I figured it was my duty to report on Brady Quinn's appearance in the Mile High City.  Sarah and I joined Paul and his friend Tim for our first trip to Invesco Field at Mile High.  The preseason home opener was against the Browns.  Of course, none of us are Broncos fans, and even though Paul's from Cleveland, our football game attire was of the blue and gold variety.  Our man Brady was in town and we went to support.... Although, it took the start of the second quarter for a scalper to finally accept the type of "support" we were willing to provide.  We love you Brady, but this was a preseason game man. 


Quinn sports a new look, thanks to "involuntary"
haircuts forced on Browns rookies.  (Getty Images)

Anyway, we got inside with 2 pairs well under face value and waited for the man to come in the game in the second half.  I'm sure most of you saw; as he did in his debut last week against the Lions, Quinn looked more than solid.  I know, I know, it's preseason and most of his snaps have not come with the first team.  But he looked very sharp and was on the money with most of his throws.  And his first series against the Broncos was with the first team, against the first team defense.  He promptly marched down the field and threw a gorgeous 30-yard touch pass to the corner of the endzone.  The receiver was ruled out of bounds, but replays showed he was in, and the Browns said they would have challenged had it not been preseason.

The next series resulted in the same, but this time the TD pass counted and it put the Browns up for good.  He finished 7 for 11 with 81 yards and 1 TD.  He really only missed on 1 throw.  He did somewhat force another one and the defender made a good play.  The other two were the ref and receiver's fault, respectively. 

The Broncos scored late and went for 2 rather than mess with overtime.  I was kind of hoping they got it, so Quinn would have a chance to work some of that old magic with another last minute game-winning drive.  But the Browns held and won 17-16.  After the impressive performance, Brady sought out a player in street clothes from the Denver sideline and the two chatted for quite a while.  While I couldn't tell for sure, I assume it was his former left tackle at ND, Ryan Harris, who is on the Broncos.  While leaving the field, a group of Browns/ND fans cheered him at the tunnel.  He reached up for a hug from an ND guy, and threw his towel up to a young Browns fan.

Combined with his first game, Quinn's line is now:  20-31, 236 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs.  And for players with at least 25 attempts, Brady has the 2nd highest QB rating in the NFL behind a guy named Peyton Manning.  Again, it's preseason, but you have to think this bodes well for him.  It also speaks volumes for the tutelage of Weis.

Few star players have ever represented Notre Dame better than Brady Quinn.  By all accounts, when he became a national superstar his junior year, he remained the same down to earth guy that he was when he was peeling himself off the turf under the Willingham regime.  It's too bad he fell victim to the media's penchant for over-exaggerating everything Irish - good or bad - last season.  He was a class act and didn't deserve the hack job from ESPN.  It will be interesting to compare the NFL careers of JeMarcus Russell and Quinn.  The media and NFL brass fell in love with Russell's "potential" and discounted Quinn's "polish."  Wasn't the last such debate over Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning?