Advertisement
Suffice it to say that it was considerably higher than the seventh, which is where general manager Ted Thompson used the 209th overall pick obtained in a trade with Minnesota to select the quarterback who led Louisiana State to the national championship in January.
“I was shocked he was there,” Thompson said a few days after the draft. “But that happens. The guys that are looking for quarterbacks, once they take one, they’re usually not going to take another. Only hard-headed people like me do.”
During the one minicamp practice that was open to reporters, Flynn didn’t seem much like a seventh-rounder, either. Performing with the poise of someone who spent five years learning under Nick Saban and Les Miles, Flynn looked like a player who will be a factor before his days in Green Bay are over.
“Start from the bottom and hopefully over time and years work up the hierarchy of quarterbacks and eventually become a starter,” Flynn said Saturday. “That’s my goal. It’s a crazy league. You never know what can happen.”
Let’s not get carried away here. Flynn was the 12th quarterback taken.
In the previous two drafts, only 11 quarterbacks were even selected. The names of the last five 12th quarterbacks taken were James Kilian (2005), John Navarre (’04), Gibran Hamdan (’03), Seth Burford (’02) and Joe Hamilton (’00).
Almost all the attention in Green Bay this summer will be paid to the other rookie, Brian Brohm, whom Thompson must have liked far more than Flynn because he drafted him in the second round (56th pick).
Before the minicamp started, Thompson was asked if it would flabbergast him to see Flynn have a better career than Brohm.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Thompson replied. “I don’t know if flabbergasted is the right word. There are always surprises. Once they get here people compete on the same plane. Look at Tom Brady. Where was he picked?”
Ah, yes, Mr. Brady. He was the seventh quarterback taken in 2000, late in the sixth round by New England.
Some experts would argue that nobody ever has played the position better than him.
OK, but Brady isn’t the first and won’t be the last late pick or free agent to make it big at quarterback.
From 1992, which was the last time the Packers were looking for a quarterback, to 2007, 80 quarterbacks were drafted in the sixth round or later. Of those 80, an amazing 10 percent made the Pro Bowl.
Six actually were elected to the Pro Bowl: Brad Johnson (No. 227), Jeff Blake (166), Trent Green (222), Matt Hasselbeck (187), Marc Bulger (168) and Brady (199).
Two others went to the Pro Bowl as injury replacements: Elvis Grbac (219) and Gus Frerotte (197).
During the Brett Favre era, two free agents were elected to the Pro Bowl: Jeff Garcia and Tony Romo.
Apart from the Pro Bowl players, quarterbacks since ’92 either taken in the sixth round or later or not at all with at least 20 career starts were Ty Detmer (230), Kent Graham (211), Shane Matthews (FA), Jim Miller (178), Jay Fiedler (FA), Kelly Holcomb (FA) and Damon Huard (FA).
Cleveland’s Derek Anderson, the 213th pick in 2005, didn’t make the list with 18 starts but is the latest starter to come from obscurity.
In a few months, Brohm will sign a contract with a signing bonus in the $1.2 million range, whereas Flynn’s check will be about $60,000. Based on everything Flynn says, he will be genuinely happy for Brohm.
Flynn comes across as the ultimate team guy, undoubtedly a reason why not one of the seven personnel people who discussed him before the draft with the Journal Sentinel had anything negative to say.
But forgive Flynn if he isn’t in awe of Brohm or Aaron Rodgers. This is a player who competed for four years at LSU with JaMarcus Russell, one of the greatest pure talents ever at the position.
“I don’t get intimidated very easily,” Flynn said. “I never have, really. I’ve always had an inner confidence in myself. Hopefully, my dreams will come true and I can make it in the league.”
Patience is another one of Flynn’s virtues. After redshirting in 2003, he started merely one game over the next three years but was described as an ideal teammate.
“It’s kind of the same situation me and JaMarcus were in,” Flynn said. “Brian is very talented. We’re going to be pushing each other and it’s going to make both of us better.”
Flynn’s technical foundation at the position came courtesy of his father, Alvin, who was a quarterback in college. Channeled into playing just one sport in the football-mad environment of Tyler, Texas, Flynn considers himself fundamentally sound.
More than likely, the 6-foot-2 Flynn fell to the seventh because of an average arm, the fact he was the shortest of the top 15 prospects and his meager total of 13 starts.
Flynn might not look like a top athlete but his 4.79-second clocking in the 40-yard dash was faster than the first four taken. He ran effectively in 2007, too.
“I feel like I’m an athletic guy and I feel like I can make most of the throws,” Flynn said. “People in college said I didn’t have that strong of an arm but that was after watching JaMarcus next to me throwing it 100 yards.”
Flynn freely admitted that he “really has no clue” what the NFL game will be like. Yet, he thinks his blueprint for playing quarterback is universal.
“It’s about being competitive, being unselfish and how you move the chains, run or pass,” he said. “Just being smart, knowing what needs to be done in a situation. And, obviously, being tough so you can have your teammates behind you and have them respect you.”
Off in the shadows, at least initially, Flynn intends to earn that respect.
