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 Words From

• Monday morning quarterbacking 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

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

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

“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.

From Seattle Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

"Don't be a Monday morning quarterback, Ma," I said, remembering being nine years old and tilting my head back to drink from the two-liter while playing Mario, happy as hell that asthma had kept me out of school.

From Salon