Just Go Out and Be Brady Quinn

This article is written from a standpoint of what I would say to Brady Quinn if I were advising him.

Last Sunday I saw something in you that I haven't seen since your freshman year at Notre Dame. I saw a quarterback that was tentative. While I understand that it was the first time you opened the season as the starter and you were going up against on of the best defenses in the NFL, you have to stay loose out there.

The quarterback on the other team was one of the best to ever play the game.Therefore, you had plenty of reason to be nervous out there. You also have the pressure of getting pulled for Derek Anderson if you don't perform. You are also aware that part of the city still wants him to be the quarterback.

You may not say it publicly, but deep down you know that although Anderson and Brett Ratliff may be friends of yours that neither of them can lead the team the way you can. Therefore, the onus is on you to be the guy. While that is certainly a lot to carry on your shoulders, you are the one who can carry it.

To do so, you just need to get back to one basic thing. You need to go out there and be Brady Quinn. You can't be the Brady Quinn that those who dislike you think you are nor can you be the Brady Quinn I thought you were after your sophomore year in South Bend.

To succeed, you must be the Brady Quinn that I now know you are. The Brady Quinn I know is the guy in the picture above. That is a guy who has complete control of his unit. The Brady Quinn I know manages the game well but isn't afraid to go downfield and stretch the defense.

Most importantly the Brady Quinn I know is what I think of when I think of a leader. The Brady Quinn I know doesn't look tentative during the game. That is the Brady Quinn that will win over the entire city of Cleveland the way he won over the entire city of South Bend.

Somehow you need to get back to being that Brady Quinn. If you do, those who doubt you will gravitate towards you. Those who hate you will either admit they were wrong or they will just look really foolish.

The best advice I can you to get back to that is "Just be Brady Quinn." You may succeed or you may fail. Either way you have to succeed or fail being Brady Quinn. You can't be afraid to throw it downfield. If you make a mistake, so what. At least you made that mistake being Brady Quinn.

If you succeed, the city will love you. If you fail, at least you fail with no excuses. Seriously how bad can that be? You are already a Notre Dame legend. How many people can say that? You are also a Cleveland Brown. How many people would love to wake up and say that?

This Sunday just go out there and play your game. I think you will do very well but if you do go down, go down swinging. If you do that, I know you can live with whatever happens.