But it does happen, per Mike Carlson:
How important is experience? It's an interesting question in NFL Europa terms because most players are sent to the league by NFL teams, or sign up as free agents, in order to get experience. For most players, that means primarily getting enough reps on tape for NFL teams to be able to see what they can do.
Success is rare for QBs in developmental leagues, the majority of whom are still catching reps in NFL
Europe Europa, Arena League, CFL, etc. Hopefully the Redskins' Casey Bramlet can earn his stars in Hamburg:
Hamburg coach Vince Martino agrees [that having returning players is important]. "It's a 10-game season, so you need to be in gear right from the start," he says. Casey Bramlet, who was Hamburg's signal-caller in 2005, is back for a second go-round. "We know he'll be ready on opening day," Martino says. "It's like a baseball player getting a second shot at AAA. Sometimes, you spend that first year adjusting to the new level. Then when you come back, you feel more comfortable. Delhomme had two seasons here, and look what happened to him."
Carlson identifies the three few success stories from NFL Europe QBs: former Redskin Brad Johnson, the aforementioned Jake Delhomme, and most famously Kurt Warner.
[Hogs Haven aside: Does anyone else realize that one day we'll be watching a Rudy-esque movie about Kurt Warner? What he did was simply amazing, going from a Grocery Store clerk to Super Bowl MVP in a relatively short period of time. Obviously his career fizzled out quite quickly, though I think his story is every bit as amazing as any other Football Film biography. Maybe I'm wrong. Discuss below.]
I'm tempering my expectations of Bramlet as he's a long ways away from a sure thing in the NFL. He's probably not the next Kurt Warner, though if he develops into a competent backup that the Redskins can trust with a clipboard on Sundays, I'll consider it a win. Todd Collins and/or Mark Brunell are heading out of town in the not-so-distant future, and having a young QB to backup Campbell for years to come would be a big positive.
