Written by Jason Askew

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Last year at this time I was writing about the fire that burns inside Cleveland Browns QB Colt McCoy but, boy, have things changed. I couldn’t help but to feel sorry for the 3^rd round pick as I watched him in a press conference addressing the media as the Browns OTA workouts commenced.

Please don’t take my word for it. When you get 8 minutes and 41 seconds you can click here and watch it for yourself. When you do you will see quite a different temperment from the 3^rd year player than you did during his first two years here in Cleveland.

Gone is the confident young QB who spoke with a certain spark and passion and now I can’t help but use the term ‘broken’ when referring to his behavior. Honestly at one point it seems like his voice is so shaky that is going to start weeping. Colt is obviously devastated the organization has given up on him after his first full season of starting but I want to take this opportunity to tell McCoy to shake himself and shake it off.

Get over the devastation and turn that pain into anger. Be angry that the organization gave up on you after one year that consisted of no off season training while you were learning a new offense.

Be angry that the organization gave you two starting WRs that had given no indication they were ready to be legitimate threats to the defense. They were wrong in having confidence in Robiske and Massaquoi and, hell, they even ended up cutting Robiske during the season. That is how wrong they were. And when he was replaced in the lineup it was by a rookie who hadn’t played football in a year and was only in his second year at the position.

Be angry that you had an offensive line that featured two first time starting guards and a RT who was playing on one foot. I saw it just like everyone else. You spent more time running around obstacles than any QB should have to and when I watched the season again a few more times I quickly confirmed that was true.

Go ahead Colt, get ticked off that you played in an offense that was supposed to rely on a big bruising punisher of a RB coming off of a year that earned him the cover of the most popular video game on the planet, and you ended up handing off to the likes of Chris Ogbonnaya.

Be angry that you were being led by a first time head coach who was also serving as your offensive coordinator and was clearly overwhelmed and not thoroughly focused on that offense. I don’t think anyone can argue with you about the fact coach Shurmur wasn’t doing his part to help you after he screwed up the St. Louis game by mismanaging the clock and calling FB dives to TEs inside the ten yard line. On a drive that was needed in order take the lead with less than 2 minutes to go in the contest, no less.

If they did argue coach Shurmur’s merit after that game you should immediately direct them to the Steelers game in which James Harrison practically exploded your helmet off your skull and the coach seemed to not even see it or have a clue that you had no clue.

Be angry that you had a group of players catching balls that led the league in dropped passes and it wasn’t just Greg Little….the Browns had 4 of the top in 11 in the AFC in dropped passes.

Be angry that the after the organization took a 28 year old (29 in October) in the first round and then looked you in the eye and tell you to go out and compete for the starting job. In all honesty this may be the biggest joke/slap in the face of all. No one inside the building or outside the building believes anyone other than Brandon Weeden is going to be the QB of the Cleveland Browns in 2012.

You will hear the coach say things like “we won’t hand him the spot” but in reality everyone understands that this situation is unique because the Browns spent a first round pick on a QB who is much older than the conventional draft pick so he has to play sooner rather than later.

I don’t want to get off on a tangent because this piece isn’t about Brandon Weeded or his age but the Browns know full well that injury is the only way Colt McCoy is the starting QB for them and Colt should be fired up about it.

Regardless of the limitation Colt McCoy has as a QB in the NFL he should be upset that the organization clearly thinks he was a bigger problem than the people they put around him in the offense, as well as the poor situations the coaching staff put him in.

This article isn’t condoning McCoy to be a bad teammate or anything like that. It isn’t about how poorly his father may have handled the situation in the press. It is simply me relaying my opinion to Colt and my opinion is that I think his internal flame should be burning white hot and I don’t want to see him look broken at a press conference……. I want him to be just the opposite.

I want McCoy to keep showing us the grit that won us over because at some point Colt will be needed and I don’t want him to have to flip a switch when that time comes.

This is not a Seneca Wallace situation at all. McCoy isn’t a career backup being thrown to the side for a talented, young signal caller. McCoy is facing a unique situation in which he is being thrown to the wolves for a talented QB who is older than him by 3 years and has yet to take a snap in the NFL, so I think it is O.K. for him to have a bit of an edge to him as he carries a chip on his shoulder.

This talented rookie QB is coming in with a RB most consider to be the most talented to come out of college in many years, a young stud RT, as opposed to a walking injury, an extremely experienced 2^nd year WR who led his team in receptions last year, and Weeden will actually have a full time offensive coordinator.

Regardless what you think about Colt McCoy or Brandon Weeden you have to admit that the situation Weeden is inheriting is a huge upgrade to the one Colt McCoy had last year.

I understand there is probably a fine line between getting angry and using that anger as fuel compared to being bitter and letting that consume you like a disease, and I am not claiming to know where that line is, but being ‘broken’ like I saw McCoy in that press conference is far from either.

I am a fan first and foremost so this isn’t an attack on the organization and I am not trying to talk negatively about the draft or Brandon Weeden, but I want to make sure that Colt McCoy stays motivated and engaged because at some point I think he will be needed and that fire which used to burn hot will be needed if he is going to get past his physical limitations and win some games for us.

Those of you that have taken this article as me attacking the team or Cleveland’s new QB should read it again. I am hoping the backup QB has his mind so when he is called upon Cleveland won’t have to throw in the towel, and if he finds that motivation through his anger then I am all for it.

And Colt, if memory serves me right, that press conference wais the first time I have seen you up at a podium since you got your bell rung, so hopefully the hit had nothing to do with what I perceived as a broken spirit. But understand weI will be watching future interviews in an attempt to gauge where your mind and spirit are.  With that in mind, the last message to Colt McCoy is a saying that used to be on the Romeo Crennel off season training shirts……”Get Your Mind Right”. For your own sake and ours.