At 28-years-old, newly acquired Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden has a lot to prove as the oldest first-round pick ever. Weeden is older than Aaron Rodgers by two months, but was playing college football only four months ago at Oklahoma State. That hasn’t stopped him from asserting himself as a pro-ready prospect ready to contribute at the next level.
The Browns hope he can back that up on the field this season to help reanimate an anemic offense, and also drafted Alabama RB Trent Richardson with the third pick overall in pursuit of that goal.
“We’re ready to start playing football,” said Weeden at the Browns press conference to introduce their two new players. “As a quarterback it’s comforting to turn around and hand the ball off to a guy like [Richardson].”
While there is concern about Weeden starting his NFL career at his age, he’s not the first to become a starter late in his twenties. Kurt Warner was 28 when he became a full-time starter for the Rams, and Joe Theismann was 27 when he became the signal-caller for the Redskins. Both went on to win a Super Bowl, although neither started as rookies like Weeden will likely do.
Weeden was drafted in the second round of the 2002 MLB draft by the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, his professional career faltered as he spent the next four years bouncing around major and minor league teams.
“I topped out at 97. I threw hard; I was blessed with a strong arm,” Weeden said. “But those guys you see every night, they have three pitches that are really good and I didn’t.”
Weeden’s baseball career came to an end when he suffered a torn labrum and tendinitis in his rotator cuff. Rather than go through shoulder surgery, Weeden enrolled in Oklahoma State to play football. Many scouts were concerned that his shoulder injury would affect his abilities as quarterback, but Weeden explained that his injury doesn’t matter when playing football.
“You very seldom see a guy who has arm issues throwing a football,” Weeden said. “It’s a totally different throwing motion.”
The Browns had the 24th ranked passing attack in the league last year, the 28th ranked rushing offense and averaged only 13.6 points per game. The team hopes that the addition of Weeden and Richardson can help alleviate their offensive woes, especially in the red zone.
“I think down in the red zone…it’s being accurate, it’s letting your guys make the play,” Weeden said. “You just gotta be smart with the football and think that’s one thing at Oklahoma State we took pride in.”
Incumbent starter Colt McCoy never lived up to his expectations in Cleveland, and will likely find himself on another team this season (rumors of Cleveland pursuing trade discussions were reported that day after Weeden was selected). Weeden will likely be given the reigns from the start, for better or worse, and will have little time to adjust to the speed of the NFL.
Time will tell how Weeden fares in his career. For now, he’s a 28-year-old rookie with a lot of experience under his belt, and with a second chance to become successful as a professional athlete.
By Brian Paxton
