How to Know Your Team is in Trouble
Only when you walk into someone’s living room and find Chris Hansen, do you suffer a faster fall from grace than Charlie Frye. On Sunday morning he was the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, and 48 hours later he lost his job and was shipped out of town to Seattle.
Frye was drafted by the Browns in the third round of the 2005 draft. He was a hometown boy, from the University of Akron, and quickly gained popularity when he won the starting QB job in the middle of the 2005 season. However, he failed to progress during a poor 2006 and had his days in Cleveland numbered when the team traded up to grab Brady Quinn in the first round.
Charlie had been declared the starter in pre-season after a fierce battle with Derek Anderson (Quinn not included due to his holdout). However, he was pulled in favor of Anderson during the first half of the Browns’ 34-7 mauling by Cleveland. He was 4-10 for 34 yds and 1 interception during the game, and was also sacked five times.
He was, apparently, so bad in those ten pass attempts, that he went from the best of the bunch to an irredeemable cancer that needed to be excised from the team in a matter of minutes. Never, at least since the AFL/NFL merger has a quarterback started for a team in Week 1 and been traded before Week 2.
Phil Savage, mentioned previously on this blog for insulting his quarterback of the future, came out with a gem when asked about this stating, “This move obviously clarifies our quarterback situation.” The AP writer felt compelled to mention that he said this “with a straight face.” You know you said something ridiculous when an AP writer feels compelled to take a sarcastic shot across the bow at you.
What is next for the Browns? It doesn’t get any easier from here as far as opposing defenses are concerned. Their next five games are against Cincinnati, Oakland, Baltimore, New England, and Miami. Even when the defenses let up a little bit they still have St. Louis and Seattle the two weeks after that. If Anderson doesn’t provide an improvement immediately, the wheels may come irrevocably off the track for this season.
Brady Quinn may be the quarterback of the future, but it appears unlikely that Crennell or Savage will be there to see it. Get used to this phrase because you will be hearing it all throughout the Mel Kiper Christmas season “The Dallas Cowboys are on the clock.”
