BEREA, Ohio, 19 August 2003 — Tim Couch has the big price tag, but Kelly Holcomb is the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Coach Butch Davis made it official on Sunday, naming Holcomb as the starter over Couch, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 National Football League draft.
“We just felt, as a coaching staff, that Kelly Holcomb earned the opportunity to be given a chance to start,” Davis said on Sunday. Davis had said he would pick a starter before the team’s third preseason game on Aug. 23 and Holcomb strengthened his case in the first two exhibition games, completing 7-of-11 passes for 71 yards in the first and 7-of-10 for 166 yards and two touchdowns in the 38-31 loss to Green Bay on Saturday.
“I knew I did what I could do, and the rest is up to the coaches,” Holcomb said.
Couch was 4-of-7 for 51 yards and a touchdown in the loss to Green Bay after completing 4-of-8 for 17 yards in the first preseason game. Many believed Couch, the team’s starter since he was drafted, would get preferential treatment since he will make $6.2 million in 2003.
But Holcomb was clearly the fan favorite after throwing for 429 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-33 loss to Pittsburgh in the wild card round of the playoffs last December when Couch was injured.
Panthers’ Fields to Miss NFL Season
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Carolina Panthers linebacker Mark Fields has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and will miss the 2003 National Football League season, the team announced Sunday.
Fields’ condition was discovered on Wednesday after a visit to the hospital for an infected thumb.
The possibility of Hodgkin’s disease was considered and further tests confirmed it. According to the medical information, Fields’ prognosis for recovery is excellent.
“I’m truly blessed to have found out in this stage,” Fields said. “Right now, my main goal is to focus on my condition. I don’t look at this as a setback, but another of life’s ultimate challenges.”
