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Pro Sports Wrap - Sports Personality of the Day:Sidney Crosby

I continue my recent string of Jaguars-themed Historical Player Profiles with their former star quarterback; Mark Brunell. The now-bankrupt backup Jets quarterback is probably shaking his head at the team's most recent loss. The lefty has lost most of his former glory, so I'm just going to focus on his notable seasons with the Jags and Washington Redskins.


Brunell is currently in his 17th season, and the three time Pro Bowler was a 5th round pick in the 1993 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. The Seahawks made a mistake in taking highly-regarded Notre Dame product Rick Mirer instead of waiting for Brunell to tumble. The Packers already had their answer in Brett Favre, and Brunell and the Jaguars struck gold when he was traded for a 3rd and fifth rounder.

The greatest quarterback in team history, Brunell would be named to the '96,'97, and '99 Pro Bowls. He was simply sensational in 1996, as he led the league in passing yards (4,367) and also led the NFL with 7.8 yards per attempt. This was made all the more impressive when you consider he was sacked a league-leading 50 times. It was the best season of his career, and he even had a league-leading three fourth quarter comebacks to show for it. Despite the 63.4 completion percentage, Brunell did throw 20 picks that year.


A season later, Mark Brunell still made the Pro Bowl- and was the game's MVP- on the strength of just seven interceptions. He also averaged 7.6 air yards per attempt and had a 91.2 QB Rating.

A devout Christian who is known as one of the nicest players and best mentors in the league, Mark Brunell threw for under 3,000 yards in 1998 but came back in 1999 with 3,060 yards and another Pro Bowl appearance (the last one of his career). Only two percent of his passes were picked off, and Brunell had another solid season.

Two interesting statistical streaks emerge when looking at Brunell's career, and these are his six straight seasons of at least 200 passing yards per game (1996-2001) and his streak of eight consecutive seasons with a QB Rating of at least 82.0 (1995-2002). Brunell has a career AV of 120, a QB Rating of 84.0, 6.9 yards per attempt, and 22 game-winning drives. Pro-Football Reference's Fan EloRater has him as the 374th best player in NFL history as of November 9th.

Known as a good scrambler, Mark Brunell was dealt to the Washington Redskins after the 2003 season when Byron Leftwich was named the Jaguars new starting quarterback.

However, Brunell got off to an awful start with his new team in 2004. In 2005, he turned up the heat to the tune of an 85.9 QB Rating and was third in the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award voting. He came up big with two key touchdown passes in an MNF game against the 'Skins most hated rivals; the Dallas Cowboys. His two bombs to the elite Santana Moss in the final four minutes gave them an incredible 14-13 victory. Although they were knocked out in the playoffs, they were able to take down the Tampa Bay Bucs in the Wild Card game.

Brunell set the record for the most consecutive complete passes in a game (22) in a game against the Houston Texans in 2006. However, eight weeks later, David Carr tied that record. What makes this all the more interesting is the fact that those 22 passes were his first attempts of the game.

That game was the only high point of a poor season for Brunell, as he was surprisingly benched in favor of first round pick Jason Campbell. Although Campbell would go on to have a decent career- up until his unfortunate injury this season- many people believed that this was an imprudent move and that the usually classless Redskins made Mark Brunell their scapegoat.

The Whataburger owner and Madoff/Dykstra investor signed on with the New Orleans Saints to back up superstar QB and franchise savior Drew Brees. This turned out to be a great move for the holder, as he won a Super Bowl ring thanks to the prolific play of Brees under center in 2009. The former Ed Block Courage Award winner and "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year did play a role as one of the main advisers to Drew Brees that season.

Mark Brunell signed a two-year deal with the New York Jets in 2010 to back up and mentor Mark Sanchez. Although a solid backup, Brunell was released after the 2010 season and was forced to take a reduced pay cut. He did, and Brunell has filed for bankruptcy since; mainly thanks to some ill-advised investments. It is a somewhat sad story, but at least he has that ring and those 11 Whataburgers won't be closing either.

