Brady Quinn Unleashed, Wake Up the Echoes

Browns Backers, 


Clamor: a vehement expression of desire or dissatisfaction, popular outcry.  

I guess if the Browns were able to hire away 49ers' coach, Mike Singletary, he would've already pulled down the pants on the ill-fated Derek Anderson experiment. By now, I'm sure you have heard those loud chants of "Brady, Brady," loud and clear.

Those were directed at the Browns' deaf and inept front-office management, who finally sacked Derek Anderson and will start the Brady Quinn era on Thursday vs. Denver.

The death knell for Derek, in the eyes of many Browns fans, was the ill-fated interception he threw to Terrell Suggs which clinched the game for the Ravens. I put my money on Quinn as soon as he walked off the field. This has been a long time coming for many fans and we will finally get our heart's desire.

 
In all fairness to Anderson, I will always respect what he has done for the team, as he is the ONLY starter to have a winning record for the Browns since Kosar. That stat is admirable, but the bottom line is that his legacy will be his inconsistent play, questionable throws, tendency to lock on to receivers, and ill-advised decisions that have cost the Browns dearly.

I will say that Anderson does not deserve ALL of the blame. The receivers have dropped balls, the team has committed stupid penalties, and the play calling has been too conservative. However, in the end, this could be the right move going forward, considering all the money the Browns have tied up in Quinn. 

Trent Dilfer, ESPN Analyst and former Browns' QB, described the move to Quinn as highly dysfunctional on and said that this type of decision is why the Browns are not winners and will never be winners.

"There are so many layers of dysfunction, when you are a bad football team, you never, ever bench your QB, it shows a lack of discretion and wisdom," said Dilfer.

He went on to state that public opinion made this decision for the Browns. "No city has more of a say in the inner workings of its team than the Cleveland fans." 

I guess great minds think alike, because that is EXACTLY what I've been trying to say. Dilfer also mentioned that our "improved" defense has not been able to get off of the field, Winslow's unreliability, and Edwards 14 drops (which leads the NFL). Apparently, Anderson has been burdened with the responsibility and was made the scapegoat.

Dilfer can speak from experience; he was benched for Charlie Frye after tossing a couple of interceptions in 2005,. Frye was later traded to Seattle and replaced by Anderson. Dilfer went on to mention that he has spoken to coaches who said that this isn't DA's fault and that he has played better than his stats shown. 

This move has been met with as much anticipation as the debut of LeBron and will finally give the Browns a nice fresh face to market and build themselves around. My concern is the timing of it; why didn't it happen before the Redskins game or during the bye week, when you could have had time to prepare Quinn?

Starting Quinn on Thursday is a knee-jerk reaction to appease the "Brady Bunch" (and certain PBB'ers!) and a play for 2009 (where's the white flag!?).  I can see why you would do it with eight games left, as a breath of fresh air in the huddle can be a good thing.

Having Tucker and Stallworth would really help him out as well. But, in my opinion, these impulsive moves will prevent the Browns from being a consistent and stable franchise. They will never challenge Pittsburgh and Baltimore, but settle for appeasing the mob and settling for mediocrity. They need to find stability and consistency.

I know the team is 3-5 right now, but if they made this decision out of fear of getting booed (According to ESPN), then this whole organization is full of gutless cowards. If I'm Quinn, I would be worried because if they are willing to bench an All-Pro because he threw a couple of picks, then what is going to happen to him.

Browns Fan First and Always,
Dawgfather 

P.S. The Talented Mr. Roto called it! For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Mr. Roto, aka Matthew Berry, is an ESPN Fantasy Football guru who first predicted that Quinn would play by Week 9. Nice job Mr. Roto.