What does "overpunting your coverage" metaphor mean?

April 1, 2013 4:11 PM

So an exec at my company walks into my office, looks at my pictures of my wife and kids and says, "You really overpunted your coverage there." I understand the (U.S.) football metaphor of punting past your coverage (i.e. giving the returner too much room to get a run started) ... but what is that metaphor supposed to mean here? That my birth control failed? That I married "out of my league" (ugh)? I couldn't figure it out, nor did I want to ask "what the hell does that mean?"
posted by mrgrimm to Human Relations (32 answers total)

Best answer: Urban Dictionary has got you covered.
posted by RichardP at 4:13 PM on April 1, 2013

That I married "out of my league" (ugh)?

Yup.
posted by MarkAnd at 4:13 PM on April 1, 2013

Yeah, in that context he was implying that your wife is hot.
posted by Justinian at 4:14 PM on April 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

Best answer: The metaphor is: the defenders seriously misjudged your ability to kick the ball.
posted by kindall at 4:15 PM on April 1, 2013

It means he thinks your wife is too good for you. It also means that this guy is an obnoxious jerk.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 4:17 PM on April 1, 2013 [66 favorites]

Best answer: Although inappropriately stated (and it's really hard to say something like this appropriately in a business context, if at all), he was trying to pay a compliment about your wife. It's usually assumed, I think, that men can also take some ribbing about their looks, and a comment about "marrying out of your league" is supposed to be complimentary while also poking some fun. This kind of thing is more appropriate between guys who are friends, though, I would think, and he shouldn't have assumed that it's the kind of comment that you would appreciate.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:17 PM on April 1, 2013 [42 favorites]

Best answer: Yeah. It may not have been appropriate in this context, but reading a malicious "your wife is too good for you" into it is going too far. It's a kind of friendly ribbing and likely meant in a complimentary way.
posted by Justinian at 4:20 PM on April 1, 2013 [8 favorites]

Although too familiar and in poor taste IMHO.
posted by mlis at 4:23 PM on April 1, 2013

I agree with that. It was overly familiar for the context.
posted by Justinian at 4:29 PM on April 1, 2013

Yeah, besides making a somewhat jerky statement, he doesn't actually know what those words mean.

As you note, "outkicking the coverage" is a bad thing in football because the opponent has a good chance for a return. He meant something like "playing out of your league" or "punching above your weight."
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:38 PM on April 1, 2013

The metaphor is: the defenders seriously misjudged your ability to kick the ball.

Except when punting in football, the "coverage" is on your team. So like I said, he doesn't know what those words mean, but thinks they sound good.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:39 PM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

I may be mistaken, but I've also understood the "out of your league" comment to be a compliment to both the man and the woman. He is not only saying your wife is very attractive, but he's also saying that you have some previously unrecognized virtue (penis size is typically implied) that made you worthy of her attention.
I've seen this happen to male coworkers and friends a good bit and the typical answer is, "Yup, I'm a lucky man."
posted by teleri025 at 4:47 PM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Sometimes we default to this because, by being deprecating and chummy, it seems like a relatively non-creepy way to pay a compliment to a friend's partner's attractiveness and, by extension, to the friend.
posted by ftm at 4:59 PM on April 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

The way I've understood these two metaphors is that "out of your league" can indeed be a joshing compliment, in the sense that the subject has outperformed expectations. On the other hand, I've always understood "outkicked his coverage" to be less complimentary, as the kicker may have have "kicked the ball further than expected", but this is actually disadvantageous for the kicker's team. That is, the second implies that you've outperformed expectations, but this will lead to woe.
posted by RichardP at 5:04 PM on April 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I'm going to agree that the intent was to be complimentary and say that you married well.

I'm also going to speculate that this person is a exec in the company because of that ability to say nonsensical things and have people guessing what the deeper meaning is.
posted by Balonious Assault at 5:35 PM on April 1, 2013 [8 favorites]

As you note, "outkicking the coverage" is a bad thing in football because the opponent has a good chance for a return. He meant something like "playing out of your league" or "punching above your weight."

