From Bill Willis, Marion Motley and Larry Doby to Carl Stokes and Frank Robinson, Cleveland has always been a city well ahead of the curve when it comes to pushing forward African-Americans.

 

So it only seems fitting, then, that the city is in the spotlight again in that regard – this time, though, in a very negative, highly-charged situation.

 

Indeed, not just the entire NFL but also the entire world will be watching over the next couple of weeks to see how the Browns handle the situation involving third-year running back Isaiah Crowell.

 

You know the story. In response to recent police killings of African-Americans in Baton Rouge, La. and Minnesota, Crowell, a third-year running back, posted on Instagram a rendering of a black-hooded, faceless man using a knife to slit the throat of a captive law enforcement officer. Blood could be seen running out of both the officer’s throat and mouth.

 

An African-American, Crowell took down the horrible, offensive rendering almost as soon as he put it up, but to no avail. It had already gone viral, and so the damage was done. Understandably so, criticism – vicious – came from all directions.

 

Since then, Crowell has spent nearly every waking minute apologizing, including to his employer, the Browns, who openly expressed their extreme displeasure. He has pledged money to various police organizations and attended the funeral of one of the Dallas police officers who were gunned down by a sniper in retaliation for the aforementioned police killings of African-Americans elsewhere.

 

But the season has not started yet – the NFL has been on vacation en masse — so the issue has been left simmering. That will change next week as Browns players began to arrive for the start of training camp on July 29.

 

At some point soon thereafter, Crowell will sit down with first-year head coach Hue Jackson to discuss the situation face-to-face and begin to plot a course of action in response to his egregious mistake.

 

Jackson is also an African-American.

 

So is Sashi Brown, the team’s executive vice president of football operations.

 

And Andrew Berry, the vice president of player personnel.

 

And assistant head coach Pep Hamilton.

 

And running game coordinator Kirby Wilson.

 

And defensive coordinator Ray Horton.

 

And about 70 percent of the Browns players.

 

And about 70 percent of all NFL players.

 

And about 53 percent of Cleveland residents.

 

And so were Willis, Motley, Doby and Stokes.

 

And so is Robinson.

 

While all of these people can understand Crowell’s rage over what it is going on in this country concerning the killing of African-Americans by police, and while they probably have much, if not all, of that same rage, they do not – and can not –condone what he did. But they want the penalty handed down to him to be fair and to fit the crime, and they have put their faith in Brown and Jackson to make sure that is so.

 

Law enforcement people – and the families of the five officers slain in Dallas – will be looking for fairness, too, from their vantage point.

 

As such, the Browns need to get it right – not just a little right, but right-on-center right – for they are the poster-child for the league’s response to what Crowell did and what is going on in the country as a whole.

 

All this before the Browns don shoulder pads for the first time.

 

Brown and Jackson knew they were taking on quite a challenge when they were named to their jobs. But they had no idea – and neither did anyone else – that it would be this tough, this soon, even in Cleveland, which is thick with African-American history, particularly when it comes to sports.