LIKE CRENNEL, BROWNS NEED TO DIG IN THEIR HEELS AND GET TO WORK
By STEVE KING
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I was at practice on the second day of Browns training camp in 2006, standing no more than seven or yards away, when, without being touched, highly-coveted, newly-signed free-agent center LeCharles Bentley suffered a career-ending knee injury.
The Cleveland St. Ignatius High School and Ohio State product, who had made the Pro Bowl in two of his first four years in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, returned home like the prodigal son to anchor the Browns offensive line. And, in an instant, it was all gone, Bentlry pounding the ground and swearing repeatedly as trainers rushed to attend to him.
Like Superman, he tore open his shirt at his introductory press conference to reveal a brown Browns jersey. But he was last seen sitting on the curb in the parking lot, waiting for his mother to pick him up, as he left Browns Headquarters in Berea for the final time.
On the beautiful, picture-perfect mid-summer morning that the injury happened, I immediately looked across the field to the opposite sideline where all the Browns movers and shakers were standing together, checking out their new toy. You could actually see the top half of their bodies move backward, as if a stiff wind had come up, but there was breeze at all. They were so emotionally crushed that they were swaying physically.
There was one exception. His name was Romeo Crennel. Say what you want about the job he did in his four seasons — 2005-08 — as Browns head coach, but he was a tough man who, in his many years as an assistant coach in the NFL working with other tough men like Bill Parcells and Bdelichick, had seen a lot of bad stuff — perhaps not to this level, but bad stuff nonetheless. He stood there a second taking in the devastating scene 50 yards away, his heels dug in and his knees braced to keep his upper body from flopping like those of the people around him, hitched up his brown Browns shorts and instantly began the process of trying to find the best and quickest way to fix this mess.
There was no sissy in Crennel. He was not faint of heart. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it to the best of his ability. With or without Bentley, the Browns, like it or not, had to get ready for the season. None of their games were going to be cancelled — or even postponed — to give time for the reeling Browns to readjust their plans and get their act together. It was full steam ahead, even with a big limp now.
The current Browns are at that same point after COVID-19 felled a number of key Browns personnel, including head coach Kevin Stefanski, guard Joel Bitonio, wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge and others, forcing them out of Sunday night’s first-round AFC playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.
The Browns can sit and whine about it, or, like Romeo Crennel, they can dig in their heels, brace their knees and prepare to give it their very best shot. This has been a gritty bunch all season, and I have no doubt that whatever this depleted team has left to give, it will give it.
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