Terrelle Pryor said he never knew how to throw a football before this offseason
Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor has played quarterback since at least high school, probably back to Pop Warner, and through all that time he says nobody taught him how to throw a football.
With the news that Michael Vick was never taught how to properly carry a football and now Pryor's claim, it's fair to ask how many coaches at all levels are ignoring fundamentals.
Like Vick, Pryor is tremendously talented. He was famously the top football recruit in the nation coming out of high school, and one of the best basketball recruits too. He went to Ohio State, whose fans probably aren't too surprised to learn that Pryor never knew how to properly throw a football.
He told the Bay Area News Group that he worked with former major-league pitcher Tom House (he's a throwing guru who has worked with Tom Brady) on fundamentals, and is working with offensive coordinator Greg Olson and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo to continue to learn to be a passer.
"I never really knew how to throw a football before," Pryor said, according to Bay Area News Group. "It's coming along. I'm getting way better. I probably missed four or five throws out of 80, 85 throws today. I might ice my arm as a precaution tonight, but it feels great.
"They've got me going in the right direction to be a pretty good quarterback who knows how to throw the ball."
Yeah, that's kind of a prerequisite for the job.
It's remarkable Pryor made the NFL despite his claim that he was never taught proper throwing fundamentals. It says a lot about his natural talent. He has always been known as a tremendous athlete, but never seemed to reach his full potential with Ohio State and was far too raw to get a legitimate shot in Oakland last season. Now we have an idea why.
Here's a few clips of him throwing in his start against San Diego last year, and it's not always pretty, even when the results turn out to be OK:
Pryor is the darkhorse in the quarterback race at Oakland. Now that he finally knows how to throw a football, that might help him in the competition.
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