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Photo Courtesy of Netflix

On July 12, 2023, Netflix released the first eight-episode season of the sports documentary Quarterback. Quarterback follows three NFL quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota, during the 2022-2023 NFL season. Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. Kirk Cousins is the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Marcus Mariota was the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback during this documentary's filming. 

The documentary allows football fans a genuine behind-the-scenes look at some of the most notable NFL quarterbacks. The documentary showcases the realistic highs and lows of being an NFL quarterback with the world’s eyes on them. 

In the first episode, the documentary provides an overview of each quarterback, their family, and some background about their football career. For example, the viewers learn that Marcus Mariota and his wife, Kiyomi, found out they were pregnant on April Fools Day, and he played for the Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders before joining the Falcons in 2022. 

Then, throughout the entire documentary, they go deeper. All the different sides of the lives of the three quarterbacks are evenly shown. The documentary also shows aspects of the quarterbacks’ past that pertain to the present. It allows the viewer to fully understand where each quarterback is coming from and how that has shaped the person they are today. 

The audience learns that, for example, Patrick Mahomes’ dad was a pitcher for the New York Mets, and initially, Patrick played baseball. He even wanted to be a professional baseball player like his dad. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but some of his baseball skills have transferred into his football game.

One of the best aspects of the documentary is that, in between clips from the NFL season or footage of the quarterbacks in their everyday lives, there is video of the quarterbacks in an interview/confessional setting. In these interviews, the quarterbacks give some insight into how they were feeling in the clip just shown or give more information about what the audience just saw. 

In Kirk Cousins’ case, he was the most hit or sacked quarterback at a certain point in the NFL season, and the documentary does almost too good of a job of making that clear to the viewers. Multiple clips throughout the documentary show Cousins getting hit by the opposing team’s defensive line. 

After a particularly bad hit to his ribs, the documentary jumps to Cousins in the confessional describing exactly how that hit felt. It makes the entire experience more real for the viewer. 

The quarterbacks are not the only ones who get to share their thoughts in these confessionals. Their wives also get the chance to share their side of things and how they’re feeling. For example, Kiyomi compared watching Marcus play every week to watching someone get into a car accident every weekend. The documentary doesn’t just show how a football game affects the quarterbacks but the people close to them as well. 

Overall, the documentary is very well done and entertaining. However, one problem is that as the NFL season and the documentary proceed, the viewers see Patrick Mahomes more than the other two quarterbacks. I understand it is because Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs go all the way to win the Super Bowl while Kirk Cousins, Marcus Mariota, and their teams fall short of the playoffs. But they could’ve shown how Cousins and Mariota prepare for the next season after not going far in the playoffs. 

Nevertheless, that one problem does not mean that Quarterback is not a good documentary. Quarterback is an excellent documentary that showcases the realities of being a quarterback in the NFL. I recommend this documentary to all those football fans who demonize quarterbacks after they make a mistake. NFL quarterbacks are regular human beings like you and me.