There are bad debuts and there are really bad debuts.
Then there’s the day Brandon Weeden had Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Weeden’s career ERA in minor league baseball was 5.02. His quarterback rating in the opener was 5.1 So he beat his ERA, at least.
Other than that Weeden had as forgettable a day as any Browns quarterback has had in recent memory — and that’s saying a lot.
His numbers alone are near mind-boggling: 12 for 35 (34 percent) for 118 yards — 3.37 per attempt.
He threw four interceptions.
The most mind-boggling of numbers: His 5.1 passer rating.
In fact, that rating was historic.
Because no rookie quarterback since 1960 had a lower rating on opening day (minimum 15 passes).
Weeden also had the sixth-worst passer rating among all opening-day quarterbacks (minimum 20 attempts) since 1960.
No rookie quarterback has been worse than Weeden’s 5.1, and 53 have started the season opener — including five on Sunday. Robert Griffin III’s 139.9 rating Sunday ranks as the second best by a rookie in his debut since 1960, behind only Fran Tarkenton.
Only Norm Snead was close to Weeden — at 7.5. That happened when he went 8-for-34 for 140 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions in his first game in 1961 for Washington.
Quincy Carter had a 14.5 rating as a rookie for Dallas in 2001, Terry Bradshaw a 19.3 rating in his debut for Pittsburgh in 1970. (The numbers are courtesy of pro-football-reference.com.)
Consider all quarterbacks and Weeden’s rating was the sixth worst since 1960 in season openers (minimum 20 passes).
Earl Morrall had a 0.0 rating in 1965, Dave Wilson 1.7 for New Orleans in 1985, Vince Ferragamo 2.8 for the Rams in 1984, Mark Malone 2.8 for Pittsburgh in 1986 and Bob Gagliano 4.2 for Kansas City in 1992. (Ken Anderson threw 15 passes for Cincinnati in 1981 and had a 2.8 rating.)
This clearly is not the history a rookie quarterback wants to make in his first start.
But hey, Bradshaw went on to have a good career.
