Posted: Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:00 am
fROM g-t WIRE REPORTS
CLEVELAND - His season as good as over, his career in Cleveland probably finished as well, Derek Anderson draped his arms over the trainers' shoulders and was helped to the sideline.
The former Oregon State star winced as the searing pain in his left knee intensified, and if that wasn't bad enough, some Browns fans cheered the quarterback's misfortune.
"They don't like me," he said. "That's well known."
The Browns' nightmarish season hit a new low on Sunday.
Anderson, hoping to win back his job or enhance his resume for another team, sustained a probable season-ending knee injury in the final minutes Sunday during a 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Anderson, starting in place of the injured Brady Quinn, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
He had an MRI on Monday and it was determined he is out for the season with a torn medial collateral ligament.
"I've done my MCL once before in the bowl when we waxed Notre Dame," Anderson said, alluding to OSU's 38-21 blowout of Quinn's Notre Dame team in the 2004 Insight Bowl in Phoenix.
"Let that be known that I beat him (Quinn)."
Before Anderson left the locker room, a reporter said, "see you later."
"Yeah, maybe in another life," was the reply.
Embattled Browns coach Romeo Crennel said Anderson "may be in tough shape" and already named Ken Dorsey as his starter for Sunday's game at Tennessee.
On Cleveland's last drive, Anderson was moving to his left when Robert Mathis powered over right tackle Kevin Shaffer, who fell back into his QB.
Shaffer's helmet first hit Anderson's knee, which was then wrapped up by Mathis.
Anderson, who sustained a similar injury during his last college game at Oregon State, knew he was hurt immediately.
"I felt a burn, a pain," he said. "It doesn't feel very good. It's disappointing."
An MRI revealed Anderson tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. He will not need surgery, but will be placed in a brace and will need 4-to-6 weeks to recover.
A Pro Bowler last season, Anderson started Cleveland's first eight games before he was pulled in favor of Quinn, who suffered a season-ending finger injury last week. Quinn is still deciding on whether to have surgery.
Some of Anderson's teammates were disappointed by the crowd's negative reaction to his injury.
"We love our fans, but that just wasn't needed," return specialist Joshua Cribbs said.
Added defensive tackle Shaun Smith:
"It made me upset. When you see stuff like that happening, it could have been a career-ending injury. He was your quarterback last year and went to the Pro Bowl, everybody was cheering for him then.
"For you to cheer for him to get hurt, that's not good, that's like me being at your family member's funeral and being happy they died. That's not a good sign. For people to cheer, that's no class at all.''
With the Browns committed to Quinn, Anderson may be traded this winter before the team has to pay him a $5 million roster bonus.
"The guys aren't going to give up," Anderson said. "Every single guy in here cares about each other and cares about winning. We love RAC (Crennel) and we're going to play for RAC. That's the biggest thing in the last four weeks."