Punch Shots: Blaming players’ girlfriends just stupid

OK, can we stop with the whole "our quarterback stinks because he has a new girlfriend" argument?

It’s not all that funny, unless we’re talking about how Jessica Simpson ruined Tony Romo’s season. (Thanks Jess!)

It’s also pretty sexist. Surely it’s a woman’s fault, not the man who is doing his job poorly. Seriously, does this argument fly at any other job? Next time I miss deadline, I’m going to blame my wife.

Vikings second-year quarterback Christian Ponder is the latest target of this ridiculous argument. A few weeks ago, he revealed he was dating ESPN reporter Samantha Steele.

Since then, Ponder has had a few rough games. His numbers have declined, well, except for interceptions — those are going up. But until his girlfriend is in uniform and missing blocks on the offensive line, she’s probably not to blame. Although come to think of it, Steele might play better on the O-line than the back-ups who were supposed to be protecting Michael Vick last Monday, but I digress.

Ponder even felt he had to defend her on the radio this week.

"She has nothing to do with it," Ponder said. "We’ve been dating since the beginning of the season, so she also had to do with the five wins."

If Ponder stinks, just say he stinks. Besides, Minnesota, your team is 5-4. I know you have nothing else to do until hockey season starts, but let’s all just calm down.

Tags: sports, football, minnesota, vikings, updates