ESPN’s Monday Night Preseason Football game tonight will feature two teams historically not in the national limelight (at least not for the right reasons) – the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Browns. However, recent acquisitions made by both teams have brought much needed intrigue to both squads. The Browns have found a renewed vigor through their drafting of Johnny Manziel, former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from Texas A&M. On the other-hand, the Redskins find themselves hoping to recapture the spirit that led them to the playoffs in 2012 while being led by rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III. RG3 set rookie records during his first year in the NFL, but an injury late in his first season negatively impacted his performance in his sophomore stint, leading many to question his abilities. With the Redskins hiring offensive guru Jay Gruden from the Cincinnati Bengals, however, things may be on their way up for the Redskins.
With Monday still being preseason football, however, it will be a story of back-up quarterbacks and second and third string players fighting to preserve a spot on the 53 man roster. Perhaps no one will be more excited to write that story than former Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy.
McCoy was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 85th pick in the 2010 NFL draft. During his college days at the University of Texas, McCoy earned quite a reputation for himself by essentially breaking all of the university’s quarterback and offensive player records while also amassing the second-highest winning total for any quarterback in NCAA Division 1 history. McCoy’s collegiate success would not translate into NFL success, however, as McCoy would lead Cleveland to a 6-15 record in his 21 starts and would soon find himself without a starting position.
#Redskins Colt McCoy prepares to face his old team, and an uncertain future with his new one: http://t.co/ZXrEPgpQHh
— Tom Schad (@Tom_Schad) August 17, 2014
Now, McCoy finds himself as a back-up to RG3, one of the most hyped quarterbacks of all time. His current position, along with his weak past history as an NFL quarterback, led Chris Cooley, ESPN 980 host and Washington radio analyst, to state, “We signed Colt McCoy for one reason: To be the backup quarterback for the Washington Redskins for an extended period of time behind Robert Griffin III.”
McCoy most likely knows that a majority of people share the same sentiment as Cooley. After all, McCoy had his chance and washed-up. Despite that realization, however, McCoy continues to chug along, indifferent to others’ opinions of his NFL fate: “I’m playing well and just want to go out there and compete, do my best with the reps that I get and help the guys around me play their best. You never know what will happen.”
McCoy’s “you never know what will happen” resulted in him leading Washington to a victory in its first preseason game against the New England Patriots, with McCoy completing eight of nine passes for 102 yards, a touchdown, and a quarterback rating of 150.9.
START COLT MCCOY OVER RG3 NOW GRUDEN #PreseasonOverreactionTweet
— Joe Mullinax (@JoeMullinax) August 8, 2014
With Robert Griffin III proving to be injury-prone, and with the second-string quarterback being none-other than Kirk Cousins, McCoy could find himself in the starting quarterback position, and redemption-land, sooner than later.
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