Colt McCoy is expected to start for the New York Giants on Sunday night, with regular New York starter Daniel Jones likely to be sidelined with multiple ailments in his lower body. When McCoy trots out for the start, he will join a small club of former Browns starters who get a rematch with Cleveland as a starter for a new team.
For as many quarterbacks as the Browns have burned through since 1999, it’s rare for a former Browns QB to earn a start against the team after his Cleveland tenure. It’s happened just five times.
Ty Detmer, the man who started the first game back for the Browns in 1999, was the first. He got the nod for the Detroit Lions in Week 2 of the 2001 season in place of Charlie Batch. The Browns smoked Detmer and his new team, 24-14, in a game where Cleveland CB Anthony Henry picked off Detmer three times.
It was another meeting with the Lions for the second instance. This time it was 2005 and Jeff Garcia started for Detroit in his first season after his one misbegotten year in Cleveland. Garcia led the Lions to a 13-10 win, beating Trent Dilfer and his 73 net yards of passing for the Browns in Week 6.
Charlie Frye wasn’t any better for the Raiders than he was in Cleveland. He started for Oakland in Week 15 of the 2009 season and the Browns soundly beat the 2007 opening week Browns starter, 23-9. The Browns won that game with Derek Anderson, who replaced Frye in that Week 1 abomination against Pittsburgh two years earlier, completing just eight passes.
Brady Quinn got the nod for the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 14 of the 2012 season, three years after his Browns tenure ended. The Browns stomped Quinn and the Chiefs, 30-7.
Josh McCown was the last to do it. After starting 11 games in 2015-2016 in Cleveland (winning one), McCown started for the New York Jets in Week 5 of 2017. He played well enough to carry the Jets to a 17-14 win over Kevin Hogan and the Browns. It would be the closest the Browns came to a victory all season.
McCoy was Cleveland’s third-round pick in 2010. He went 6-15 as a starter over three seasons. McCoy has started just eight games in the eight seasons since he left the Browns.
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