NFL Twitter Absolutely Gobsmacked by Kyle Orton’s Inclusion on CBS List of Football Legends
Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images
The NFL on CBS Twitter account informed users on Monday that former journeyman quarterback Kyle Orton is in fact a football “legend.”
Over a nine-year NFL career, Orton amassed an extremely average record of 42-40 and threw for just over 18,000 yards and 101 passing touchdowns. He never appeared in a postseason game. Between 2005 and 2014, he played for the Bears, Broncos, Chiefs, Cowboys, and Bills. Perhaps the most notable thing about his NFL career was that he was traded for Jay Cutler in 2009. Orton also had a miracle tipped touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley to defeat the Bengals that one time.
The impetus for the bizarre tweet was Tom Brady throwing for his 602nd career regular season passing touchdown on Sunday. In response, NFL on CBS wanted to convey just how nuts that statistic is by comparing it to the TD totals of a handful of legendary quarterbacks such as John Elway and Joe Montana, who threw for fewer than half that over their careers.
As some Twitter users noted, Orton’s inclusion on this list may very well be a ploy by the NFL on CBS social media team to boost the tweet’s engagement. If that’s the case, mission accomplished.
As of this writing, Orton’s 101 touchdown passes are good for 139th place on the all time list. He takes a back seat only to other, apparently even more legendary legends such as Blake Bortles, Matt Cassel, Chris Miller (you don’t even remember him, do you?), and some guy named Tobin Rote who played during the leather helmet era.
The reactions on Twitter were predictable, if not amusing:
https://twitter.com/SammyP14/status/1452732903767609351
Bonus Gus Johnson call of crazy tipped Orton touchdown pass from 2009:
