Dr. Pepper curse remains undefeated this past weekend

Can of Dr. PepperPhoto byVladislav GlukhotkoonUnsplash

The curse of Dr. Pepper has been undefeated over the past four years. However, the Dr. Pepper curse reached a fever pitch over the past weekend.

If you do not know, the Dr. Pepper curse started in 2021 when college athletes were first allowed to make money off of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Every year since 2021, Dr. Pepper has featured a college football quarterback each season in a commercial. That particular person then experiences significant setbacks for the rest of their football career.

The first athlete that was in a Dr. Pepper commercial was QB D.J. Uiagalelei in 2021. At the time, he looked like he was going to be a future NFL #1 pick while playing for the Clemson Tigers. However, the remainder of his college football career has gone off of the rails. He has transferred to two different schools over the past three years (Oregon State Beavers, Florida State Seminoles). Currently as the Florida State QB, the Seminoles are now 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). On Saturday, Florida State lost at home 20-12 to the Memphis Tigers.

The second athlete that was featured in a Dr. Pepper commercial was former Alabama Crimson Tide QB Bryce Young in 2022. At the time when the commercial was aired, Young won the Heisman Trophy and led the Tide to the NCAA Championship. In his final season at Alabama, they lost two games and did not even qualify for the NCAA FBS College Football Playoffs. Plus, he threw for 1,500 less yards and 15 less touchdowns in 2022.

Nevertheless, Young was drafted #1 by the Carolina Panthers in 2023. However, Young led the Panthers to only two wins in his rookie NFL season. To make matters even worse, the Houston Texans selected QB C.J. Stroud as the second pick in the same NFL Draft. Stroud led the Texans to the NFL Playoffs last season. This season, Young and the Panthers are 0-2 while the Texans are now 2-0. The Panthers lost to the Los Angeles Chargers 26-3 on Sunday afternoon at home. Young only threw for 84 passing yards.

Last year, the QB that was in the Dr. Pepper commercial was former USC Trojans QB Caleb Williams. When he was in the commercial before the start of the 2023 season, he was the current Heisman Trophy winner and was the favorite to repeat. However, he threw for 1,100 less yards and 12 less touchdowns.

Nevertheless, he was drafted #1 by the Chicago Bears in this year's NFL Draft. It appeared that the perennial problems at quarterback for the Bears would finally be put to rest by Williams because the franchise has never had a quarterback throw for over 4,000 yards in a regular season in their over-100 year history.

However, Williams was sacked seven times and threw two interceptions in the Bears' 19-13 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday evening. In two games, he has only thrown for 267 passing yards.

The latest QB to be featured in the Dr. Pepper commercial this year is Texas Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers. The new commercial aired for the first time last month. Last season, he was able to lead the Texas Longhorns to the NCAA FBS College Football Playoffs.

Everything was going hunky dory for Ewers in Saturday's game against UTSA until he was injured in the second quarter. He is now week-to-week with an abdominal strain. In the meantime, Longhorns QB Arch Manning will be starting for Texas.

These four results means that this weekend has showed that the Dr. Pepper curse remains undefeated.