Even Trent Dilfer hates being Trent Dilfer

Trent Dilfer spoke with SI's Don Banks about the frustrations befalling Joe Flacco. After all, Dilfer can relate. He was the first Flacco -- the ultimate Flacco, really -- a guy asked to manage the game, convert a few first downs and otherwise let the defense and running game do the rest. And Dilfer knows that having that rep sucks. In fact, Dilfer's career is ultimately as the guy who people refer to when arguing that a team without a good quarterback can win a Super Bowl, "Well, if you can win with Trent Dilfer, you can win with ANYONE."

And Dilfer, one can tell, doesn't love the rap:

"I think Joe in his heart of hearts probably wants to be anything but me,'' Dilfer, the former Super Bowl-winning Ravens quarterback turned ESPN analyst, said Wednesday, in a typical burst of candor.

And who can blame him, really?

But while Dilfer sounds like he's made his peace with this rap, you can tell he really hasn't.

"Unfortunately, and I do not agree with this, but it's the reality of it in today's football, if you don't put up monster numbers, you will not be considered one of the better quarterbacks,'' he said. "Whether you are or aren't one. Troy Aikman right now would not be considered one of the better quarterbacks, and I think he's one of the top six of all-time. I think Troy is by far the most underrated quarterback of all-time. But when you're in a ball-control offense, I don't care how good you are, you will not be considered perceptually one of the better quarterbacks because the audience is too simple-minded beyond the box score.

"I don't get it, and I think our perception of what quarterbacking is has been skewed by this pass-happy league and the rules that are in place that allow guys to throw for these kind of sick numbers. It's a fantasy football mentality, and it's not changing. If I'm an owner or a head coach, I'm putting in a pass-driven offense, because you can just get away with more. You don't have to fight the battles that Baltimore has to fight, because you can lose a game 35-31 and people will forgive you more than losing 17-12. For whatever reason, it helps their fantasy football team, it gives them more hope, a 35-31 loss can be forgiven. But they can't forgive a low-scoring offense. Ultimately, all people really resort back to is the box score.''

Yes, the rest of us are just too simple-minded to appreciate the subtle arts of a Trent Dilfer. To the untrained eye it might look like he often played like shit, but that's exactly what he wanted you to think, you fools! You just couldn't understand it, DON'T YOU GET IT!?

And look, I happen to think Dilfer is a tad underappreciated, as he had success with the Bucs, as well, albeit it also with a dominant defense that did finally win a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson, who is arguably a smidge better a Dilfer than Dilfer. But Dilfer had some solid statistical seasons in the NFL, and even made a Pro Bowl. He wasn't quite the Dilfer we remember.

But nonetheless, if he's implying that he was some kind of Troy Aikman he's sorely mistaken. Yes, Aikman's numbers are almost startlingly pedestrian when viewed through the lens of the modern era of football. But anyone who watched Aikman play is confident of his immense skills. Similarly, were he playing in today's game, does anyone doubt that Troy Aikman would have put up gaudy numbers. Of course, he would have. But back in the 90's, quarterbacks didn't have to do that in the same way they do today, or really in the same way they are allowed to do today given the rule changes and general evolution of the game.

Dilfer isn't Van Gogh, an artist unappreciated in his time who will soon be seen as a genius. He was a completely adequate quarterback for any team who also had a dominant defense.

Kind of like Joe Flacco.