Written by Jerry Roche

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When the 2012 NFL season opens this September, one of five players will be starting at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns: Colt McCoy, Robert Griffin III, Matt Flynn, Kevin Kolb or Ryan Tannehill. The hope is that the eventual designee will distinguish himself from the long list of largely ineffective gypsies, tramps and thieves who have populated the roster since Al Lerner purchased the rights to field an NFL team here.

The 10 QBs who have started the last 13 seasons include three first-round draftees, two third-rounders, a sixth, a ninth — and three who weren’t drafted at all. Nine of the 10 have one thing in common: a timeline beginning with high hopes, followed by gradually declining popularity, followed by an ignominious, boo-filled exit-stage-left. Current incumbent Colt McCoy, of course, has yet to play his last game here, but he’s at least midway through the second stage of declining expectations.

We have seen three total first-round quarterbacks — Couch, Trent Dilfer and Brady Quinn — come and go. We’ve seen the team vainly try to resurrect the careers of Ty Detmer, Jeff Garcia, Dilfer and Jake Delhomme. We’ve seen a parade of low draft choices bomb out — some mercifully quickly, some painstakingly slowly: Derek Anderson, Luke McCown, Josh Booty, Spergon Wynn, Bruce Gradkowski and Ken Dorsey.

What we haven’t seen is an honest-to-goodness, capable QB who can see plays developing with unerring accuracy, zip passes into tight coverage, and hit receivers in full stride; who can release the excitement that’s been pent up in this town for more than two decades now.

Some of us are clamoring for the front office to draft Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner who has impressed virtually every NFL owner, president, vice president, director of player personnel, scout, coach, writer/broadcaster and pundit (and contributor to these message boards) with his performance at Baylor last fall and at the recent NFL Combine. No matter what the cost.

Yes, some are still hanging on to the notion that the likable McCoy can perform well enough to direct the Browns to the coveted playoffs. I once was one of those hold-outs, like I held out for Brady Quinn a few long years ago. But it seems that more fans, like me, are collectively holding their breaths and crossing their fingers that the team’s front office will have the cojones to do everything in its power to get Griffin — and that seems to be a coin-flip bet at best.

Looking back on the team’s recent lackluster history, it’s no wonder that our fear factor is so high. Only two QBs since the ill-fated ’99 season began have achieved any measure of success here at all: Couch and Anderson. To refresh your memory:

Couch, who was the overall #1 choice of the expansion Browns, managed to last the better part of four seasons trying to complete passes behind an offensive line that ranks among the worst in NFL history. He did have a magical 2002 season when the team won nine games, but a broken leg late in the season put him on the sidelines for a playoff loss to Pittsburgh. A serious rotator cuff injury finally took its toll. (It hasn’t ended all that badly for Couch, though. He is now a broadcaster, and his wife is former Playboy Playmate Heather Kozar.)

Anderson, who was a sixth-round choice in 2005, had a 2007 Pro Bowl season that can only be called “unusual.” En route to 10 victories, he passed for 3,787 yards and 29 TDs. But he also had 19 interceptions, including two in the space of 40 seconds in a late-season loss to Cincinnati when the Browns could’ve clinched a playoff berth. That year, he made the Pro Bowl only because New England’s Tom Brady bowed out with an injury. In 2008, Anderson himself suffered two serious injuries, and in 2009, he was booted from the starting job with the lowest QB rating in the league.

Now, as we dream of 2012, those in the fading McCoy camp are hoping that a more solid offensive line and the possible addition of some major-league receivers will help boost his performance to playoff caliber. The burgeoning Griffin camp has visions of a young, fleet-of-foot athlete with a howitzer for an arm creating more excitement on the lakefront than any season since Bernie Kosar first pulled a #19 jersey over his broad shoulders.

Team president Mike Holmgren has fashioned a career out of finding and developing quarterbacks. With any luck, he’ll bless us long-suffering Cleveland fans with another one. What we certainly don’t need is another gypsy, tramp or thief.

Amazing QB Statistics, Browns Version

>> Since 1995, the team has won 64 games and lost 128, a winning percentage of exactly .333. In that span, they are 0-1 in playoff games.

>> In an age when all sorts of passing records are being broken, the Browns have not had a league-leading passer since Brian Sipe in 1980 with a rating of 91.4.

>> Sipe ranks just 71st on the all-time single-season passing yardage list.

>> Since 1980, Peyton Manning has eclipsed Sipe’s 4,132 yards eight times, Drew Brees 6x, Dan Marino 5x, Warren Moon and Brett Favre 4x, Tom Brady and Tony Romo 3x.

>> Cleveland’s own Elvis Grbac even surpassed it once, as did former Browns Vinny Testaverde and Jeff Garcia.

>> Otto Graham is the Browns’ all-time passing leader with a career rating of 86.6, putting him 16th on the all-time list. Graham’s career ended in 1955.

>>Graham’s 174 career TD passes places him 49th on the all-time list, tied with Steve McNair. Eight of the quarterbacks ahead of him are still active, including both Peyton and Eli Manning.

>> Not since 1953 has a Browns quarterback led the league in passing yardage.

>> Bernie Kosar’s 81.8 career rating puts him tied for 43rd on the all-time list. His career with Cleveland ended in 1993.

>> No other Browns quarterback has had a career rating over 80.0, except for Garcia, who was with the team for one uneventful year.

>> Fifteen of the top 25 players in career rating are still active, including #1 (Aaron Rodgers, 104.1) and #2 (Tony Romo, 96.9).

>> In 2011, there were 47 passing performances better than Colt McCoy’s season-best 350 yards (in a 31-13 loss to Tennessee).