Mr. Popularity: Once touted as a can’t-miss NFL prospect, a good showing against Calgary could help reignite QB Brohm’s career

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This article was published 18/10/2014 (4063 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been a running gag in these parts for more than a few years that the most popular citizen in Winnipeg is the backup quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

That familiar script has been a bit different this year as Bomber fans have embraced first-year starter Drew Willy as a quarterback they can finally believe in, even as the club has struggled mightily through the second half of the season.

So don’t be surprised if the familiar crescendo of “Finally!” is a lot less loud and a lot less unanimous than it has been in recent years when backup Brian Brohm starts in place of an injured Willy against the Calgary Stampeders this evening.

That’s just fine with Brohm, who knows more than most people about what it’s like to play behind a popular starting quarterback. He’s done it before, after all, as a highly touted rookie in Green Bay playing behind another very popular starting quarterback.

Perhaps you’ve heard of him — name’s Aaron Rodgers. Apparently he plays for some outfit called the Packers.

“Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback I’ve ever been around. He’s a great player,” Brohm reflected on Friday. “But at the time I was coming into Green Bay (in 2008), he still hadn’t started a game yet because Brett Favre had never missed a start.

“So he was still kind of unknown to the outside world, but I think the coaching staff in Green Bay knew who Aaron Rodgers was — he was going to be the starter and I was there to compete for the backup job.”

It’s the quirk — and curse — of Brohm’s career he was drafted by the Packers in the second round in 2008 just as Rodgers was preparing to assume the mantle of starter from Favre.

While in hindsight it’s hard to believe there was ever any doubt Rodgers had what it takes to be a starter in Green Bay, that wasn’t the case in 2008 when the Packers drafted Brohm, who had a standout career at the University of Louisville, where both his brother — former NFLer Jeff Brohm — and father had also played quarterback.

Indeed, if you’re looking for a good laugh, call up the YouTube video of the ESPN football panel discussing the Green Bay quarterbacking situation moments after the Packers had made Brohm their second-round pick.

“I do like Brohm better than Aaron Rodgers,” says one of the network’s talking heads. “I honestly think Brian Brohm could be the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers two years from now,” says another. “I think Aaron Rodgers has a chance as well, but I think Brian Brohm’s upside is greater than that of Aaron Rodgers.”

History has proven that to be completely ridiculous of course. But the fact they were saying it at the time is also illustrative of just how high the expectations once were for Brohm, whose deep football pedigree and outstanding numbers in Louisville at one point even had him touted as a potential first overall pick in the NFL draft.

‘I feel like I’ve gotten better as my career has gone on and I feel like I’m at a point where I’m playing as confident and as good as I’ve ever played.’

— Bombers QB Brian Brohm

None of that materialized, alas. After opening training camp with the Packers in 2008 as the No. 2 behind Rodgers, Brohm slid to the No. 3 spot by the time the regular season rolled around.

It went from bad to worse after that. Part of the problem was Brohm was playing behind a QB in Rodgers who seems to be destined to go down as one of the game’s all-time greats.

But the problem for Brohm in Green Bay wasn’t just how Rodgers was playing. “When I got to Green Bay, I didn’t play great. And I’ve admitted that in a lot of interviews before,” Brohm, 29, says.

By September 2009, he was relegated to the Packers’ practice squad. The Buffalo Bills signed him from there and he ultimately started two games for Buffalo over the 2009 and 2010 seasons, the final one coming in Buffalo’s last game of the 2010 season — a 38-7 loss to the New York Jets.

That loss to the Jets was the last start of Brohm’s career — until today. Almost four years after, Brohm’s career has come full circle — with detours to the United Football League and a brief stint in Hamilton along the way — to today’s start for the Bombers.

Brohm says he sees tonight’s long-awaited start an opportunity to restart what was once such a promising career. “I feel like I’ve gotten better as my career has gone on and I feel like I’m at a point where I’m playing as confident and as good as I’ve ever played. I feel really good where I’m at now in my career,” said Brohm.

We’ll see how he feels about his career after the Stampeders are done with him tonight. While tonight’s start is an opportunity for Brohm, it is also one in which he seems set up more to fail than succeed.

Brohm is taking the reins of a team that’s lost six in a row and eight of their last nine. For another, he’s going to be playing behind an offensive line that will see the left tackle — Jace Daniels — making his first CFL start and the right guard — Matthias Goossen — making just his second.

Then there’s the Stampeders, who just happen to be the cream of the CFL at 12-2. It’s probably a good thing Brohm learned some tenacity over the course of his meandering pro career.

“There’s definitely been some difficult times,” he admits. “Being a highly thought-of guy in the NFL to being out, and having to go the UFL, and then for a while not even having any job — it definitely took some determination to keep going,” said Brohm.

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“But I wanted to exhaust all my opportunities before I moved on to what’s next.”

You have to wonder if tonight’s start at IGF might just be the last best opportunity Brohm will get. And you also have to wonder what would happen in the unlikely event he actually leads the Bombers to the most unlikely of victories over a highly favoured Calgary opponent.

Brian Brohm — the most popular man in Winnipeg, after all.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek