Remember Charlie?
If you’re a Cleveland Browns fan, you’ll remember Charlie Frye. The Ohio native was selected with the 67th overall pick (third round) by the Browns in the 2005 NFL draft. As always, fans had high hopes for our “franchise” quarterback. The former Akron alum gave Cleveland hope when he started his first game.
As a rookie, the opportunity came knocking week 13, against Jacksonville, when Frye finished the contest with 226 yards and two touchdown passes. He set a single game rookie record with a 136.7 passer rating. Frye earned the starting job for the rest of the season, compiling a 2-3 win/loss record.
Charlie Frye retained the Cleveland Browns starting job until 2007, when the struggling quarterback was benched at half time week one. A couple days later, on September 11th, Cleveland traded Frye to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth round draft pick. This marked the first time since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970 that a quarterback started the season opener and was traded before week two as stated by the Elias Sports Bureau.
Just when you think that Charlie Frye was a bust, you learn what the Browns did with that draft pick. In the 2008 draft, with the 190th overall pick, Cleveland selected Ahtyba Rubin. If you look at Rubin’s contributions compared to Frye’s, I believe Rubin is the heavy favorite.
Over a seven year career, the defensive tackle poured his heart out in 86 games, racking up over 300 combined tackles and 11 sacks. The run stopper has been an ideal football player that the majority of the teams would love to possess. Rubin has rotated through every line position, through every scheme, as he is playing under his fifth head coach. The tackle is the longest tenured Brown on the defensive side of the ball.
Despite entering the final season of his contract, Ahtyba Rubin doesn’t appear phased by an uncertain future. “It’s a business and I know there are decisions that need to be made. All I can control is how hard I work,” Rubin stated. The Iowa State product is putting in work this offseason, gaining praise from Mike Pettine while mentoring the young defensive linemen who might steal his job.
I can’t predict what transpires after the 2014 campaign, but I would like to see Ahtyba Rubin back in a Browns jersey. I know the seven year veteran wants to stay and he was quoted, “One of my goals is to finish my career with the Cleveland Browns, but you never know.”
– Max Gold
Image Credited to: www.draftbrowns.com
