It is Super Bowl season in the USA with the National Football League (NFL) conference championship teams scheduled to play on February 9, 2025. The two competing quarterbacks are often the focus of attention in the days preceding the game. This year both quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, are right-handers. This observation prompted me to ask if there are left-handed quarterbacks playing in the NFL. I searched and discovered an article published in 2020 on the topic. ¹ There was only one left-handed quarterback playing in the NFL in 2020, Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins. Since 2020 he has been joined in the NFL by another left-hander, Michael Penix Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons.

One would expect about 10% of NFL quarterbacks to be left-handed according to population statistics. The NFL has 32 teams, and each team has a starting quarterback and several backups on their rosters for a total of close to 100 players. The presence of only two left-handers in this group is below the expected 10%. What accounts for the rarity of left-handed quarterbacks in the NFL?

Steve Young, one of only two left-handed quarterbacks in the NFL Hall of Fame, claims there is a reluctance among coaches to deal with left-handed quarterbacks. Young experienced this in his college career before a coach finally saw his potential and switched his position to quarterback. Young told a reporter, “You see that kind of bias everywhere…Luckily [San Francisco 49ers head coach] Bill Walsh loved lefties. I think because he was a lefty.” Coaches are reluctant to deal with left-handed quarterbacks because they have to change their playbook where all plays are drawn for the right-handed. Left-handed quarterbacks have more difficulty throwing to the right side of the playing field. Also, their pass throws tend to spiral in the opposite direction to that of the more common right-handed quarterbacks requiring adjustments on the part of pass receivers. Steve Young, however, argues that his left-handedness gave him an edge. He states, “I think there’s a slight advantage because no one else shows up with a left-handed quarterback and such comfort coming out left, rolling left, left-to-right formations…and so for a defense, it was different.”

Tua Tagovailoa has a different explanation for the rarity of NFL left-handed quarterbacks. In his opinion, “I think lefties are so rare in football because all of them are in baseball.” Left-handed pitchers are valuable commodities on the baseball diamond and are drawn to this sport rather than football where coaching and game adjustments must be made for the unique style of left-handed quarterbacks.

Tua Tagovailoa is special in another way. “I do everything right…I eat with my right. Swing the bat with my right, golf with my right…My dad was the only lefty in our family, and he wanted me to be a lefty as well, so he switched the way I threw.” Tua Tagovailoa is one of a group of athletes, like golfer, Phil Mickleson, and tennis star, Rafael Nadal, who are right-handers playing their sport as a left-hander. Tua Tagovailoa’s story demonstrates the flexible nature of handedness. Handedness for certain activities can be switched to the opposite side with enough practice. This is true for left-handers switching to the right and right-handers shifting to the left.

¹ Greene, N. (2 November 2020). Why left-handed quarterbacks are so rare. Slate.