Anderson moving on to better things

Seattle, Arizona, Carolina, Buffalo possibilities

By John Brewington

The South County Spotlight, Mar 16, 2010 (2 Reader comments)

Sports Editor John Brewington

Self-portrait / The Spotlight

There’s usually a certain amount of sadness when leaving a job, but I have to think that may not be the case with Derek Anderson. In fact, while there are those he will miss, I don’t think Cleveland or it’s fans are one of them.

Anderson was released by the Cleveland Browns last week, less than 24 hours after they made a trade for the Seattle Seahawk’s Seneca Wallace. By Wednesday, Anderson was in Seattle for a tryout with the Hawks and then off to Arizona for a tryout with the Cardinals. Carolina and Buffalo were also expressing interest.

Some of Anderson’s friends seem to think Arizona may be the best fit for him. The good news is that there does seem to be a lot of interest in him.

Cleveland never really worked for Anderson. He got there and was thrown into the frey after the first game when Charlie Frye didn’t pan out. Anderson went 10-5 and made the Pro Bowl. The fans got on him when the Browns lost the last game of the season and didn’t make the playoffs. Anderson got the blame. He was basically a rookie at the time, so the credit seemed mostly undeserved. The Browns drafted home-state boy Brady Quinn before that season, but he held out of camp. The last two years saw both players struggle at times, but Derek won the most games for the floundering team. The loss of line protection and the trade of some receivers didn’t help either of them. Neither did a coaching change.

Quinn was traded to Denver soon after Anderson left.

So, after this past season, the Browns hired former Seattle coach Mike Holmgren as president. When Holmgren went from Green Bay to Seattle, he brought along Brett Favre back-up Matt Hasselbeck. He brings Hasselbeck back-up Wallace to Cleveland. Charlie Frye was traded to Seattle in 2007, but is now No. 3 with Oakland Raiders. The NFL is a small world. There are 1,696 players on NFL rosters, and a few more on practice squads.

Anderson did make a bit of a PR mistake just before leaving Cleveland. He said in an e-mail to a reporter: “The fans are ruthless and don’t deserve a winner. I’ll never forget getting cheered when I was injured.”

Cleveland fans came unglued (although most people in other parts of the country would say that happened a long time ago). Of course, later Anderson apologize and took the blame.

After reading several hundred Cleveland fan comments on the internet over the years, I tend to agree with his first statement. The one I feel the worst for is Seneca Wallace. He’s being thrown into an insensitive meat grinder.

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