Colt McCoy breaks down what went wrong for him with the Cleveland Browns early in NFL career

Colt McCoy had high hopes for what the future would hold when the Cleveland Browns drafted him in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Coming off of an impressive four-year career at Texas, McCoy envisioned himself turning around a franchise that had just one winning season in the seven years prior to his arrival.

McCoy took over as the Browns starter by Week 6 of his rookie year due to injuries. He got off to a promising start by leading them to a 2-1 record in his first three games, but finished the year 0-5 in the other games he started. He returned as the starter in 2011, but went just 4-9 and was traded to the 49ers in the 2013 offseason.

McCoy’s time in Cleveland also saw him have two different coaches and general managers. Appearing on the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long, he opened up on what he learned from that experience going forward in his NFL career.

“I have the utmost respect for Cleveland,” McCoy said. “For the city, for the fans, for the organization. I can keep my head high. I literally gave everything I had. I know that all of my teammates did, too. We wanted to win. We had a good mix of younger guys and older guys, there was just constant turnover above us. I played for three head coaches and I had three general managers and two owners in three years. At the time, you don’t understand that as all as a young player.

“Now going into my 14th season, I look back on that and I’m thankful for the things that I learned through that process, but you realize that’s not normal. The teams that you see in the playoffs every year are generally teams that don’t have much turnover. They’re pretty successful year in and year out. They’re pretty consistent. As a player, you hope to be on a team like that or go to a team that has a chance to make runs and do things the right way.”

Although Colt McCoy was never able to earn another full-time starting job following his departure from the Browns, he has been a reliable backup for several teams. He later spent five seasons with the Washington Commanders before joining the New York Giants in 2020.

McCoy has spent the past two seasons as the backup to Kyler Murray on the Arizona Cardinals and will return in that role in 2023. He made a total of six starts in 2021 and 2022 while throwing for 1,520 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions and leading the Cardinals to a 3-3 record in those games.

McCoy’s career might not have started off the way he wanted, but he’s still managed to last longer than most players. As he gets set to enter his 13th NFL season, he credits the lessons he learned early on for that.

“Cleveland was great for me,” he said. “I learned so much. I worked hard. We were in a lot of games we didn’t win. We found ways to mess it up every time. I had good coaches there. I learned a bunch of football. All of the things I learned there helped me. Although, if I could do it all over again, this league is about winning. You’ve got to win. I understand that and I understand how I kind of got pushed out.”