The story of the Cleveland Browns history since The Return in 1999 is mostly a frustrating one. The team has had a few players jump out with great seasons or a few great games but the team, as a whole, struggled for a couple of decades before making the playoffs twice in the last four seasons.
For the many dedicated Browns fans, certain seasons and players will always stand out. One is RB Jerome Harrison for the final three games of the 2009 regular season when he churned out 561 yards (286, 148 and 127) of his career total 1,681 yards and five of his seven rushing touchdowns.
In a post about “one-hit wonders,” QB Derek Anderson was listed among the top five list:
That 2007 season led to Anderson’s lone Pro Bowl selection as he led Cleveland to a 10-5 record with 3,787 yards passing with 29 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He never had double-digit touchdowns in a season again and only once crossed 2,000 yards passing (2,065 in 2010 with the Arizona Cardinals).
TE Gary Barnidge’s 2015 season was mentioned by another analyst. Like Anderson’s 2007 season, 2015 was Barnidge’s only Pro Bowl appearance after he caught 79 passes for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns. He finished his eight-year career with just 2,258 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns.
Pictured above with Barnidge is another player from Browns history that deserves mention: WR Terrelle Pryor. A quarterback at Ohio State and with the Oakland Raiders, Pryor converted to receiver full-time with Cleveland in 2015. In 2016, he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.
Pryor only caught 36 more passes after that in the NFL.
Who do you think is the biggest one-hit wonder in Browns history? Do you think they belong in the top five in NFL history as well?