Around the NFL: Brett Favre or Ed King? You make the call
Think back on your life.
Reflect on the momentous day that seemed so routine at the time. Maybe the memory goes like ...
At 3:30 one afternoon, the choice was between golf and groceries. Golf was more tempting, but the fridge was down to the last slice of salami.
You flip a coin, drive to the store. And there she is, in the spaghetti aisle ...
And so it was, sort of, for Bill Belichick that spring afternoon in 2000.
Did he completely luck into it? Did he have the foresight to make it happen?
However you argue it, Belichick - in the first year of his second NFL head coaching job - via Round 6 of the 2000 draft wound up with quarterback Tom Brady.
Nine years earlier, though, Belichick blew it big time when he didn't wind up with Brett Favre in the first year of his first head coaching job.
In both instances, the result changed the NFL.
Favre was right under Belichick's nose, wearing a bargain price tag, in 1991. However, with the 29th pick of the draft, a high second-rounder then, the Browns chose Auburn guard Ed King. He was out of the NFL by 1997, when Favre was a defending Super Bowl champion.
The Falcons picked Favre at No. 33 overall. Forget that Favre's gambler streak and Belichick's then-dictatorial conservatism might have gone over like a drunken Steelers fan in the Dawg Pound.
Maybe it would have worked out like this:
- Cleveland declines Green Bay's offer of a first-round pick in exchange for Favre in 1992.
- In 1993, Favre's third season, Belichick doesn't bring in Vinny Testaverde.
- Belichick concludes - as he did in real life - Bernie Kosar is fading. He makes the move to Favre.
- The exciting Favre rather than the boring Belichick becomes the face of the franchise.
- Rather than simply going 11-5 in 1994, the Browns get to a Super Bowl behind Favre.
- Unwilling to risk being locked in a barge and sunk in Lake Erie, politicians and Art Modell work out a stadium deal to keep the franchise from getting van-jacked to Baltimore.
- Belichick hits his stride while still in Cleveland and grows old there.
- Dick LeBeau is hired as head coach of the Patriots in 2000.
You never know. What would have happened if you'd gone golfing that day?
Whenever you're ready
Teams waiting on next-level breakthroughs for talented young starters - Jay Cutler, Matt Leinart, Matt Schaub, Derek Anderson, etc. - might want to reflect on Favre's early years.
Favre's initial production looked more like that of Tim Couch and David Carr. As a second-year starter and third-year pro in 1993, Favre went backward, throwing 19 touchdowns and a league-worst 24 interceptions.
Mike Holmgren's patience was rewarded the next year, when Favre threw 33 TD passes and 14 interceptions. In retrospect, the best stretch of Favre's career was that year and the next three.
The formula seems fairly uncomplicated: If you're sure your young guy will get better, don't be in a rush to bring in a stopgap QB.
The Giants did OK waiting on Eli Manning.
What a bargain
As mentioned above, Favre was a No. 33 overall pick in 1991. Here's a list of quarterbacks who drafted higher than Favre since then and were arguably just as good:
- Ben Roethlisberger, No. 11 overall, 2005.
- Peyton Manning, No. 1 overall, Colts, 1998.
Not much of a list - and some would argue Roethlisberger doesn't belong.
It's much easier to make a list of quarterbacks drafted higher than Favre since 1991 who flopped:
- David Carr, No. 1 overall, Texans, 2002.
- Joey Harrington, No. 3 overall, Lions, 2002.
- Akili Smith, No. 3 overall, Bengals, 1999.
- Tim Couch, No. 1 overall, Browns, 1999.
- Cade McNown, No. 12 overall, Bears, 1999.
- Ryan Leaf, No. 2 overall, Chargers, 1998.
- Jim Druckenmiller, No. 26 overall, 49ers, 1997.
- Heath Shuler, No. 3 overall, Redskins, 1994.
- David Klingler, No. 6 overall, Bengals, 1992.
Extra points
- Remember when the Marvin Lewis regime stood for long-awaited stability in Cincinnati? Pro Football Talk reports a YouTube video of Browns lineman Shaun Smith telling a Maryland Browns Backers crowd that Chad Johnson punched Lewis at halftime of the 2006 Bengals-Steelers playoff game. Smith and Johnson were Bengals teammates at the time. The video was yanked from YouTube a short while later. Regardless, this reflects on Cincinnati's practice of drafting talent with an asterisk.
- The Detroit News asked around among Lions players who faced division rival Favre more than a few times. Tough-guy linebacker Chris Spielman's favorite Favre memory: The Packer QB called to express his concern after hearing Spielman's wife, Stefanie, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998.
Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com