Monday morning quarterback

noun

Informal.

1. a person who criticizes the actions or decisions of others after the fact, using hindsight to assess situations and specify alternative solutions.

Monday morning quarterback

noun

1. informal,  a person who criticizes or suggests alternative courses of action from a position of hindsight after the event in question

Other Word Forms

• Monday morning quarterbacking noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Monday-morning quarterback¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Idioms and Phrases

A person who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight, as in Ethel was a Monday-morning quarterback about all the personnel changes in her department—she always claimed to have known what was going to happen. This expression, first recorded in 1932, alludes to fans who verbally “replay” Sunday's football game the next day, the quarterback being the team member who calls the plays.

Example Sentences

“Of course, it’s so easy to be the Monday morning quarterback,” he says with a smile.

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Do you ever play Monday morning quarterback with records that don’t work?

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Atkins said she wasn’t sure, saying: “It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback now. ... We know more today than we did then.”

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“Imagine a 14-year-old kid trying to process in real time what’s going on, and we’re here playing Monday morning quarterback,” Gordon said.

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Bill Plaschke has gone from being a Monday morning quarterback to a Thursday morning quarterback.

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