Matt Wilhelm, the former Elyria Catholic High School, Ohio State and NFL player who serves as a co-host on the team-sponsored “Cleveland Browns Daily” radio show on Cleveland’s WKNR-AM (850), was reprimanded by the Browns for criticizing defensive end Myles Garrett on-air on Oct. 25 for self-reporting concussion-like symptoms.

It kept Garrett, the No. 1 overall choice in the 2017 NFL Draft, out of the Browns’ 33-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings two weeks ago in London. The club had a bye last weekend.

Wilhelm later apologized on the air for his remarks.

Whether you agree or disagree with him – and I don’t agree with him in this particular instance, nor with some of the other things he has said — Wilhelm has a right to his opinions. He has a right to say what he wants to say. He was not out of line with what he said, nor with the way he said it. It was all done professionally.

That the Browns forced him to apologize – and that’s exactly what happened; Wilhelm did not do it of his own volition – was a bad move by the club. A team-sponsored and team-controlled radio program is not a place where an analyst can be totally analytical. It is not a place where a host can freely state his views they go against what the club believes.

The Browns lost a great chance to bring on experts supporting Garrett’s move and have a lively on-air debate on the show about concussions, the hot-button topic in the NFL right now – and rightfully so. Instead, they just brought the hammer down on Wilhelm, causing them, and the show, to lose all credibility.

Sooner or later, we knew this type of thing was going to happen on “Browns Daily,” where the Browns were going to quash a differing view on a topic, and it finally did.

Perhaps the Browns should give Wilhelm and show co-host Nathan Zegura a script of what to say, and what not to say. In that way, then, the club can get its message out exactly the way it wants to. That is different than real analysis.

It is why if you want true, unbiased views of the Browns, “Cleveland Browns Daily” is the last place you should go to get them.