Cleveland Browns Celebrate Christmas in April with Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas

The Cleveland Browns have had little to celebrate about during the past...well, ever since they came back onto the NFL scene in 1999. Each year has brought something new, whether it was the inconsistent play of the supposed franchise quarterback, the myriad of injuries to just about every player, or the overall ineptitude throughout the organization. At the very least, one cannot say that each year was not surprising in some way.

The NFL Draft holds a special place in the hearts of fans, and personnel, of terrible teams because it is the beacon of hope and promise for teams to improve. It also serves as a team's chance to show its fans that it is truly trying to get better.

By now, the Browns have effectively proven that they are not only horrid on the field, but they have been unable to draft the right kind of talent. It is unfair to all supporters of the team to continually witness high draft picks go down with injuries, some more freakish than others, and play uninspired on the field; and after yet another losing season in 2006, it would not be wrong for everyone to start becoming apathetic.

The problem could be seen months before the draft even started. The success of a team depends largely on its offensive line and the Browns have found that out the hard way each and every year. With the third pick in the draft, many people thought Joe Thomas from Wisconsin would make a worthy acquisition. Not only would he solidify the offensive line, but this tackle would allow the other guys on the line to play positions that better suited their abilities.

However, with a draft pick that high, the possibility for a franchise quarterback was there in Brady Quinn. He had some knocks against him (the deep pass for one) and a track record of poor performances in big games, but he is a local boy who showed a genuine, giddy teenager-like interest in playing for the Browns.

Adrian Peterson also sat there at number three, staring the Browns right in the face as well. He would have worked well with Jamal Lewis, taking the pressure off of him while putting together a strong rookie campaign himself.

It seemed like with any pick the Browns made, the possibility was there that it could look like a glaring mistake five years later. The suspense was certainly there as Roger Goodell stood at the podium announcing the third overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. As the words "Joe Thomas" were uttered from his zero-tolerance-loving lips, feelings of both excitement and potential dread rushed over me as I thought back to the can't-miss pick of Robert Gallery only a few years earlier. It wasn't the sexiest pick that could have been made, but it helped fix one of the glaring needs on the team and it needed to happen, no matter what the potential consequences were.

Nevertheless, the potential franchise quarterback Quinn was passed up and I hoped that it would not come back to haunt the team a few years down the road: "Brady Quinn of (any team, except the Texans...let's be realistic) comes to Cleveland and torches the Browns for 556 yards and 4 touchdowns in the AFC Championship Game in 2011". I kept reciting the weaknesses of Quinn, reassuring myself that he couldn't hit Charlie Weis' gigantic ego with a football from five feet away, and thus making him no good to the Browns.

Then something miraculous happened. Every team after the Browns passed on Quinn, too. Either Quinn had some form of the plague or all the teams knew something wasn't right. It was utterly perplexing to see each team pass on this "top-ten player", but highly entertaining to watch the cameras cut back to him sitting there alone with his family in the room reserved for the top draft picks. Thoughts of Quinn dropping to the second round were finding their way into my head as I realized most teams at the back-end of the round had needs more important than the quarterback position.

Not wanting to take any chances, the Browns traded to get the Cowboys' pick in the first round and actually selected Brady Quinn, previously assumed by me to have the bubonic plague. Every negative connotation about the guy seemed to vanish as our second round pick (and more importantly, next year's first) went towards getting Quinn in the first round. Realizing that the Browns had just selected arguably two of the top five players in the draft was like living in a magical dream land. It was no dream, but the realization that the Browns were true members of the NFL and had the same opportunities as other teams to do positive things and have a stroke of luck every now and then.

It was a total success for Phil Savage, Romeo Crennel, and the rest of the Browns organization. The team will head into the season with plenty of hype to be competitive at the very least, barring any unforeseen injuries to a few key players and the newly-acquired rookies. High expectations may be something the Browns will have to start getting used to, but I doubt anyone will be complaining.

With the recent turn of events, there is reason to believe that things could finally be looking up for one of the NFL's worst teams on a year-to-year basis. Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas could end up being cornerstones on the team for the next decade and it will all go back to a roll of the dice and some shrewd moves made by the Browns. Even if they don't pan out, one has to applaud the effort made by the organization. Plus, if Quinn does manage to become a success on the team and brings, oh, I don't know, a Super Bowl championship to the city, I might just be able to forget that he played for Notre Dame.