The Redskins completed a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday, bringing veteran quarterback Mark Brunell to Washington in exchange for a third-round draft pick (73rd overall) in the 2004 NFL Draft.
Brunell is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job with incumbent Patrick Ramsey. His addition solidifies the Redskins' quarterback position; Brunell has 11 years of NFL experience and has played in nine post-season contests—including two NFC Championship games—throughout his career.
"It is an honor to play for someone like Coach [Joe] Gibbs," Brunell said.
Gibbs said during a February press conference that one of his off-season goals was to ensure that there was quality depth at quarterback.
"We want to go into the season with what I would hope is a very solid quarterback position," Gibbs said. "So we need to make sure there's depth there. We obviously have a very high quality guy in Patrick Ramsey. We think he has a terrific future here. Then you look at who you can add to the position to solidify our quarterback position so that we feel real good about our depth."
Brunell is the No. 9-ranked passer in NFL history, behind the likes of Steve Young, Joe Montana, Brett Favre and Dan Marino. He has completed 2,196-of-3,643 career passes for 25,793 yards, 144 touchdowns and 86 interceptions. He has a 60.3 percent career completion rate and his career quarterback rating is 85.2.
The three-time Pro Bowler may have had his best season in 1996, when he burst onto the scene with the sixth most-prolific season ever by a quarterback.
He combined for 4,763 total yards (rushing and passing) in leading Jacksonville to a 9-7 record, a memorable 31-28 upset of John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the playoffs and a spot in the AFC Championship game. New England defeated Jacksonville 20-6 to end the Jaguars' Super Bowl hopes.
During the 1996 season, he completed 353-of-557 passes for 19 touchdowns. Brunell was named Pro Bowl MVP after leading the AFC squad to a come-from-behind victory in overtime.
Three seasons later, in a playoff game against the Miami Dolphins, Brunell and the Jaguars were unstoppable.
In Jacksonville's first five possessions, Brunell directed the team to four touchdowns, a field goal and a dominating 38-0 lead on the way to a 62-7 win. That win put Jacksonville in the AFC Championship game for the second time in four years, but the Jaguars were trounced by Tennessee 33-14.
After a standout career at the University of Washington in which he earned second-team All-Pac 10 honors two years in a row, Brunell was the fourth quarterback taken (by the Green Bay Packers, fifth round) in the 1993 draft.
Remarkably, he wasn't even the first quarterback drafted from his school. After Drew Bledsoe was drafted first overall by the Patriots and Rick Mirer was chosen second by the Seahawks.
Brunell settled in as a backup with the Packers, learning to be a pro quarterback beside starter Brett Favre. Prior to the 1995 seasons, Brunell was nearly traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, but Jacksonville managed to complete a trade first.
A native of Santa Maria, Calif., Brunell, 33, has been active in charitable efforts throughout his career. He was named the Jaguars' 2001 NFL Man of the Year and was recognized in 2002 as the NFLPA's Byron "Whizzer" White Humanitarian Award recpient.
Brunell has established the Mark Brunell Foundation to help enrich the lives of children who face chronic or life-threatening illnesses and has contributed more than $700,000 to Jacksonville's Wolfson Children's Hospital.
