Written by Dave Kolonich

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See what happens?  I dwell in fantasy for the past few days, and suddenly the real world goes crazy.  Or at least really, really dumb…as in the case of one of Browns Nation’s favorite sons…

Rogers Arrested at Airport

Browns DT Shaun Rogers was arrested after officials found him with a gun at the Hopkins International Airport on Thursday.  Police told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that the gun was loaded.

WOIO-TV in Cleveland reported officials found the gun as Rogers was set to board an aircraft.

On the surface, the selfish Browns fan in me is only invested in this story – along with the dozens that will follow regarding the legal ramification of Rogers’ actions – for a few reasons:

1.  I truly wanted to see if the Browns would finally plug Rogers into the 3-4 line rotation as an end, rather than a nose guard.  It was becoming obvious that Rogers’ immense talents were being wasted at nose guard.  Also, the subtle emergence of Ahtyba Rubin in 2009 seemed to finally give the team some much needed options along the D-line.

2. Our last truly valuable trading chip has just gone down in a remarkable forest of flames.  An airport gun charge is not exactly the type of setback to encounter in 2010 America.  Not to mention, eventually Rogers may be facing an ever tougher court of law, one ruled by the draconian Roger Goodell.

3. And we all thought being stuck with Donte Stallworth’s contract was bad.  Just imagine Rogers being in limbo for the next year and a half, while our salary cap is saddled with the ultimate, legally-entangled deadweight.

As for what Rogers actually did, this website is the absolute last place where some kind of Ivory Tower moralism will be dispensed.  Or, in other words - instead of commenting on the prevelance of guns in society, or turning this story into some kind of forum for gun control, let’s just go ahead and call this for what it is:

No matter what your stance on guns is – either pro or con – you just don’t take a loaded gun onto an airplane in 2010. 

Regardless of a person’s profession, background, race, status of wealth or any other factor – you just can’t do something like Rogers did.

To take it a step further, I would even rule out the idea that Rogers is a highly-paid professional athlete, and I wouldn’t even cite the example of Plexico Burress shooting himself in a NYC nightclub.  Rogers’ incident goes above any other example of an athlete with a weapon, even avoiding the obvious recent comparison of Gilbert Arenas. 

Discounting the reasons why Rogers had a loaded gun with him – because again, we live in a country of guns, and everyone has a different reason to arm themselves – or not – the issue again boils down to one item… 

Regardless of whether a person “forget” they had the gun on them, you just don’t take a loaded gun onto an airplane in 2010.

As for the potential enormity of this case, there’s no telling if this story will rise above either the local and/or exclusively sports media.  It’s possible that the story will grow legs simply as a piggyback to the Gilbert Arenas tale, which had a nice little run on national formats.  However, unlike the Arenas story, what Rogers did could constitute the most salicious of media narratives, meaning that his actions are directly linked to the idea of national security – which is no doubt ratings gold for the 24 news cycle.

Luckily for Rogers – he’s not of Arabic descent.  Otherwise, there could now be multiple unmanned drones flying over Berea.

Most unfortunately for Rogers – the incident proves that some people are just complete idiots – forgetful or otherwise – who are completely clueless to the fact that we live in a contemporary society where hysteria and concern for safety are inherently related.

Obviously, none of us probably realize the ramifications of what just happened - at least not yet.  But, a mere day after the incident was reported, this much is clear….we’ve probably seen the last of Shaun Rogers in Cleveland. 

And so it goes…

Kind of makes you long for the days of Leigh Bodden getting into an airport parking dispute….or even for a story like this next one…

Jurevicius Allowed to Pursue Lawsuit Against the Browns

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that former Cleveland Browns receiver Joe Jurevicius can proceed with his claims against the team in state court for incurring a staph infection at the team’s training facility two years ago.

I’m certainly not saying this because of some kind of hometown bias towards Jurevicius, but really – good for him. 

On behalf of the half-dozen or so players who had their careers momentarily derailed – or practically ended, in Jurevicius’ case – there needs to be some resolution to the most unfortunate and rather hushed-up events of the past several years.  In what became a long-running joke, far too many players acquired similar staph infections from the Browns training facilities – a place that should boast some of the country’s best medical treatment.

Whether or not Jurevicius can acheive the impossible and actually get some kind of legal justice and/or settlement from the NFL – which in most cases stands for the National Federation of Lawyers – remains to be seen.  At the least, Jurevicius will be compensated for the time he probably could have continued to contribute as a player, had he not become infected. 

Or, much like the Rogers’ case, maybe the team can finally just move on.