I guarantee you that 90% of college QB's are insufferable pricks. You've got it right Pehawk. This kid just gets more exposure because he's actually a good QB. I know a girl who dated that dude who was on the Cowboys and was the predecessor to David Greene at Georgia. Quincy something? She said he was an awful person and "almost even a bigger douche than David was", but he got all of the free blow he wanted, and she wanted to partake, so she "dated" him for a couple of years. She talks about the QB's that came through Georgia as some kind of gods (she played volleyball and softball there, so they all took the same gimme classes). But she said they were also insufferable A-Holes. Even the backups were. To be starters they were just flat out impossible for anybody with common sense to deal with.
I've met a few guys that were "the guy" in high school and college, and you're 100% right about what was going on in the old days. There was a reason Marino dropped like a rock in the "QB draft". There is a reason John Elway had to build his own bar to drink in (he was 'unofficially' banned from every establishment in Colorado for being an absolute boorish assclown that was continually harassing servers and assaulting people... remember, assault isn't battery, battery is when you hit somebody.... assault is verbal, and he did it A LOT).
There is absolutely a sense of entitlement with athletes. It has grown more and more severe I think as times have changed and sports have replaced movies as where the "stars" reside. Just watch the ESPY's and all of the self-congratulations that goes on. It's as embarrassing as the Academy Awards or the Slammies (yeah, I said it).
Sports stars have money, fame, prestige, and attention. They love it. The days of the million dollar price tag on athletes made it much more of a "thing" for sure. I don't think anybody was a bigger jerk and clown than Babe Ruth, but he was in an era where the media left him alone. Mickey Mantle was a complete ass. Read Joe Pepitone's book. Hell, read Mickey's own biography. Read "Cobb". Read up on any of those guys. All just major league jackholes. But they were great.
I don't think we can expect many superstar athletes to handle fame as well as Russell Wilson. For every one of him, there are seemingly 100 Jim Druckenmillers in the world. Guys who think they are ten times better than they ever were and are still living on an invisible cloud of superiority. Jerramy Stevens quickly comes to mind. That guy is a real piece of work, but still thinks he's somehow important. At least I know I'm a loser.