Tim Couch

Timothy Scott Couch (born July 31, 1977) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at the University of Kentucky, where he set the Southeastern Conference record for single-season passing yards and won Quarterback of the Year as a junior. 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 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 2019. Early years and high school career 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). 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. College career 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.