Browns fans lamenting their team鈥檚 all-time worst 1-15 record have their sights set on the NFL draft. Cleveland鈥檚 No. 1 draft pick is raising hopes that the team will finally get a star quarterback. WKSU commentator says fans are already eyeing their next hometown hero.
Waiting for the next Bernie
Pluto says Browns fans are haunted by the last good quarterback they had here: , who was from Youngstown.
Kosar was the No. 1 selection in the 1985 Supplemental Draft and was able to
鈥淲hat fans loved about Bernie is he chose us. The Youngstown guy came home and took over a team that was struggling in the late 鈥�80鈥檚. And while they didn鈥檛 go to the Super Bowl, they were good. Then you have The Drive and The Fumble, but he is revered.鈥�
Years of being the Browns quarterback took its toll on Kosar鈥檚 body, and he was cut by then-coach Bill Belichick in 1993. Since then, there鈥檚 been a parade of quarterbacks, at least 24 since the team returned to the league in 1999.
鈥淏ut hanging over the franchise is Bernie. Can we find another Bernie to make football relevant again?鈥�
Fans eye Mentor native Trubinsky
Some people think they found the next Bernie in , who declared for the NFL draft this week.
鈥淗e was the Ohio High School Player of Year at Mentor High and not heavily recruited. He ended up at the University of North Carolina. The odd thing is he ended up sitting for three years before playing this season, making 13 college starts.
"I had a colleague in the [Plain Dealer] newsroom and we were talking about Trubisky. And I don鈥檛 know how good he really is; it鈥檚 hard to judge.
"He goes, 鈥榃hat if he鈥檚 Bernie! What if he鈥檚 Bernie and we miss him! We don鈥檛 take him and he goes somewhere else and he鈥檚 Bernie!鈥�
"There is not a single draft expert out there rationally rating this draft rating Trubisky as No. 1 player. Most of them have him in the first round.鈥�
But, Browns fans have a history of getting excited about local quarterbacks 鈥� Brian Hoyer from Cleveland St. Ignatius, University of Akron鈥檚 Charlie Frye and the Brady Quinn from the Columbus area.
鈥淪ome did better than others, but in the end they all ended with torn ligaments and broken bones. That is kind of the history of Browns quarterbacks.
And, following Clemson鈥檚 win over Alabama in the national championship game, fans are suddenly clamoring for Clemson quarterback .
鈥淓ven though he鈥檚 from Georgia, that鈥檚 good enough!鈥�
Plus says he鈥檚 getting lots of emails ahead of the April draft.
鈥淭hey are almost beside themselves at the thought of getting the wrong quarterback, or trading down and not taking any quarterback. Somebody said, 鈥楴o matter what they do, I know they鈥檒l get it wrong.鈥�
"And yet, you know what? Everyone鈥檚 going to be watching all the conferences and the NFL combines ahead of the NFL draft.鈥�
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