IT ALL TRACES BACK TO ONE MAN: JOHN DORSEY

By STEVE KING

In every other respect, Dec. 7 is, as then President Franklin Roosevelt so aptly put it over 77 years ago, “A day that will live in infamy.”

For the Browns, though, it also signals the start of their rebirth.

It was on Dec. 7, 2017 that they hired John Dorsey as general manager, and it is because of him and through him that they began the long journey to get where they’re at today.

Without him, none of this – not one bit – would have occurred.

If Dorsey had not been hired, then there would be no Baker Mayfield, for there would have been no one at Browns Headquarters who would have had the nerve, savvy and expertise to take an undersized quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

And if there were no Mayfield, then there would have been no 7-8-1 finish, providing so much hope for the future after the Browns stayed in AFC playoff contention until the next-to-last weekend.

Also, with no Mayfield, then there would be no Freddie Kitchens as head coach. The offense would have floundered and Kitchens’ start would not have had a chance to shine as an offensive assistant.

With no Mayfield, the good finish or Kitchens, there would no Odell Beckham Jr., no Olivier Vernon and no Sheldon Richardson. There would have been no reason for them to come to Cleveland.

There would then be no high expectations and talk of a possible Super Bowl Berth for the first time in team history. There would not be “the audacity of hope,” as former Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano likes to call it.

Dorsey has done so much in just 15 months, transforming the Browns from a team without a win or a plan to one with stars in its eyes.

NFL Executive of the Year for 2019?

Yeah, that competition is already over before it ever really had a chance to begin.

Bonus: County Sports Network