BROWNS ALREADY LOOKING MUCH BETTER

By STEVE KING

A female relative, who is not a big football fan and is a Browns fan only in the fact she lives in Northeast Ohio and wants them to do well because they are the hometown team, texted me the other day following Kevin Stefanski’s introductory press conference.

“That new Browns head coach is easy on the eyes,” she wrote. “I don’t know football, but I know easy on the eyes.

“No matter how he does with the Browns, I will still watch to catch a glimpse of him. I am shameless.

“Have a Stefanski kind of day today.”

I chuckled, but, in cold, hard reality, there’s a lot of truth in what she wrote.

My relative, who is a retired professional and believes you dress the part, and that you dress for who you want to be and not necessarily who you are or where you are at that particular time, wasn’t a big fan of Stefanski’s predecessor, Freddie Kitchens, not for his football knowledge – again, she doesn’t know football, as she admitted – but rather for the way he looked on the sideline.

Not trying to be disparaging, but it was, as any Browns fan will admit, not a good look, and I will leave it at that. There is no need to elaborate.

Now, if the Browns had gone 12-4 and gotten into the AFC playoffs as a wild card, then no one would have minded – much, anyway – how Kitchens’ disheveled appearance. But with the Browns’ exceedingly disappointing season and all the dysfunction and lack of discipline that went on, his appearance only added – tremendously so – to the whole unsightly situation. It just was not a good look. It made the Browns seem worse than even what they were – and they were not very good.

With Stefanski and his cleaned-up – and, shall we say, much more appealing – appearance, the Browns, right from the start, will at least look like a winner, or at least that of a professional team.

Now if they can only play like one as well in 2020.

In any event, my relative will be watching.