Unless it was meant to imply that marrying out of his league would lead to bad consequences.
posted by benbenson at 5:46 PM on April 1, 2013

Best answer: That's not what he meant. Is this a dumb phrase? Yes. But it has a recognized meaning. Hell, even Urban Dictionary recognizes that. It's like saying "I could care less." Does that actually mean what people are using it to mean? No, it means the opposite. But everyone knows what they are actually saying. The guy was paying a compliment in a ham-handed manner.
posted by Justinian at 5:51 PM on April 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

Huh. I was kind of figuring he was talking about the kids, but that would be assuming that you have more than 3 or so. As I've seen described by someone here before, going from 2 kids to three means you have to switch from man-to-man defense to zone, so the punting analogy would sort of be similar: your defense on the rest of the play is going to be compromised an non-ideal.

Otherwise, if it is about your wife, as others are saying, it's actually a compliment to you and your wife both, delivered in a ham-handed way.
posted by LionIndex at 6:15 PM on April 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

I'd interpret it to mean you're in over your head.

I was rethinking my original interpretation and leaning more towards the man-to-man versus zone thing (especially if mrgrimm has three or more children), but a google search pretty much interprets it universally the other way. Blog posts about it and everything.

And I'm pretty sure the internet is never wrong.
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:52 PM on April 1, 2013

Hi, I work in sales. I've been on the receiving end of something similar many times (not the football metaphor though) and have even heard myself on occasion delivering it to a newer colleague. It isn't meant in the creepy "your wife is hot" way. At least I've never heard it meant that way. The way I've always heard it roughly translates as "how did a peg-legged pea-brained one-eyed ogre like you ever find someone willing to be your life partner?" to mean "hey new guy, we invite you to be one of the guys."
posted by dismitree at 7:04 PM on April 1, 2013 [13 favorites]

I have heard the phrase before, used by other people to mean exactly this: You are with someone who'd be commonly thought of as out of your league, and you have done well. It's a relatively common saying, depending on where you are.

There is no implication that doing so will have bad consequences. That is overthinking a metaphor.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:04 PM on April 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

It has an agreed upon meaning, sure -- that his wife is too good looking for him, but the implication there is actually complimentary -- that he did better than he should have, given his lot in life -- that he is an achiever. This is just standard sales-guy chit-chat that implies that he thinks you're a go-getter, etc.. He's just welcoming you on the team and expressing a little bit of faux informality to put you at ease (and also, of course, subtly expressing dominance by implying that of course someone like your wife wouldn't be too hot for himself). It's just office banter.

People who say that kind of shit I tend to stay away from, which is why I've never had a management or a sales job, I'm sure.
posted by empath at 7:12 PM on April 1, 2013 [4 favorites]

and also, of course, subtly expressing dominance by implying that of course someone like your wife wouldn't be too hot for himself

Possible, certainly - life has taught me that.

But not "of course". My hetero but folksy female officemate will tell me [hetero male] that I have overachieved (correctly) and I will say the same to her. No weird dominance issues involved, just friends talking in private and not having to think about implications outside our own experience/privilege/what-have-you.
posted by ftm at 7:21 PM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: My first thought was that you have more than two kids and therefore you can't do "man to man" defense anymore.

But I could be wrong.
posted by cooker girl at 7:26 PM on April 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

This is fairly benign, but sports metaphors and jokey putdowns are essential tools of alpha-dog posturing. So if the comment left you feeling...less than complimented, it's probably because you picked up on this.
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:33 PM on April 1, 2013 [5 favorites]

It definitely means you did better than you should have. Your colleague may have picked this up because of the coach of Florida Gulf Coast University who has been in the news recently because of their improbable success in this year's NCAA basketball tournament. It has been noted that the average looking coach married a swimsuit model and in interviews the coach has been using the "out kicked my coverage" line (listen approximately 17:45 into the audio).
posted by mmascolino at 8:27 PM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It's an underhanded compliment. There, I said it in two words. I personally love this type of humor, but it usually only works or "is safe" with people that already know you.

What distinguishes it from regular compliments is that you can't be sure what exactly the person is trying to say, and this can be really off-putting to people who focus on the underhandedness.

