The Cleveland Browns are a franchise that knows more about quarterbacks than almost anyone else in the NFL.
Now, it is important to note they don’t necessarily know about good quarterbacks, as the Browns
have cycled through 41 starting quarterbacks since 1999. That number includes 11 times where the Browns have started three different quarterbacks in a single season, and 17 quarterbacks who made their starting debuts as rookies.
Those totals will go up by one on Sunday when the Browns face the Las Vegas Raiders with rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders getting the start as Dillon Gabriel remains in the league-mandated concussion protocol.
Sanders will face a tall task against the Raiders, even if it will be made easier by a week of practice reps with the first-team offense. The Browns have lost 13 consecutive road games and have not won a game in the Pacific Time Zone since beating the Raiders in 2012.
He will also be looking to become the first rookie quarterback to win his Cleveland debut since Eric Zeier in 1995. (When it comes to quarterbacks and unbelievable stats, the Browns have cornered the market!)
For those not old enough to remember, let’s take a look back at that magical moment that occurred in the same year as the O.J. Simpson verdict, the release of Windows 95, and the worldwide launch of the Sony PlayStation.
The Browns opened the season looking to build off a playoff appearance in 1994 with Vinny Testaverde as the starting quarterback. They started by winning three of their first four games, but a three-game losing streak, highlighted by a home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars as a 13-point favorite, left the Browns at 3-4.
Struggling for answers, head coach Bill Belichick benched Testaverde despite the veteran having passed for 10 touchdowns against just three interceptions, and turned the offense over to Zeier, the team’s third-round selection in that year’s NFL Draft.
Zeier’s debut came on October 29 against the Cincinnati Bengals at Riverfront Stadium. Cleveland struggled to score through three quarters, with their only points coming on four field goals from Matt Stover, and opened the fourth quarter trailing the Bengals, 16-12.
But Zeier came alive in the final period, first hitting Andre Rison with a 17-yard touchdown pass, then leading a touchdown drive that culminated in a three-yard rushing touchdown by Earnest Byner to give the Browns a 26-16 lead with just under four minutes remaining.
The Bengals were not to be denied, however, as they scored on a 41-yard field goal by Doug Pelfrey with one minute remaining, recovered an onside kick, and, benefitting from a pair of pass interference penalties on Cleveland’s defense, sent the game into overtime when quarterback David Klingler, filling in for Jeff Blake, hit wide receiver Carl Pickens with a one-yard touchdown pass.
In overtime, Cleveland defensive back Dana Hill intercepted a Klingler pass, and Zeier moved the Browns into position for Stover to convert a game-winning 28-yard field goal.
Zeier finished the game 26-of-46 for 310 yards and one touchdown in leading the offense to 480 total yards. And the Browns needed every one of them as they were penalized 15 times for 188 yards, tied for the second-most in franchise history. (Makes you wonder what Belichick did all week in practice!)
Zeier went on to start the next three games before being benched for Testaverde at halftime against the Green Bay Packers. After not playing the next two weeks, Zeier came off the bench against the Minnesota Vikings but threw four interceptions and was sacked five times as Cleveland’s season continued to spiral out of control*, thanks in part to Belichick being unable to stick with a quarterback.
Zeier would play five more seasons in the NFL, three with the Baltimore Ravens and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but would only start eight games between those two teams. For his career, he played in 28 games, completing 56.1 percent of his passes for 3,520 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.
On Sunday in Las Vegas, Sanders has the opportunity to do something no rookie quarterback has done for the Browns since 1995. Which, even for a team as bizarre as the Browns, seems hard to believe.
*The narrative around the 1995 season was that the season only fell apart after Art Modell announced he was moving the Browns to Baltimore. But things were already going to hell before then, thanks to Belichick having no idea how to deal with the quarterback situation.
