Why Are Lefty Quarterbacks Like Michael Penix Jr. Still So Rare?

Michael Penix Jr. of the Washington Huskies throws the ball against the Texas Longhorns during the CFP Semifinal Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 01, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Credit – Jonathan Bachman—Getty Images

Throughout the New Year’s game, Michel Penix Jr., quarterback for the University of Washington Huskies, sliced wounds wide open, deep in the hearts of Texas. Penix cut up the Texas Longhorns defense in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, to the tune of 430 passing yards, two touchdown throws, and zero interceptions, while leading the Huskies to a 37-31 win in the Sugar Bowl. He launched darts off his back foot, deep in the pocket or on the move, with an arm motion that can look a bit unusual to the untrained eye. That’s because Penix Jr. accumulated such impressive big-game statistics while doing something that’s become a rare feat: throwing a football with his left hand.

While left-handed arms populate the pitching mounds of Major League Baseball—and earn players, even one-inning relief specialists, millions upon millions—they can feel almost extinct on the football field. Some 10% of the population is left-handed (full disclosure, this writer among them), but of the 75 NFL quarterbacks who’ve thrown at least one pass this 2023 season, Tua Tagovailoa, of the Miami Dolphins, is the lone lefty. That’s a southpaw population of a mere 1.3%.

“By definition, by obvious scientific truth,” says Hall of Fame left-handed quarterback Steve Young, “football is biased against lefties.”

Read More: Aaron Rodgers Needs to Stop Talking

There have been some fantastic left-handed quarterbacks over the years: Young, Ken Stabler, and Michael Vick among them. A couple—Tagovailoa, at Alabama, and Tim Tebow of Florida—have even won national titles in college this century. But of the 34…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-lefty-quarterbacks-michael-penix-153410650.html

Author : Time

Publish date : 2024-01-08 15:34:10

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.