I don't mean to psychoanalyze but generally I find people that employ this type of humor aren't coming from a bad place, but they don't have the best boundaries. It's slightly inappropriate for a superior to talk to you this way. I think it's up to you spin this in a good direction or a bad direction. If it continues and bothers you, and since this is your job we're talking about here, it's best to check them in the most polite way possible. Talk to them like an adult. It will help diffuse the situation.
posted by phaedon at 11:52 PM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

What distinguishes it from regular compliments is that you can't be sure what exactly the person is trying to say, and this can be really off-putting to people who focus on the underhandedness.

Another favorite of these kinds of guys is: "You're a good guy, I don't care what everybody else says about you."
posted by empath at 11:59 PM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Well now I feel stupid b/c I'm the sorta guy who has urban dictionary saved as a keyword search, but as some might agree, I think it's a mis-use of the metaphor.

I can understand why some might think it's a creepy comment, but it's FAR less creepier than if he meant "you ejaculated so much sperm it overwhelmed your choice of birth control and impregnated your wife unexpectedly." !! (Nobody picked that answer?)

Plus, I'm a lot hotter than my wife, which is perhaps why I was so confused. Big smiley winking!

I am not offended. I take it as a compliment to my wife's attractiveness, which is perhaps not appropriate for a workplace relationship, but as far as mainstream society goes (damn the patriarchy at all), commenting on a male or female spouse's appearance positively is generally acceptable. My boss and I are familiar enough that it doesn't offend me. Cultural differences and all.

I'd interpret it to mean you're in over your head.

And now ... re-reading the comments and re-considering ... I might still be confused!

Regardless, I think the two choices are:

* married a woman out of my league
* have my hands full with (only 2) kids - eh ...

The latter only makes sense to me with more kids. Two is a handful and more than enough for me, but it's not overpunting my coverage.

Your colleague may have picked this up because of the coach of Florida Gulf Coast University

The comment was before they beat Georgetown so I don't think that's where he got it, but I think it definitely strengthens the case for the most obvious interpretation.

I appreciated the well-thought-out comments about possible meanings and whether or not the comment was inappropriate. To me, fwiw, it was perhaps inappropriate but not offensive to me. It did not make me uncomfortable at all, and I don't think it would appropriate to report it to HR or anything like that. It was an offhand joke that was left alone when finished.

I find people that employ this type of humor aren't coming from a bad place, but they don't have the best boundaries.

Ding ding ding. If I were worried about his behavior in any other way, I would confront it. It's that grey line between annoying and offensive, but I think it veers much closer to the former.

Also, fwiw, I think my wife would agree with those who think it's slightly inappropriate, but she would not be offended. I'll ask her.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:16 PM on April 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

And now ... re-reading the comments and re-considering ... I might still be confused!

Regardless, I think the two choices are:

* married a woman out of my league
* have my hands full with (only 2) kids - eh ...

No, it's not about having your hands full. It's about achieving a result above the expected level. Usually one would use it to refer to themselves, but mild deprecation is a bonding thing.

Allow me to provide context.

The first time I ever heard the metaphor, "outpunting your coverage," was a couple years ago in a blog by the wrestling announcer Jim Ross, who goes by JR. He's also a passionate fan of football (he's a Sooners man, for the record). I used to keep a text file of quotes from his blog taken out of context, because they were really funny that way for some reason. One of these was an aside, and it was this:

"Is love truly blind? People have been telling Mrs. JR that for years. Some of us just outpunt our coverage in life."

He is married to a woman who is more attractive than he is, is what he's saying. That is what the term means.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 12:52 PM on April 2, 2013

In fact, he's used the term more than once to describe the same situation, so here's a more recent example:

I'm a lucky man in that not only did i out punt my coverage marrying my lovely wife but she's also a football fan who tolerates my whacky gridiron oriented schedule during the fall.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 12:54 PM on April 2, 2013

"Outpunting your coverage" is a backhanded compliment, analogous to saying "she's way to hot for you and that will probably cause you problems."

However! I have found that most people, especially those who don't know much about football, mean it as a teasing compliment. It's a commonly misused phrase.
posted by Shouraku at 6:01 PM on April 2, 2013