The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Posted at 7:31 PM ET, 03/13/2008
Bye Bye, Brunell (Updated)

From Jason Reid:

Best of luck to former Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell, who signed today with the New Orleans Saints.
Brunell has been a consummate professional in a 16-year career, the last four seasons with the Redskins. The team's No. 3 quarterback last season, Brunell, 37, left the Redskins in hopes of landing a job as a primary backup. Apparently, the Saints believe he has something left, bringing him in to play behind starter Drew Brees.
Brunell began the season as the Redskins' No. 1 quarterback in 2004, 2005 and 2006. He passed for 3,050 yards with 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in leading the Redskins to the playoffs in the 2005 season.
Jason Campbell replaced Brunell as the starter in the 2006 season. For the first time since his rookie season with the Green Bay Packers in 1993, Brunell, a standout at the University of Washington, did not appear in a game last season while playing behind Campbell and No. 2 quarterback Todd Collins.

Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you,
That is how I know you go on

Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

Love can touch us one time
And last for a lifetime
And never let go till were gone

Love was when I loved you
One true time I hold to
In my life well always go on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

You’re here, there’s nothing I fear,
And I know that my heart will go on
Well stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

We won’t have Mark Brunell to kick around anymore.

It seemed clear that this would be the case on the first day of free agency when Todd Collins signed on to return as the Washington Redskins’ backup quarterback. It became official on Thursday when Brunell signed a contract with the New Orleans Saints.

Brunell was the first player that Joe Gibbs went after when the Hall of Famer returned to coaching the Redskins. Many will say that that first decision doomed Gibbs’ second run as coach to mediocrity.

The view here is that Gibbs’ unwillingness to take chances—crossing the line from coaching conservatively to coaching scared—was the main issue that led to the 30-34 record from 2004-2007.

There are those who will argue that Brunell’s game, mainly his lack of arm strength, forced Gibbs to play things close to the vest. It’s really a chicken-or-egg argument and I can see that side of it.

Brunell did have his moments. In the second game of the 2005 season the Redskins were down 13-0 midway through the fourth quarter and looking horrible offensively. Like a bolt out of the blue, Brunell cranked out two touchdown bombs to Santana Moss, both deadly accurate thrown made without much margin for error.

But in between the high points there were way too many dump offs to a back on third and eight, way too many passes thrown to a cheerleader when there seemed to be plenty of time to continue to scan for a receiver.

They don’t do approval polls for quarterbacks, but if they did it’s likely that we would have found that, for most of his career in Washington, Brunell’s would have matched that of other Washington residents such as W or the members of Congress.

Through it all, though, Brunell remained a class act. He cheerfully answered questions through two benchings and a demotion to third string. No teammate ever had a bad thing to say about him either publicly or off the record.

I wish him well.

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:In honor of "The Ocho":

Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you,
That is how I know you go on

Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

Love can touch us one time
And last for a lifetime
And never let go till were gone

Love was when I loved you
One true time I hold to
In my life well always go on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

You’re here, there’s nothing I fear,
And I know that my heart will go on
Well stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

Thanks for the memories. We'll always have the Dallas games.

- TRO

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:In honor of "The Ocho":

Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you,
That is how I know you go on

Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

Love can touch us one time
And last for a lifetime
And never let go till were gone

Love was when I loved you
One true time I hold to
In my life well always go on

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

You’re here, there’s nothing I fear,
And I know that my heart will go on
Well stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

Thanks for the memories. We'll always have the Dallas games.

- TRO

riggofan wrote:Boo hoo.

Countertrey wrote:Mark Brunell... always a class act.

For contrast...

riggofan wrote:Boo hoo.

Chris Luva Luva wrote:

Countertrey wrote:Mark Brunell... always a class act.

For contrast...

riggofan wrote:Boo hoo.

C'mon, let's not get too personal.

Jake wrote::? Which one is you and which one is Mark in the picture?

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:
Thanks for the memories. We'll always have the Dallas games.

- TRO

Sorry dude I couldn't resist.

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:Leo, of course.

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:

Jake wrote::? Which one is you and which one is Mark in the picture?

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:
Thanks for the memories. We'll always have the Dallas games.

- TRO

Sorry dude I couldn't resist.

Leo, of course.

Jake wrote:

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:

Jake wrote::? Which one is you and which one is Mark in the picture?

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:
Thanks for the memories. We'll always have the Dallas games.

- TRO

Sorry dude I couldn't resist.

Leo, of course.

I can't wait to tell Mark you called him a girl.

CanesSkins26 wrote:

Jake wrote:

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:

Jake wrote::? Which one is you and which one is Mark in the picture?

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote:
Thanks for the memories. We'll always have the Dallas games.

- TRO

Sorry dude I couldn't resist.

Leo, of course.

I can't wait to tell Mark you called him a girl.

Well to be fair, he does throw like a girl

num1skinsfan wrote:I will remember his toughness and his 2 touchdowns against Dallas when we were "all but dead", and his 24 straight completions (NFL record).

I think this may be a first in NFL history. On Thursday night, Mark Brunell announced that he had agreed to a contract with the Saints -- not through a press release, not in a conference call with reporters and not at a press conference. A couple of hours after the story of Brunell leaving Washington for New Orleans appeared on washingtonpost.com, Brunell personally confirmed it with a 12-second video clip on his Myspace.com page.

Apparently standing in his home, Brunell, wearing a Saints visor and gray T-shirt, stared into a camera, smiled and said: "Hey everybody, this is Mark. I just wanted to let all my friends on Myspace know that I just agreed to a contract with the New Orleans Saints. I'm really excited, and I wanted all my friends to be the first to know.''

Then, a dog barked, and the video ended.

REDEEMEDSKIN wrote: