Netflix's 'Quarterback': Will Kirk Cousins be the breakout star?

Every good reality show features a breakout star who’s just looking to go viral: the bachelorette who elbows her rivals in the face, the chef who manages to sneak a cockroach into their rival’s sponge cake, the housemate who backstabs everyone in a three-mile radius. Catch the nation’s eye, and you might just get a product line or reality show of your own. Or at least a few more Instagram followers.

The latest wave of Netflix sports documentaries knows the formula and keeps the beat: Daniel Ricciardo, despite not actually having a ride this year, remains American audiences’ favorite Formula 1 driver thanks to his standout turn in “Drive To Survive.” Golf’s Joel Dahmen has enjoyed the love of galleries throughout the 2023 season after his amiable regular-dude schtick won over viewers of “Full Swing.”

Now comes “Quarterback,” an eight-episode Netflix doc focusing on the NFL and releasing Wednesday. The doc will follow three quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs; Marcus Mariota, then of the Falcons; and Kirk Cousins of the Vikings — through the 2022 season. As is now tradition, the doc will follow the players both on the field and off, to an as-yet-undisclosed degree of depth.

“We wanted to tell the story of what it’s like to be a quarterback,” series executive producer Peyton Manning told the New York Post, “and all that goes with it.”

The off-field component is the more compelling one, since we already know the arcs of all three players’ seasons. Mahomes’ will be the most triumphant, since it ends with a Super Bowl victory. Mariota’s will be the most dramatic, since it involves him losing his job. But Cousins’ arc is something of a mystery … and therein, for Cousins, lies potential.

Here’s the thumbnail version of what most NFL fans know about Kirk Cousins:

• His “You Like That!” bellow in the bowels of FedEx Field after a comeback win during the 2015 season, where he managed to become, of all things, an unlikeable underdog.

• His questionable grilling skills:

• His similarly questionable dance moves and accessorizing:

• His immaculate sense of timing. Cousins is a spectacular quarterback at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Sundays, and the worst kind of soul-crushing, hope-obliterating awful at all other kickoff times. (He lost his first nine Monday Night Football games, for instance, and now stands at a mighty 2-10.)

But for all the memes and jokes — and if you look past the 1-4 postseason record — Cousins has had his moments. “You like that” hit the air after Cousins led Washington back from a 24-0 deficit to Tampa Bay. And in 2022, the year covered in “Quarterback,” Cousins tied an NFL record with eight come-from-behind victories, including the biggest comeback in history, a victory after being down 33-0 to the Indianapolis Colts. So there’s rich potential for a documentary … provided Cousins is willing to open up.

"I was a little nervous at first," Cousins told the Minnesota Vikings’ website earlier this summer. "I mean, cameras and mics following you the whole season. 'What does that look like?' You're always very aware of never being an individual. You want to be about team. Be one of the guys.”

Not exactly a recipe for breakout stardom there. Plus, unlike Ricciardo and Dahmen, Cousins doesn’t exude Everyman energy. He’s more like an AI version of a quarterback, saying all the right things yet somehow sounding strange while doing so. (On his conditions for agreeing to take part in the doc: “Would this at all make me an individual, and if so, I can't do that.” He was emphasizing that he wanted to put the team first, but it still sounds like an alien trying to imitate the mindset of a team player.)

Still, Cousins clearly wants to shape his own narrative, and according to Manning, that included a willingness to share such private moments as his visits with his psychologist.

“That was not part of the deal at all, but he said, ‘No, it’s OK, I want to have this documented,’ ” Manning said. “I thought it was awesome. It was real. It showed that it’s not all fun throwing game-winning touchdowns on Sundays.”

As with many current documentaries, the subjects got veto power, making this more of a love letter than hard-edged journalism. “I promised all these guys that anything they didn’t want in it wasn’t gonna be in it,” Manning said. “These guys had to be comfortable with everything.”

Maybe we’ll learn something new about Kirk Cousins, or maybe we’ll go away disappointed once more. “Quarterback” drops Wednesday on Netflix, at which point you can decide for yourself if, in fact, you like that.