The Browns are apparently finally rediscovering the fact that there are some pretty good football players who come out of Ohio State.

They picked two, both offensive linemen, in the NFL Draft over the weekend and they signed a couple in free agency right after the draft.

Four Buckeyes joining the Browns. Imagine that?!

For a long time, the Browns have all but completely ignored Ohio State when it came to player procurement. I don’t know what, exactly, the reason was because everybody in Berea just talked around it, but I suspect it started with former head coach Butch Davis and just carried over from there. He believed that the best players came out of the South. Midwest guys, like those from Ohio State, were second-rate.

Whatever the case, though, the fact the Browns are starting to pay attention to the Buckeyes again is a win-win. The Browns are getting good players, and a lot of local kids, many of whom probably rooted for the Browns growing up, are getting the chance to see if they can make the final roster of their hometown team.

It’s embarrassing and disappointing when the Browns ignore all that talent in their own backyard while other teams go into Columbus and pluck it out and use it to their advantage.

Head coach Paul Brown built those early great teams with a slew of Ohio State players. He knew the school well after having coached there just a few years earlier, guiding the Bucks to their first national championship in 1942, but in the expansion era, it has just about faded away.

Now it may be coming back. At least we can hope so.

Steve King