CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Before 2002, Kelly Holcomb was a career backup quarterback who always saw himself as a starter. Then, he led the Browns into Pittsburgh where they came within a third down Dennis Northcutt fingertip grab of winning a playoff game. The next year Holcomb got his chance to start, but the Browns were not the same team.

"We lost too many guys during that offseason," Holcomb said. "For whatever reason that's what (the front office) thought needed to happen."

Instead of authoring a storybook chapter in Browns quarterback history, Holcomb's tenure in Cleveland fell victim to the same formula that plagued many of the team's starting QBs since 1999: injuries, revolving-door rosters and departing coaches and front office personnel. But throughout it all, Holcomb fondly remembers his time in Cleveland while still harboring one simple regret.

"If we could have just kept that team together, we could have been really good," he said. "We lost some really, really good football players like Dave Wolabaugh and Sean O'Hara. I like to think that I would have stayed behind center and we could have had some productive years there in Cleveland. When I think about Cleveland, that's what I remember."

Holcomb is No. 5 on our list as we look back at all the Browns starting quarterbacks since 1999. Here is a look at his career highlights and lowlights, what he's been doing since his Cleveland days and where he'd like to go in the future.

Kelly Holcomb, 2001-2004

By the numbers

Played in 19 games, started 12

4-8 as a Browns starter

322-for-507 passing, 63.7 pct

26 TD, 21 INT

83.3 QB rating

Sacked 31 times

Led two fourth quarter comebacks including two game-winning drives.

Before the Browns

After a relatively quiet four-year career as a starter at Middle Tennessee State University, Holcomb signed as an un-drafted free agent with Tampa Bay in 1995 and spent a year on the practice squad. He signed with Indianapolis in 1996 and played one season for Barcelona in NFL Europe before spending parts of three years as a backup for the Colts.

How he came to the Browns

Holcomb was released by Indianapolis in the 2000 offseason, allowing him to follow quarterbacks coach Bruce Arians, who had been named offensive coordinator under Butch Davis in Cleveland. He signed as a free agent with the hope of competing for a starting job against Tim Couch, the team's No. 1 overall draft pick in 1999.

In Cleveland, Holcomb demonstrated a strong grasp of Arians' offense, to which he credits former Indy quarterbacks coach Tom Moore.

"If I could say anybody made it happen for me in the NFL it was Bruce and Tom Moore," Holcomb said. "Those two guys taught me so much about football."

Browns highlights

Holcomb's performance in the 2002 Wild Card Playoff game at Pittsburgh was both a highlight and a lowlight. In a muddy game filled with turnovers and big plays, he went 26-for-43 for 429 yards with three touchdowns and one interception as the Browns lost their only postseason game since their return in 1999, 36-33 to the Steelers. The 429 yards set an NFL playoff record for a regulation game.

"We had a really solid football team in that playoff game," he said. "We had Pittsburgh beat and we got conservative and we should not have done that."

The performance propelled Holcomb into the 2003 season as the team's starter after outplaying Couch in an open competition. But two games into the campaign, the Browns were 0-2 and facing a road trip to San Francisco. Against the 49ers, a hobbled Holcomb engineered a fourth quarter scoring drive capped by a late touchdown pass to Andre Davis for a 13-12 win.

Holcomb, who had suffered what was later determined to be a hairline fracture in his leg on the game's fourth play, counts the victory as one of his most satisfying in a Browns uniform.

"That was a game where you're trying to concentrate, but man you're hurting so bad," he said. "You don't want to get hit anymore, and man I got hit a bunch. To go down on those last two drives and take the lead and win that game 13-12, that was pretty special."

Browns lowlights

There was the 34-7 loss in Seattle where Holcomb was benched at halftime and had to re-enter after Couch got injured. And the Monday night loss at home against St. Louis that saw him throw two interceptions in 35 seconds before Couch again came in off the bench.

But Holcomb had a knack for posting impressive statistics in games that marked the lowest of low points for the Browns. In a 2004 game against Cincinnati, he threw five touchdowns and totaled 413 yards. That game was remembered more for the team's defensive futility in a 58-48 loss to the Bengals, and the subsequent resignation of Butch Davis later in the week.

"It seemed like every time we had a good game passing we always lost the game," he said. "I felt there were some ups, some downs, and some middle ground there, too."

Holcomb also recalled the day that Davis quit. "We had to stay in there and fight. I really enjoyed playing with those guys after all that happened, we did the best we could do. But its hard to win games when your head coach leaves and you've got an interim guy. It was a tough situation to be put in."

How he left the Browns

Holcomb was released following the 2004 season and signed with Buffalo, where he played in 10 games (eight starts) during the 2005 season. He did not appear in a game in 2006. Prior to the 2007 season he was traded twice before the season started; from Buffalo to Philadelphia, and then from Philadelphia to Minnesota. Holcomb started three games for the Vikings in 2007. He announced his retirement from the NFL July 7, 2008.

What he's doing now

A resident of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Holcomb returned to Middle Tennessee State University in 2008 to serve as a color analyst on his alma mater's football broadcasts for five seasons. He also appeared on a high school football game of the week broadcast for the local Fox affiliate in Nashville. In 2012 Holcomb was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and in 2013 he began working as a volunteer assistant quarterbacks coach at Riverdale High School.

Holcomb stepped back from football broadcasting last year in order to spend more time with his family.

"I'm just living life right now and enjoying being around my kids," he said. "I've been doing stuff in the fall on Saturdays and Sundays for 30 years. If my son or daughter has a basketball game I want to be there and enjoy it. With MTSU and moving around, I was missing a lot of stuff."

What he wants to do in the future

Holcomb sees a place for himself back on the sidelines as a coach, but not in the NFL ranks.

He is preparing for his second season coaching quarterbacks with the Riverdale Warriors in Murfreesboro.

"I never did want to get into coaching, but I think kids these days need positive role models and father figures in their lives," he said. "Right now I'm more interested in trying to rear young kids to be men. Our society is lacking that. Maybe someday it turns into a paying gig."

Did you know?

Holcomb's real first name is Bryan. He is a Cancer who recently celebrated his 41st birthday (July 9).

Holcomb's Hometown Barbecue Sauce

Every now and then somebody asks Holcomb about the mustard and barbecue sauce bearing his name that appeared on Cleveland store shelves in the late summer of 2003. He usually laughs it off, but recalls being interested in going behind the scenes to see how a product like that was marketed.

"That was pretty neat," he said.

Keeping in touch

Holcomb says he still talks to former Browns teammates Tim Couch and Mark Campbell and Alvin McKinley quite a bit. Tyrone Rodgers, now a defensive line coach at Alabama State, reached out to him a little while back.

"When you see somebody and get to talking, you always find where everybody is and what they're up to," he said. "It'd be nice to get a reunion together."

Memories of Cleveland

Says Holcomb: "There's not a greater city in America to play football in than Cleveland, Ohio. They love football up there and I enjoyed my time there."

"I just wish we could have kept that (2002) team together. If we did, I really believe we could have done something special, and I think I could have been behind center when that happened."