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Mark Brunell career statistics

I'll use Mark Brunell as a jumping off point for my annual lecture about the need to be on the lookout for statistical trickery in everything you read. Here's a much more extensive article that I wrote last year on the subject.

Over the period 1996-2001, Brunell has more passing yards than anyone but Brett Favre.

That's a fact, but it's important to recognize it for what it is: meaningless trivia.

Now, I've got nothing against meaningless trivia -- you'll find lots of it in these player comments -- but the problem is that people often try to pass meaningless trivia off as relevant. Someone extolling the virtues of Mark Brunell might point to the above fact and feel that it supports his case. But it doesn't.

Note that most of the top QBs in the league today -- Warner, Garcia, Culpepper, McNabb, Gannon, Manning, etc -- weren't starting QBs in 1996 and 1997 and hence are severely handicapped in the "most passing yards since 1996" race. So Brunell has more passing yards in six seasons than Manning has in four. What is that supposed to tell me?

When you get right down to it, what the fact quoted above really says is: Besides Favre, Brunell is the only QB in the NFL who has been healthy and managed to hold a starting job for the last six years. He's older than Donovan McNabb, healthier than Chris Chandler, and more fortunate than Drew Bledsoe (and a lot worse than Favre). That's all it says.

Now, staying healthy enough (and good enough) to hold down a starting QB job in the NFL is a point in Brunell's favor, but it sure doesn't sound as glamourous as nearly leading the league in passing over a six-year period. Suppose you read two different articles that are trying to sell you on Brunell. One of them says, "since 1996, only Favre has passed for more yards than Brunell" and the other says, "Brunell is pretty durable and probably won't lose his job." They both told you the same thing, but the second guy was a lot more honest about it.