Anderson emerging as unexpected force
CLEVELAND – Derek Anderson knows he could have been the quarterback traded to Seattle. It could be him, not Charlie Frye, standing on the Seahawks’ sideline. It could be him, not Frye, running the scout team in practice.
Anderson, whose emergence has the Cleveland Browns dreaming big, understands it all could be very different if he had been dealt.
“Could,” he snapped. “Didn’t.”
The simple, candid reply doesn’t fully explain a difficult, complex decision by the Browns that altered the course of their season, uprooted Frye and sent him across the country, and dropped Cleveland’s former starter to No. 3 on Seattle coach Mike Holmgren’s depth chart.
Today, Anderson and Frye, two close friends whose every pass, handoff and overthrow were dissected and overanalyzed for months, will be on opposite sidelines as the Browns (4-3) host the Seahawks (4-3).
The last time Anderson and Frye walked off a field together was on Sept. 9, when the Browns were hammered in their home opener 34-7 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Frye had started that day, but by halftime, he had been benched after being sacked five times and throwing an interception. Two days later, the kid who grew up in Willard, Ohio, dreaming of guiding the Browns to a Super Bowl was scrambling to pack a suitcase. He was on his way to Seattle.
Cleveland became the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to deal its Week 1 starter before its second game.
Headlines read: Charlie Fryed.
“I don’t think anyone realized that rope was going to be that short,” Frye said.
The stunning move was followed days later by something equally shocking. Anderson, in just his fourth career start, tied a club record with five TD passes in a 51-45 win over Cincinnati.
The former sixth-round pick has been rolling ever since, and enters this week’s game with 17 TD passes, second only to Tom Brady’s 30 for the New England Patriots.
Holmgren, regarded as one of the NFL’s premier quarterback evaluators, has been impressed with Anderson’s ascension. Seattle’s defense, which has given up just five TD passes, has its hands full.
“He’s obviously capable of making big plays,” Holmgren said. “He has a big arm. They are just very good and they are playing with a lot of confidence. It’s a tremendous challenge for us.”
Before landing Frye, Holmgren had been shopping around for an experienced quarterback to replace Seneca Wallace as starter Matt Hasselbeck’s backup. Holmgren’s preference was to use Wallace primarily at wide receiver. He didn’t like the risk of getting Wallace hurt while filling in at QB.
It wasn’t easy for Frye, but he’s fit in nicely with a new team in a new town.
“I also know it’s hard when you’ve been the starter and now all of a sudden you’re watching,” Holmgren said. “There is a transition period where you’re kind of grouchy about everything. But he’s handled it so well.”
The Seahawks have been using Frye’s intimate knowledge of Cleveland’s offense to prepare for this week’s game.
Once the ball is snapped, however, Anderson knows there won’t be a thing Frye can do but watch.
“I’m sure there are some things that he can help them out with a little bit, but we’ve evolved since he’s been gone and changed a few things,” he said. “I’d say that you can give them everything that you want, but you still have to go out there and they don’t know what play is coming.”