Brady Quinn lost his starting job a couple weeks ago.
Now he’s lost his privacy. Several internet sites have published his home address with the news that his house is for sale. This makes it seem like it’s related to a trade, but there’s nothing real hot on the rumor mill right now and it’s hard to see the Browns getting much of anything if Quinn is traded anywhere other than Buffalo.
Too, Eric Mangini said the Browns are not looking to trade Quinn.
Before this is done Quinn may lose all his dignity, through no fault of his.
Before I go too far, let’s just say that Quinn did not play very well in his 10 quarters. Hawaii-worthy it was not. But the way things have gone for him since he was drafted is pretty staggering.
Quinn’s rookie-year holdout didn’t help, but that Browns regime was pretty intent on letting him learn for a year. He played last season, did pretty well in two games – the Browns scored 59 points for him – and then tried to play through a broken finger. He couldn’t, and that ended his season. In fact, there were a lot of questions that perhaps he should not have played with the finger; he did, the Browns let him, and it got worse.
This year he competed for the starting job, and won it out of training camp. This was an exhaustive and thorough competition, so we were told. He then was given an offense to run that just did not succeed and he was benched after 10 quarters. (How is it fair to judge Brady Quinn after 10 quarters but unfair to judge Eric Mangini after four games?)
Several NFL folks have pointed to one play against Baltimore to illustrate what Quinn had to work with.
It was a third down play. The Browns had three wide receivers on the field, including Josh Cribbs. They also had a back and tight end. The Browns kept the back and tight end in for protection. They sent the three receivers out. All three were double-covered.
Quinn threw toward Cribbs on the sideline, but essentially threw it out of bounds. The play never had a chance to succeed because every receiver was doubled and not open.
The play was put in because the Browns saw Ed Reed act a certain way once on film. The play was designed to take advantage of that action. Reed didn’t do it, which is not surprising because the action he took only happened on one play on film. The Ravens simply doubled everyone and went to the sideline.
The casual eye said that Quinn made a poor throw. But coaches who watched the play said Quinn made a smart play, throwing it away when no one was open.
They also say he had no chance to succeed because of the play’s design.
Quinn clearly did not help his cause with his first interception in Baltimore and by throwing underneath so often, but he also didn’t have a lot to work with.
The Browns can talk all they want about winning ugly and coming close the last two weeks, and about their back-to-back 100-yard rushers, but the bottom line is this: The offense is poor.
They have scored three touchdowns in their last 128 possessions, a near-impossible feat. And they’ve done that with a first-round quarterback, a sixth-round quarterback and free agent quarterback playing.
This season they have scored three touchdowns on offense. One came on an 80-yard drive when Minnesota had folded the tent. Another came on a 77-yard drive against Cincinnati. The third was a 38-yard drive against Cincinnati set up by Josh Cribbs’ 39-yard punt return.
That’s one meaningful, lengthy touchdown drive in five games.
The Browns rank 30th in points per game (11.0), 29th in total yards, 31st in passing offense, 16th in rushing offense. They have had three games when they scored fewer than 10 points. They have yet to see a wide receiver or running back get in the end zone.
This is a bad, bad offense, with or without Brady Quinn. It has time to get it together, but to think that Quinn was the sole problem is not realistic. He just didn’t help the cause.
But … all Quinn has done since he arrived in Cleveland is work hard and act properly. He’s done everything asked of him, never complained and didn’t sound off when he was benched – except to say he was disappointed.
Everyone celebrated drafting him, and correctly said Phil Savage made a smooth move to trade up and get him. He gushed about being a Cleveland fan getting to live his dream.
Now the dream is shattered, his home address is all over the internet and everyone is writing about his house being for sale.
It sure seems like Quinn deserves better.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I'm sure Brady's real estate agent loves all the free marketing. And anyone who wanted to know where he lived could easily find it on the internet through the property tax records.
Wasn't the ABJ the paper that published LeBron's address in Bath?
And Fox 8 did a report from the house Shaq's is renting.
Part of the downside of being a celebrity. The can always afford a gated community if they want to avoid the hassle.
Horsehockey. This isn't Los Angeles. I remember when Windhorst wrote in his blog about Damon Jones' locker room escapades, and that Jones was telling anyone who would listen that his house was for sale. No blog yutzes were running around town trying to be the first to their computer to type the number of bathrooms Jones' house had.
Homers and shills and homers and shills. I thought it was only the post-Gilbert era Cavaliers who had those. It cracks me up that the people who originally saw Quinn as the savior are now the same people attacking Quinn for buying such an expensive house with four bathrooms. As if $700,000 for a house on his salary was an unreasonable amount to spend on a house. Gosh, I bet he even bought a new car. Evidently, in the minds of these geniuses, Quinn was supposed to live in a cardboard box in Cedar Center and drive a Schwinn.
I don't argue with any of this, but any celebrity who doesn't have real property held by a trust or or LLC (depending on the state laws) with a nice, dull name is being badly managed. It costs less than $1,000 to set up, no matter which state, has no tax consequences (and in some states, advantages) and prevents this sort of thing.
As Brian says, the laws require this information to be publicly available and anyone with internet access can find it. Hence, keep your name out of the records.
I agree with this post in its entirety. Brady has never had a chance here, due to several circumstances, not the least of which is: he is surrounded by subpar talent and offensive coaches who are blithering idiots.
All of those moaners and groaners who just DEMANDED that D.A. be the starter:
Well, you got what you wanted. And, oh, is it ugly. Couldn't be more unwatchable if he/they tried.
These are superb points, stats and concepts you expose, Patrick. And they also point to how fans so often dismiss or diminish the organization's seeming inability to attract proven-quality assistant coaches, even in coordinator roles—even if yours is the first new head coach hired in a given off-season.
Certain realities tied to mid-market losers, especially in the Rustbelt, go under-reported, doing little to accurately re-calibrate fan expectations, leading at least indirectly to needless dismay, disappointment and frustration.
What silly rationalization. There's right and there's wrong. Why not just say Quinn's house has been listed for sale, and be done with it. Or just print the home address of every single professional sports figure in the state. Not hard to find.
By the way, I was wrong. Apparently, Quinn's house has five bathrooms, not four. Gossipmonger Marla Ridenour's cerebral newspaper piece that she actually admitted she pilfered from a fan's blog site just corrected me on that. I'm almost waiting for Marla to print what she learned about this situation from her Aunt Gladys at the beauty parlor.
And by the way, a trust or LLC??? Sorry, but that's just plain goofy. Addresses are readily available from just about anywhere on anybody in public records, a trust or LLC simply means it's five extra minutes to locate it.
This kind of stuff brings out the very worst in people.
It's official, anything with the words "Quinn" or "Anderson" in it has officially become unreadable and boring. And this is from Pat, who made an awkward yet entertaining transitional crush from a Victora Secret Model, to a star on a show called Cougar Land or something, to a singer from upstate New York who makes Elaine Benes look like Ginger Rogers. Even he can't make Quinn or Anderson posts entertaining.
Let's do something productive and worthwhile, like searching for Steelers on the sex offender registry or something.
In his eagerness to say that everyone else except him is wrong, Alan, as usual, displays his lack of knowledge. I've watched teams of bankruptcy lawyers rip their hair out trying to unravel the chain.
There are some basic mistakes people make, which is why it's wise to hire an attorney to set a trust or an LLC up, and not use a $75 kit. And there are situations where it just isn't going to work (if you have school-age children).
For a public figure who is single– and probably had at least two LLCs set up for him by his agent– the question of whether to do it is an "Alan T.".
Beckman, my point was if you believe that a trust or LLC means a darn thing relative to hiding Quinn's home address from young Internet goofs who think it's cool to post his home address, then you're kidding yourself. And why are you talking about investments? What's next, a 60-paragraph homage to the Roth IRA?
I too had a dream about being QB for the Browns. It was crushed in the 7th grade when I figured out I would never be able to throw a football more than 30 yards. Just because you WANT to be QB for your hometown team doesn't mean you should. And just because fans want a savior doesn't mean it is meant to happen. I get it, local boy comes home from ND and saves the Browns. That IS a great storyline almost Chip Hilton 'esque. Let's face it if Brady went to any other school besides ND (and maybe OSU) and grew up in umm let's say Indiana or Pennsylvania nobody would give two rat's asses if he was benched. Yes, the hometown Catholic boy saving the Browns storyline is nice but it is also unrealistic. Finally, the wash out rate for 1st round QB's is very high so it should not come as a surprise that Brady is not what he is cracked up to be. But, it really doesn't matter. We could have Joe Montana in his prime at QB and still be 1-4.
I think a better analogy than Joe Montana would be Bert Jones or Archie Manning. And nobody has any idea what Brady Quinn is cracked up to be, even though a lot of people mistakenly think that they do.
"Yes, the hometown Catholic boy saving the Browns storyline is nice but it is also unrealistic."
Tell that to Bernie Kosar….haha.
"It sure seems like Quinn deserves better."
So did Couch, but he didn't get much help either.
The Browns never should've drafted him in the first place. Think of how much better this team would be if they spent the last two drafts surrounding D.A. with talent instead of trying to prove how much smarter they are than everyone else in the NFL by drafting Quinn after he fell like a rock on draft day.
This is caused by all the "6am to 3am" days spent in Berea. If they went home for the night by 9pm, those two handoffs to Cribbs in the red zone would've never happened.
Adrian Peterson, Knowshawn Moreno, Beanie Wells, Rashard Mendenhall.
How in the world is one of them not a Cleveland Brown?
As someone who writes and moderates for the unofficial Brady Quinn fansite, you put into words precisely what is needed to quell Anderson flare-ups. No gushiness that we are guilty of, but succinct accurate descriptions; letting the plays and reviews speak for themselves.
Thank-you Mr. McManamon you're welcome at our site anytime (even when Brady plays poorly – we don't let him slide either.) www . brady-quinn . org
With your permission, I would like to quote you on our post, with full credit and links. Please let me know.
"Adrian Peterson, Knowshawn Moreno, Beanie Wells, Rashard Mendenhall.
How in the world is one of them not a Cleveland Brown?"
Because if they were, you, and every other Brown fan who thinks one player makes the difference, would not be happy to have them. If one of these were a Brown, he would be labeled a stiff and your kind would instead be pining for some other RB and wondering why we couldn't have gotten one of them instead of one of ones you just mentioned (if they had the unfortunate luck of being drafted by Cleveland).
Rick, I find your response to my comment disappointing.
My point was not "one player makes the difference", it was with Jamal Lewis as your feature back, it might be a good idea to bring in his eventual successor.
All I can say is, Joe Thomas better become a Hall of Famer, because that's what we passed up in Adrian Peterson. Imagine that. If someone had told you, "But this guy will be the very best running back in the league, an eventual Hall of Famer," wouldn't it be JUST like the Browns mgmt. to say, "Yeah, we know…but we need a lineman. Skilled playmakers? Nah, we don't need any of those."
Running backs are a dime a dozen in the NFL. There is absolutely no reason to pick a RB high in the draft. Just look at the starters in the AFC North. Ray Rice & Willie Parker were drafted late. Benson was cut by the Bears. Yes – It would be nice to have an AP type talent but only if we have the line and defense to go along with it. Successful NFL teams are built from the inside out.
Yes, running backs are a dime a dozen. But GREAT running backs only come along once in a blue moon. And even if the team isn't winning, then at least the fans get something worth their time. It's why Edwards and Winslow, or somebody like them, is worth it. It's why when the Bravens were horrible in the 70s, Gregg Pruitt was featured in every Bravens photo and in every Bravens press release. It's why when the Bears and Lions were horrible, fans still thought it was well worth seeing Walter Payton, pre-destroyed knee Billy Sims, and Barry Sanders.
Stop with the dumb stuff about successful NFL teams are built from the inside out. It's a myth. Paul Brown's teams blew beginning in the late 50s, and that's why he was told to hit the road, but the myth remains.
The NFL is an entertainment business. A great big overweight white guy flipping the ball underneath his legs to Joe Blow who then hands off the ball to Felon Blow or throws the ball to Tyrone Blow is neither successful nor entertaining.
Oh, and one other thing about Paul Brown's myth. This is 2009. It's not 1953. You can't "build" something when the bricks keep moving.
This is the best, most clever marketing idea I've seen from any fan in ages. Why can't the same thing be done in Cleveland? http://xr.com/fkhc
Blathering to anybody special?