Derek Anderson’s infamous post-game meltdown in Arizona Monday night came as no surprise to reporters who covered the quarterback five years with the Browns. Team officials who were his biggest supporters often questioned his mental toughness.
When he was asked once after getting injured whether Josh Cribbs could fill in at quarterback until he was healthy, Anderson snapped, “You guys must be smoking crack.”
Another time, when I blogged something critical about Anderson’s uncommonly bad Pro Bowl outing, he asked a PR official for my cell phone number and texted me a couple of cryptic, angry messages. It took a few months for him to get it all off his chest in a face-to-face meeting.
Finally, there was his parting shot to Browns fans, delivered via email to The (Lake County) News-Herald’s Jeff Schudel.
“The fans are ruthless and don’t deserve a winner,” Anderson wrote. “I will never forget getting cheered when I was injured. I know at times I wasn’t great. I hope and pray I’m playing when my team comes to town and [we] roll them.”
The Browns are scheduled to play the Cardinals next season. I sincerely doubt Anderson will get his wish. I think he’s finished in Arizona.
