Tim Couch

Timothy Scott Couch (born July 31, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for five seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats, setting the Southeastern Conference record for single-season passing yards and winning the Quarterback of the Year as a junior.

After his senior season in 1995, he was the recipient of Kentucky's "Mr. Football" award.

ESPN ranked Couch as the sixth-best high school athlete ever.

Couch also starred on the Leslie County High School basketball varsity team.

He scored 36 points per game as a junior, which was the highest average in the state.

Couch finished his high school career with 3,023 points.

Couch attended the University of Kentucky, where he played for the Kentucky Wildcats football team from 1996 to 1998.

During his 1996 freshman year under head coach Bill Curry, he split time as the starting quarterback with Billy Jack Haskins.

Curry was fired after a 1–6 start that season, and replacement Hal Mumme announced early that Couch would be the starter in his new pass-oriented air raid offense.

In 1997, Couch set several school records as the previously anemic Kentucky offense topped national offensive rankings and finished 5–6 on the season, including a win over #20 Alabama.

During the 1998 season, Couch led Kentucky to seven wins (including a win on the road at #21 LSU) and a spot in the Outback Bowl (in which Couch completed 30 of 48 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns, though Kentucky lost to Penn State 26–14).

Following his junior season in 1998, Couch announced he would leave Kentucky to enter the NFL Draft early.

Couch's career totals at Kentucky included completing 795 of 1,184 passes (0.671 completion rate) for 8,435 yards (including 4,275 passing yards during the 1998 season alone) and 74 touchdowns (including a 97-yard touchdown pass to Craig Yeast against Florida on September 26, 1998).

Couch still holds the NCAA record for completion percentage in one game (minimum of 40 completions) at 83.0% against Vanderbilt (44 of 53) in 1998 and for completions per game (36.4, 400 in 11 games) that same season.

He also left Kentucky holding NCAA records for most completions in a season (400 in 1998), most completions in a two-year period (793 in 1997–1998), most completions per game in a two-year period (34.7, 1997–1998) and career completion percentage (67.1%).

His 1998 record of 4,151 offensive yards in a season stood for nine years as a Southeastern Conference (SEC) record until Florida quarterback Tim Tebow broke it with 4,181 yards in 2007.

His 1998 total of 4,275 passing yards was an SEC record, until broken by Joe Burrow of LSU.

Selected first overall by the Browns in the 1999 NFL Draft, Couch was the franchise's first draft pick following their reactivation as an expansion team.

Couch's college success culminated in his selection as the number one overall selection in the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns, who were returning to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999 following the original team's 1996 relocation to Baltimore.

Couch took over for Ty Detmer as the team's starting quarterback in the second game of his rookie season.

He spent five seasons as a starting quarterback for Cleveland, eventually facing competition from journeyman backup Kelly Holcomb during his final two seasons.

Couch's tenure in Cleveland ranged from leading the team to a playoff appearance, to boos and inconsistent play, which was partially a result of being constantly plagued by injuries.

He managed only one 300-yard passing game in his professional career.

In 1999 against the New Orleans Saints, his last-second touchdown pass to Kevin Johnson gave the Browns their first win.

Three seasons later, in Jacksonville he tossed a game-winning pass on the last play of the game to Quincy Morgan.

Couch holds the distinction of being the only quarterback in NFL history to throw two game-winning passes of 50 yards or more with 0:00 left on the clock.

He missed the final nine games of the 2000 season with a broken thumb.

Couch threw for over 11,000 passing yards and helped the Browns qualify for the postseason in 2002, but his career would be cut short by injuries.

Following attempted comebacks with the Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars, he retired after failing to make the final roster for either team.

Although Couch was unable to duplicate his college success, he was the first quarterback to lead the Browns to the playoffs since their NFL return and the only to do so between 2002 and 2020.

Couch was born in Hyden, Kentucky.

As a prep quarterback at Leslie County High School in Hyden, he set a number of national high school records: most pass completions (872), passing yardage (12,104), touchdown passes (132), and passing percentage for a season (75.1).

The high point of Couch's career came in 2002, when he threw for 2,842 yards and 18 touchdowns in leading the upstart Browns to a 9–7 record and a playoff appearance.

However, he suffered a broken leg in the final game of the regular season and was forced to watch as Holcomb threw for over 400 yards in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

This was the beginning of a quarterback controversy in Cleveland that would not be resolved until a year later when head coach Butch Davis tapped Holcomb as his starter.

Couch's 2003 season often included playing behind an offensive line hampered by injury.

Couch is considered by Fox Sports to be one of the NFL's biggest draft busts in its history after being taken #1, immediately ahead of fellow quarterback Donovan McNabb, only to falter through most of his career.

However, Couch's career has been defended by former Browns offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.

Couch had several notable moments for the Browns, including two "Hail Mary" passes.