Jags QB Blake Bortles in rare position with shot to become NFL global star
LONDON – It's not Beatlemania, but there's huge potential for Bortlesmania.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles was the last man on the bus after practice at Allianz Park on Friday, surrounded by an array of fans who wanted his autograph. One was a 7-year-old named Ben McNeal, who had a freshly bought No. 5 jersey. McNeal had spent the entire practice tossing the football around, mimicking the quarterback.
London has hosted the NFL for the better part of a decade now, yet there is no superstar to call its own. The league has sent many teams, and the only continual visitors have been the Jaguars. They've had no transcendental stars over the past three years. The most popular Jaguar ever is likely Mark Brunell, Maurice Jones-Drew or Fred Taylor, each of whom is retired.
Bortles has a chance to be the first London star.
He was the team's first pick in 2014, and he will play here every season of his career if things go as planned. The Jags will keep their London arrangement as long as they can, at least if team owner Shad Khan is to be believed, so Bortles could become the most familiar player to fans here. If he becomes a winner as well, it could mean big things for his reputation. There aren't all that many international stars in a sport in which players wear helmets and facemasks.
No, it's not a mob scene now – Bortles was still a new starter when the team visited last year – but the recognition is growing.
"I think it's awesome," Bortles told Yahoo Sports on Friday. "It's kind of cool, it's like having two home crowds in two home cities."
He has a good story to latch onto. Bortles was overlooked as a quarterback in high school, and slotted as a tight end by many recruiters. He went to UCF in Orlando, won the starting job in an upset, and led the Knights to a BCS game. The team was a 15-point underdog to Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl and won anyway. A few months later, the crowd at Radio City Music Hall in New York gasped when the Jags grabbed Bortles with the third overall pick in the NFL draft. He eagerly put on his cap and grinned for the cameras, touting the "Jag-wires" every chance he could. Bortles has been a nice surprise his entire football life. Now he has a chance to be a global surprise.
"Anytime you go somewhere and there's Jaguar fans outside the city, it feels really cool," he said.
There is a long way to go. Bortles is inconsistent to put it mildly; last Sunday against the Houston Texans he threw two of the worst interceptions you'll see, but also tossed a pristine touchdown pass to Allen Robinson. The Jaguars haven't had an explosive playmaker since suspended wide receiver Justin Blackmon, but Bortles has the talent. He even has good field awareness, tucking the football and rushing several times when plays broke down against the Texans.
"The No. 1 player is the quarterback," Khan said Thursday. "I think we have a franchise quarterback."
That's a big statement from the owner, considering it's only Bortles' first full year as a starter. No, he's not Cam Newton, on or off the field, but it's not a leap to imagine what kind of following someone like Newton would have here if the annual visitor were a team that contended like the Panthers currently do.
Bortles' ascendance would help the league, too. American football is still mostly a curiosity here. The Jaguars have captured a good amount of fans, but on Friday there were an assortment of jerseys in the stands from Blackmon to former defensive end Jeremy Mincey to current offensive lineman Brandon Linder. A fan favorite would provide more than a passing reason to attend games – especially if the "home" team won more.
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"What I think has to happen is they have to get players from here," said former New York Giant Osi Umenyiora, who has British roots. "They have to have star players if you want an international market. There's only so much they'll watch if they don't have a home player."
Umenyiora is suggesting a British-born player, like Jay Ajayi from the Miami Dolphins, but the Florida-born Bortles is the closest candidate the NFL has right now. And the novelty of games here is wearing off quickly. It's not a media story to have NFL games in Wembley Stadium anymore, so there needs to be something else. Specifically, there needs to be someone else. Another five years of a bottom-dwelling team flying over to lose won't help cement the league's foothold here.
Sunday's game is fairly crucial in that respect. The Bills are depleted, playing without their starting quarterback and two of their biggest stars on offense. This is a chance for the Jaguars to get their first "home" win in London, at a time when the heat on head coach Gus Bradley is intensifying back in Duval County for the first time. A strong performance by Bortles would not only buoy the team, it would give the Jaguars fans here something new – a positive memory from Wembley Stadium other than the game experience itself.
Bortles does have two home crowds in two home cities. So Bortlesmania needs to catch on not only for Jacksonville, but for London too.
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