Cleveland Browns Football

Best Browns Ever

2014-01-18T01:16:54Z

Super Bowls are nice. Playoffs are nice too. Consistency with the coaching staff and an unspoken, honorable trust in the front office goes a long way with fans. So, maybe I’ve been told as much, but I’m basically guessing on all of this; after all, this is the Cleveland Browns we’re talking about. Often times, we hear some nonsense about being on the right track and respecting the process, but it’s all just talk.

That’s one thing we like to do is talk. It’s the hardest thing about being away from home, the part where I can’t just talk about the Browns. People get fed up, people wonder what’s wrong with me, and there’s the obvious bottom line that people just don’t care. I wear blinders and cover my ears as much as I can to avoid reality; it’s not just the reality of everything related to the Browns in the present tense, but my own private reality, where I will soon have existed longer outside of Cleveland than I ever did as a local.

Cleveland Sports / Classic Rock Vault: Random Browns Trivia Quiz - Season’s End Edition

2014-01-17T19:30:59Z

Some Browns thoughts are still rattling around my brain- because hey, it’s not my fault they are done playing by January… Every. Single. Year. And to borrow the name of a semi-recent Steely Dan CD, everything must go!

All Browns fans ‘know’ stuff about the team. While it seems true that the fan base is dwindling due to the wanton mismanagement of the franchise, it has been common for generations that we become infused with Cleveland Browns information, almost by osmosis, throughout our lives. The brainwashing starts when we are small children. (“Look both ways when you cross the street!” “Don’t talk to strangers!” “Paul Brown’s T formation offense helped replace the single-wing formation in professional football!”)

The Numbing Sameness of It All, Again--The Letter

2014-01-16T12:47:11Z

Give me a ticket for next year,

And a towel to dry my tears,

Losing days are done,

Time to go back home,

The Owner, he wrote me a letter.

I don’t care how much money he makes me spend,

Glad to do it, just say when

Losing days are done

Time to go back home,

The Owner, he wrote me a letter.

My Jimmy - He Wrote Me a Letter

2014-01-15T17:53:45Z

If you were one of the lucky folks who strolled out to your mailbox this week and discovered a love note from ole’ Truck Stop Jimmy Haslam sandwiched in between the electric bill and 45 pages of Papa John’s coupons, clearly wishing you a happy new year would be redundant.

It’s always great when the guy who just moved in down the street and then set the neighborhood on fire when a batch of crystal meth got away from him drops you a line to let you know how his search for a new garage door is going. But this was something special.

As the Browns stagger toward another ill-fated and disastrous head-coaching decision, I, for one, appreciated Mr. Haslam taking a moment from his busy schedule of visiting county courthouses and lawyers’ offices across the Smoky Mountain region to let us all know he’s thinking of us.

And while his letter was both gripping and emotional, I couldn’t help but feel we wound up with an edited version. I mean, to fit it all on one page, some things had to be cut, right? So, as a seasoned editor, I took a swing at adding in the parenthetical comments that bring out the true message Jimmy Haslam was trying to deliver.

We Didn't Sign Up For Dis

2014-01-14T23:49:51Z

It’s hard to say what best sums up the 15 years of Cleveland Browns football we have been privelleged to receive since the NFL awarded the city with an expansion franchise to begin play in 1999. Do you start with the fact that 80% of those seasons have hit double-digits in the loss column? Do you talk about the draft busts, the cycle of head coaches, the routine changing of the guard at the top, or the complete lack of success in the division, let alone the post-season? It’s difficult to not be fatigued with the whole thing. I don’t know where the boiling point is, or was, for most of us, but it’s fair to say that we’re all tired of it.

I’m tired of the disrespect from the outside, deserved or not, with reasonable knowledge that it’s all based on some form of the truth. I’m tired of the dissention in our own ranks; be it the fans, media, or the people actually on the payroll in Berea. Most of all, I’m tired of the dysfunction that’s brought on the name-calling and the motivation to jump ship at the first opportunity. We, specifically the fans, didn’t sign up for any of this. Yet, we are the ones, the only ones, left to deal with the big picture. The only thing, aside from the fans, that remains the same through all of the ineptitude is the mailing address, 76 Lou Groza Boulevard in Berea.

Latest Browns Coaching Search Leaving Everyone Terribly Vexed

2014-01-13T23:57:23Z

The Cleveland Browns coaching search is two weeks old now and the team has not made a decision yet on who will replace the fired Rob Chudzinski.

Whether or not owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner are any closer to finding Chudzinksi’s replacement is still unclear and while the situation is less than ideal, it may not be as dire as many are making it out to be.

But there is little doubt that the past two weeks have certainly left everyone so terribly, terribly vexed.

There are things that are known about the coaching search, while there are probably just as many things that people assume to know. While what we know is a pretty straight forward question to answer; what it all means may prove to be a bit trickier of a question.

Thoughts (Or Lack Thereof) On The Browns Head Coaching Search

2014-01-10T19:50:01Z

Quick, without looking him up, think of everything you know about Cleveland Browns head coach candidate Dan Quinn. Here’s what I know:

The Numbing Sameness of It All, Again--Lost Generation Edition

2014-01-09T02:25:11Z

As the Cleveland Browns go about the business of finding still another new head coach, the lull this creates before the smoke billows from Berea indicating that a coach has been secured gives fans the distance they need to process their team's latest misstep.

Distance isn't making the heart grow fonder.

What Went Right, and Wrong, for the Browns in 2013

2014-01-05T16:39:59Z

The Cleveland Browns wrapped up the 2013 NFL season a week ago and it was a familiar one for Browns fans.

The team finished at 4-12, the 12th time the Browns have had double-digit losses in a season since returning to the NFL in 1999. This was also the 10th time in the past 11 years that the team won two or less divisional games and their 3-5 home record means the Browns still have not posted at least four home wins in consecutive seasons.

But it is not all bad news in Berea. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and team CEO Joe Banner are currently undertaking a thorough and exhaustive search for a head coach to replace Rob Chudzinski, who was fired a year after Haslam and Banner undertook a thorough and exhaustive search that led them to hire Chudzinski.

And the Browns hold 10 draft picks in the 2014 NFL Draft, including two in the first round and seven total in the first four rounds.

So before we turn the page to next season, let’s look back and some things that went right and some that went wrong for the Browns in 2014.

Chudzinski, Banner, Haslam, And Firing A First Year Coach

2014-01-02T20:31:35Z

The firing of Rob Chudzinski after only one year at the helm of the Cleveland Browns was anything but fair. Chudzinski was saddled with Brandon Weeden as his starting quarterback to enter the season, likely at the behest of the front office to “see what the team had” in Weeden. His best quarterback option was injured for the season during his third start, at a time when the team was actually beginning to show some promise. Chudzinski was forced to play musical chairs at running back after the Trent Richardson trade, and the bottom of the roster was constantly being churned by the front office, making continuity especially difficult on defense and special teams. In short, the Cleveland Browns were not a team that was expected to be any good in 2013.