tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Browns Organization Continues To Be A Joke

As many of you know I have been a Browns fan for my entire life going back to the early 60's. I remember their last NFL Championship in 1964. Since then there have been plenty of disappointments. The 1965, 1968 and 1969 losses in the NFL Championship games. Red-Right 88 in the 1981 playoff game loss against the Oakland Raiders. The Drive. The Fumble. Another 1989 AFC Championship loss. And then the team moving to Baltimore after the 1995 season.

In 1999, the Browns were back and it has been a series of missteps. When the Browns hired Mike Holmgren to be President of the team it was believed that for the first time Randy Lerner had someone who had a football background to lead the team, Carmen Policy notwithstanding. However, Holmgren's regime has provided enough fodder to make one wonder if this organization will ever get out of its own way and continue to be nothing more than a joke. Let's look at the record.

When Holmgren came in he elected to keep Eric Mangini on as head coach, even though we knew that Holmgren and Mangini were not on the same page philosophically. Then, he hires Pat Shurmur who has had no head coaching experience but we are told that he has an offensive mind. Really!!! Not sure we saw much difference between Shurmur's offense and Brian Daboll's, even though one can make the argument that Colt McCoy played better under Daboll.

Of course, under Daboll, McCoy had a running game led by Peyton Hillis. The same Peyton Hillis who the Browns have in essence run out of town and by doing so have created another hole that needs to be filled. So a team devoid of playmakers loses another one. Speaking of McCoy, the whole mishandling of the concussion he received in Pittsburgh was a huge black eye. Holmgren's ridiculous and totally unbelieveable explanation that no one saw the viciousness of the hit was a joke. The fact that this kid was allowed back on the field was a disgrace. And if my memory serves me correctly, Holmgren went after Browns fans basically saying you are either with us or against us.

This season's end of the year press conference with Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert was also disturbing. Holmgren told us that we need to have faith in him and his management team. He further said that Pat Shurmur was going to be a head coach here for a long time. Shurmur's performance this year was borderline sophomoric. To assist the offense, the Browns yesterday announced the hiring of Brad Childress as Offensive Coordinator. The same Childress whose offense was questioned consistently while he was head coach in Minnesota, even though he had Adrian Peterson and for a brief time Brett Farve.

In keeping with this "your either with us or against us" attitude, it was announced that long-time Cleveland Plain Dealer Browns beat reporter Tony Grossi was being relieved of his duties covering the team because of a message that he inadvertently posted on twitter. Grossi posted the following: "He's a pathetic figure, the most irrelevant billionaire in the world." Grossi apologized but it wasn't enough. It has been reported that the Browns contacted the Plain Dealer to voice their disapproval. So much for a free press. The fact of the matter is that the only constant for the Browns is Randy Lerner and as a result Tony Grossi is right.

Grossi is an excellent reporter. He is objective. He calls it the way he sees it. I don't always agree with him but I respect his opinion. What I also respect is his willigness to call the Browns out when necessary. He's more than a cheerleader. But obviously he did not demonstrate that he was "with them" so he must be "against them."

I have questioned many times over the last few years if I would have been better off if the Browns never came back. The more I see what continues to go on with this franchise under the leadership of Randy Lerner, I think I know the answer.