THE BRUTAL ADVICE FOR AN NFL QB: CHAPTER 1, LEAVE CLEVELAND
This photo collage serves as a biting and humorous critique of the tumultuous history of Quarterbacks (QBs) who have played for the Cleveland Browns, particularly focusing on their careers after leaving the organization.
The Visual Context
The image uses a split technique to feature two QBs in Cleveland Browns uniforms:
- On the Left: The player wearing the brown number 6 jersey is clearly Baker Mayfield. He was the QB selected by the Browns with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
- On the Right: The player wearing the white and orange Browns jersey could be Case Keenum (who played for the Browns before moving on) or another recent QB. The pairing of these two represents the constant turnover of QBs in Cleveland.
The Core Satirical Tweet
The central piece of the image is the tweet from a fictional account named “Baker Muse” (@MuseBaker), a clever play on words referencing Baker Mayfield and the word “Muse” (inspiration).
The tweet delivers an extremely short and sharp piece of “advice”:
“How to be a good NFL QB, volume 1”
“Chapter 1: Leave Cleveland”
“The End.”
Meaning and Irony
This tweet is a social commentary on the decades-long, painful reality of the Cleveland Browns franchise:
- The QB “Graveyard”: The Cleveland Browns are notorious for failing to develop and retain talented Quarterbacks since their return to the NFL in 1999, having cycled through more starting QBs than almost any other team in the same period.
- Post-Cleveland Success: The satire is amplified by the fact that many QBs who were considered failures or mediocre during their tenure in Cleveland often find significant, even thriving, success after moving to another team. Baker Mayfield himself is a prime example, having left the Browns and revived his career with other organizations.
- Self-Deprecating Humor: By featuring Baker Mayfield’s face alongside the tweet, the image implies that Mayfield himself proved the validity of this “advice.” It is a self-deprecating jest about how the pressure and organizational chaos of the Browns appear to be the primary impediments to a QB’s success, rather than a lack of talent.
In short, the image is a perfect meme, combining a clear awareness of the team’s history with a bitter sense of humor, summarizing the saga of many Browns QBs in just one concise tweet.
