packers, Rodgers is 0-1 in the Super Bowl.
Let's look at Super Bowl 43 while we're here. Larry Fitzgerald was incredible that postseason. If the Cardinals get one more stop, if Santonio Holmes can't get both toes down in the corner, then Fitz gets a ring in his 5th season. Kurt Warner joins the ranks of Manning and Elway in the 2-ring club.
The point I'm making is that we're used to judging players and their legacies by thinking about what more they could have done. For example, it's easy to look at the end of SB 56 and say if Burrow had gone down the field for a TD at the end then he would have gotten a ring. He didn't so he doesn't have one. All of that is true, but it's a very narrow way to look at things. Your legacies are also written by things outside of your control.
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