The truth of the matter is this: New Bronco Brady Quinn is not a former Cleveland Browns quarterback in so much as he’s a former Notre Dame quarterback. That explains much of the Mile High hysteria surrounding Sunday’s trade.
Because when it comes to Golden Domers, there is no middle ground. You either love the Fighting Irish or you love to hate them. Just like Duke basketball and Coach K.
If Quinn was from, say, UCLA, there wouldn’t be near the buzz surrounding a QB who started a grand total of 12 games in three NFL seasons.
And let’s face it, for all of the hype surrounding Notre Dame QBs, their success in the NFL has been decidedly mixed.
The one Irish quarterback who didn’t make any all-American teams turned out to be the best NFL quarterback off all time. That would be four-time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana.
The other Notre Dame QBs who went on to the NFL have ranged from good to forgettable:
No, I’m not forgetting Paul Hornung, John Huarte or Terry Hanratty, but for purposes of this discussion, they were quarterbacks of a different era.
Add Quinn
The jury is still out about whether Quinn has the skills to be a frontline NFL quarterback, but if you’re wondering if he can handle the Mile High Hype, you can stop. When he was a student at Notre Dame, he was already a superstar.
When he was trying to move out of his dorm room in Dillon Hall at the end of a semester, he opened his door to discover about 60 footballs piled up, all with notes requesting autographs. He was often interrupted during study sessions in the library by rabid Irish fans.
When it comes to off-field matters, Quinn has known the score for a long time.
Trivia time
Who was the last Notre Dame player to win the Heisman? (answer below)
Quotable
“He does one thing better than anyone on the team, and that’s push the ball ahead with the pass — and with precision as well.” — Nuggets starting point guard Chauncey Billups in today’s Post.
Reader’s rant
“MISTAKE!!! Now I begin to question Hoodie Jr.s’ thinking. Quinn is an overrated prima donna, a QB with a lifetime rating of 67.2. Yeah, it was a relatively cheap deal, but why go into the business of collecting other teams garbage? If you wanted a promising young QB, with a fragile ego and body, we had (Jay) Cutler.” — Wile Coyote, commenting on about the Broncos’ trade for Quinn.
In case you missed it
Apparently, being a Packers fan can be a life-saving experience. Check out this story from The Associated Press:
“A Wisconsin man who says his Green Bay Packers loyalties helped save his life has been voted into the team’s Fan Hall of Fame.
The team announced the honor Saturday for 79-year-old Jim Becker. He attended Packers games for 56 years.
Becker says his passion for his team helped save his life. He and his wife raised 11 kids, so money was tight. To afford his season tickets without taking money from his family, he began selling his blood for $15 per pint.
His doctor later found that Becker’s father died at age 43 of a condition in which the blood retains too much iron. The only treatment is to remove the iron by giving blood.
By that time Becker had sold 145 pints to pay for his season tickets. He says if he hadn’t, he too may have died young.”
This day in sports
On this day in 1912, pitcher Cy Young retired from baseball with 511 major-league victories. He was 45.
Trivia answer
Wide receiver Tim Brown, in 1987.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com Hungry for more? .
