Dunlap: RG III Signing Should Make Us Appreciate Ben Even More
Pardon me while I don't get excited.
Actually, pardon me while I laugh out loud.
Really, pardon me while I find the hilarity in the Cleveland Browns as they keep Cleveland Browning their way to being a nothing of an organization.
I hate Cleveland, so I love this.
The latest chapter that should make you chuckle happened on Thursday afternoon, when it was announced Robert Griffin III signed a reported two-year deal with the organization after pretty much everyone else in the NFL took a gander at the former Washington player and decided he wasn't good enough.
Even at just 26.
Even with that deep college pedigree.
Even with that amazing athleticism.
Know why? Because everyone else can see what the Cleveland Browns apparently cannot --- that RG III never will be a good NFL quarterback again after just marginal returns to this point in his career.
Nonetheless, the Browns (hilariously) seem to be enthusiastic about a guy who was left in a playoff game for too long, ripped apart his knee and has obviously been damaged goods ever since he hurried back for that 2013 season opener.
"We are excited about Robert joining the Cleveland Browns," coach Hue Jackson said in a team-issued release. "He brings starting experience to our team and organization. He's a young, athletic, talented passer and he's really just starting out in this league."
Actually, I don't think he is. To me, he's been finished since he shredded up his knee.
But hey, Cleveland, if you say so …
If Griffin III were to start a game for the Browns this season, his name will infamously make the back of that infamous Browns fan's jersey who has all the names of the starting quarterbacks listed since 1999.
What are there now?
Something like 25 of those men?
It is even more than that many names now?
What an embarrassment. I've lost track; I just laugh.
And what is more is that the Browns own the No. 2 pick in this upcoming draft and were in the market to draft either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz.
Where does this leave them now?
Do they still do it and risk the development of a really young player because of an obligation to play RG III?
Do they play the young player and potentially deal with a crabby R3 III who didn't think he was brought into Cleveland to sit?
It's for them to figure out and for all of us here in Pittsburgh to point at and laugh. And laugh we should --- really hard.
You know what else we should do as we look at the Cleveland Browns' quarterback situation?
Every single day we should give thanks to the powers-that-be with the Steelers who came together and decided to draft Ben Roethlisberger.
Big Ben has been a mainstay since 2004; gritting it out, toughing it out and making his way out there just about every single game day as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.
While doing so, he's also given us a ton of ammunition to laugh at the Cleveland quarterback situation.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.