Brady Quinn is no stranger to ruffling a few feathers.
The polarizing former Cleveland Browns quarterback and current Fox Sports analyst poked a hornet’s nest on Wednesday when he criticized potential top-five draft prospect C.J. Stroud during an appearance on CBS Sports’ “Pick Six Podcast.”
“The Manning Passing Academy — I’d been told that he committed to it the night before and just ghosted them, didn’t show up. That’s football royalty, and when you do that, that’s going to kind of set off some alarms for people like, ‘Hey man, that’s not how you conduct yourself, especially around the Manning family or just in general if you’re going to be a franchise quarterback.’
“…I think he’ll be the No. 2 quarterback taken but I think there is some talk right now — and maybe it’s smokescreens, who knows — that some other teams are saying, ‘Wait a second, if (Anthony) Richardson has a higher ceiling (than Stroud), maybe he makes more sense for us to take if we can’t have a guy like Bryce Young that we feel more confident about.”
Former safety-turned-ESPN analyst Ryan Clark was among the first to defend Stroud, denying that the Ohio State QB gave any sort of commitment to the Manning Passing Academy and supporting his decision to instead workout with his Buckeyes teammates.
This is an example of analyst like @Brady_Quinn telling stories of 0 value to diminish a man’s character while validating his own. Instead of dissecting film, or speaking to coaches an adult man stooped to gossip while analyzing. It’s an immature evaluation of football integrity https://t.co/3ijng1787q
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) April 20, 2023
Others have come to Stroud’s defense as well, including current NFL players like Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey and receiver Tyreek Hill plus Atlanta Falcons cornerback Darren Hall, who threw shade at the Notre Dame alum while in the throes of sticking up for Stroud.
Fake story! Tryna beak a kid down before the draft is lame, especially for not going to a camp that I’m sure he wasn’t getting paid for & instead working with his teammates! Plus @Brady_Quinn , you was a bust, shut up! You shoulda went to a passing academy or 2!
— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) April 20, 2023
God bless tho https://t.co/vUZDe57dO4
Good work Quinn this is expected of you https://t.co/lKBTH64CGa
— Ty Hill (@cheetah) April 20, 2023
If they don’t have a story they will make one lol https://t.co/zOjHjNRlgx
— DH34 (@_Darrenhall) April 20, 2023
And while Twitter user @sportstalkcoke is (likely) not a current or former NFL player, his tweet was amusing nonetheless.
Brady Quinn should’ve gone to the Manning Passing Academy https://t.co/GrSHcbAHfg pic.twitter.com/9i2bYXS64a
— STC (@sportstalkcoke) April 20, 2023
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