Although Mark Brunell wasn't a great quarterback by any measure, he was a solid player and is a great person. Everybody will tell you that he is one of the best mentors around, and he is a very religious person whose attitude made him an ideal leader. The problem is that his life has been ridden with bad-luck, and it has costed him what would have certainly been a better career. However, Brunell was able to win a Super Bowl with the Saints and has had a nice 17-year career thus far.
108 AY/A-plus for his career



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10/18 NFL Rumors: Carson Palmer Traded

October 18th 2011 19:00
What the Raiders did is perplexing to me, but it was the only way to get a starting quarterback. Look, I don't think any team wants to start Kyle Boller right now, and the Raiders were out of options. Everybody knew they had to overpay, but a first rounder is far too much for a below-average quarterback. Palmer isn't that bad, but Jason Campbell might actually be better. It was sad to see Campbell go down like that, as he was playing some damn good football this season. He really broke out as a game manager and remains one of my favorite players since his days with the 'Skins.

No matter how much I hate Mike Brown, now was a good time for him to let Carson Palmer continue his NFL career and move on with Andy Dalton. Even though it hurts his already dirt-low stature for being a pushover from his initial refusals to trade Palmer, he finally did something for the good of the team. I have always been highly critical of Brown, but this was actually a nice move. For the Raiders, it was necessary, as they are a team that can contend for a playoff spot. It's always good to see teams trying to make that push by adding guys at the deadline, much like teams do in baseball.

Two players on the Bears- Matt Forte and Chris Harris- have requested trades. Harris said that it is due to family reasons, but it is interesting to note that the underrated Harris was benched in favor of rookie Chris Conte. His replacement isn't that bad of a player, but he isn't of Harris's caliber.

Forte, on the other hand, is a premier running back who might just be the Bears' best player on offense. He wants more money, and it looks like at least two teams are very interested in acquiring the star. He is a good rusher who has great hands out of the backfield and had an RB Efficiency of 52.6 last season.

The reason why David Garrard did not sign on to be the starter for the Dolphins or Raiders was because of back surgery. His agent has lashed out against the Jags' organization for being classless and releasing him to avoid this injury problem. He also said that this is the difference between a great organization like the Colts and one like the Jaguars, citing the fact that the Colts re-signed Peyton Manning knowing about the injury. Although both players are of way different caliber, and it isn't the same case; Garrard's agent has a point, and if that's the case, then we'll just get a little angry inside and forget about it ten seconds later. It also is quizzical as to why the Jags held out the information about the injury, but Garrard wasn't exactly forthcoming about it either. Gene Smith's explanation of the events were

Initially, Sam Bradford's injury in the game against the Packers was ruled as very minor. Now, it seems like he has a high ankle sprain. If he's out and can't start throwing the ball to Brandon Lloyd on Sunday, there is no chance that this team wins. Bradford might be out for three to four weeks, so this season is quickly going from terrible to whatever is ten times worse than terrible. Do you really want to put the game in A.J. Feely's hands?

Brandon Lloyd was traded to the Rams for virtually nothing- in case you've been living in a cave and haven't heard. I expect Lloyd to catch 30 passes this season, and you really can't get much out of a fifth-rounder in the draft. Draft picks are extremely overvalued, but Lloyd will be a free agent after this season anyway. The Broncos want DeMaryius Thomas and Eric Decker to get more targets and are also very high on rookie tight end Julius Thomas, so that's part of the reason why he was traded. For the Rams, it means that Bradford actually has a legit receiver to throw to whenever he gets back from his apparent ankle injury. I also like the Lloyd-McDaniels connection, and I can see a lot of targets coming his way in this offense. My problem is that Steven Jackson won't get the ball enough, as he was running over the Packers but didn't get enough carries to truly make a difference despite the efficient outing when he did actually get the rock.
First rounders change a man's look an life (or a trade)
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8/2011 QB Rankings

August 24th 2011 14:50
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Peyton Manning
3. Tom Brady
4. Drew Brees
5. Philip Rivers
6. Tony Romo
7. Ben Roethlisberger
8. Matt Ryan
9. Michael Vick
10. Matt Schaub
11. Eli Manning
12. Joe Flacco
13. Josh Freeman
14. Jay Cutler
15. Matthew Stafford
16. Kyle Orton
17. Matt Cassel
18. Sam Bradford
19. Kevin Kolb
20. Colt McCoy
21. Mark Sanchez
22. Donovan McNabb
23. Ryan Fitzpatrick
24. David Garrard
25. Jason Campbell
26. Chad Henne
27. Alex Smith
28. Matt Hasselbeck
29. John Beck
30. Tavaris Jackson
*Rookies Not Included
Not Overrated
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