Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson is the team’s starting quarterback for at least another week. But how much longer will Browns fans have to wait before their true savior takes ...

Is Brady Quinn The Next Aaron Rodgers?

by Will Maltby (Contributor)

1,864 reads

Opinion

October 18, 2008

Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson is the team’s starting quarterback for at least another week. But how much longer will Browns fans have to wait before their true savior takes the field and leads the team to the Super Bowl?

Browns general manager Phil Savage became great friends with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones during the 2007 NFL Draft last year when Savage traded what might as well have been a dozen draft picks for the rights to the 22nd selection of the draft.

And with that selection the Browns took Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn.

It seemed like the logical choice: The Browns needed a quarterback and Quinn wanted to play for the Browns. You couldn’t find a better win-win situation if you made one up.

But, a holdout during the preseason kept Quinn from seriously contending for the starting quarterback job. When he finally showed up to training camp, he found himself listed fourth on the team’s depth chart—behind Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson and Ken Dorsey.

It wasn’t a situation that Quinn was used to.

Quinn had started all four years at Dublin Coffman High School in Dublin, Ohio. He then went on to start—and star—for four years at Notre Dame.

To be a fourth-string quarterback was… well, strange.

However, Quinn saw a lot of playing time during the preseason, and when Dorsey was cut following the team’s final preseason game, Quinn became the team’s third-string quarterback.

That’s not much better than being a fourth-stringer, but it’s better than not playing at all—figuratively speaking, of course.

Less than two weeks later, Quinn found himself second on the team’s depth chart. Savage traded Frye to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth-round draft pick and named Anderson the starter. Quinn was just an injury to Anderson away from quarterbacking his favorite team growing up—a dream come true.

However, Anderson would go on to have the best season by a Browns quarterback in more than two decades, passing for more than 3,700 yards and throwing 29 touchdown passes—one short of the team record held by Brian Sipe.

And while Anderson was lighting up defenses, Quinn was holding a clipboard on the sidelines.

When Anderson was having a bad game, Cleveland Browns Stadium would erupt with a chorus of boos followed closely by a chant that’s become all-too-common in Cleveland these days: “Brady! Brady! Brady!”

And although Browns fans wanted to see Quinn, head coach Romeo Crennel wasn’t about to bench Anderson in favor of Quinn.

Ultimately, he made the right decision, based on what Anderson accomplished for his oft-beleaguered Browns.

Quinn didn’t see his first game action until the team’s season finale at home against the San Francisco 49ers. He entered the game near the end of the second quarter after Anderson left the game with a hand injury.

And how did the fans at Cleveland Browns Stadium feel about that?

“Brady! Brady! Brady!”

The stadium erupted into a chorus of cheers despite the fact that Anderson—not Quinn—had led the Browns to a 9-6 record at that point.

Offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski must have wanted to prove to the Browns faithful that he and the rest of Crennel’s staff were confident in Quinn’s abilities. Despite only being in the game for one series, Quinn was allowed to drop back eight times.

Quinn completed only three passes, but his numbers should have been more efficient. Tight end Kellen Winslow and wide receiver Braylon Edwards both dropped passes in the endzone—which would have been Quinn’s first touchdown of his young—and promising—career.

Anderson came back later to finish the game, giving the Browns their first 10-win season in more than 15 years. The Browns missed the playoffs, however, because Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy didn’t want his starters hurt before the playoffs—allowing the Tennessee Titans to win the game and clinch the final AFC playoff spot.

Browns fans were disheartened and some even hated Dungy, but you can’t fault him for not wanting his best players hurt heading into the playoffs—despite what actually happened in the playoffs.

During the offseason, many calls were made wanting to let Anderson to walk; the Browns tendered him a contract which would have awarded them first- and third-round draft picks if any other team matched their offer.

No one took the bait.

The Browns awarded Anderson with a three-year contract valued at $20 million—the same amount of money the team signed Quinn for.