“Parts of This Game Are Dissolving”: Jon Gruden Sounds Alarm on Dying NFL Tradition After Jaxson Dart Encounter

Cadence and waiting for the perfect moment to snap were things that added a layer to football, and part of what made quarterbacks intriguing was the play calls that they had to shout at varying intonations to try and get the defense to misstep, allowing for a free play.

Aaron Rodgers with the double hutt is probably the best example of why the cadence works. But Jon Gruden is worried about the kind of communications that quarterbacks practice when they come through their university teams.

Coach-turned-analyst Jon Gruden has been conducting Gruden’s QB Classes with quarterbacks who are entering the NFL as rookies. New York Giants’ Jaxson Dart was one of those whom Gruden spent time with, and one thing he wanted Dart to work on was his communication.

Gruden was left frustrated when Dart showed him his snap count routine was a simple clap and a double clap for a bluff call. Gruden spoke about the shift he is seeing in a video uploaded to Instagram by Pardon My Take.

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“A lot of people say the game is evolving. Parts of the game are dissolving,” said Gruden. “We just had Steve DeBerg in my office. He’s 71 years old. He threw for 34,000 yards; he played for the Chiefs, he played for the Bucks, the Dolphins; he played for all kinds of different teams. One of the great ball-handling, play-faking quarterbacks ever. And he helped Peyton Manning learn how to play fake. You don’t even see a play-action pass anymore. You see the RPO where he pulls it out of the running back’s chest. But, you know, parts of this game are dissolving, and the snap count has almost totally dissolved.”

Gruden was worried about how it wasn’t just Jaxson Dart but also other quarterbacks, fresh out of college into the NFL, who are coming from a similar background of audio cues as compared to traditional vocal cues.

In the hour-long session posted to YouTube last year, Gruden was clear that Dart needed to work on the routine and ensure that his communication was clear. Gruden even told Dart that clapping would have to be removed from his routine completely.

While the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes continue to showcase the beauty of a well-called snap count, the cadence and the routine just to catch the defense offside, the coming generation views those calls very differently.

If Gruden’s fears are accurate, the iconic hutt may not be heard as often in the near future.

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