MORE GOOD NATIONAL STUFF ABOUT THE BROWNS
By STEVE KING
I said a while back that every time I run across something that exemplifies the tremendous change – in a very positive way – the Browns have undergone in the past year, I would bring it to your attention.
Why? Because you, as the best fans in the world, deserve that after withstanding the nightmare that has been the expansion era for the last 20 years.
A year ago at this time, when Baker Mayfield was just another rookie quarterback being stuck behind a veteran starter, in this case Tyrod Taylor, and they were coming off an 0-16 finish and a two-season record of 1-31, the Browns were not in the news. That is, unless it was to be the butt of rude, crude, embarrassing jokes.
Fast forward to May 2019, and the situation is quite different – so much so, in fact, that the upbeat news is coming so fast and furious that you almost can’t keep up with it all.
The latest example – and it’s a big, bold one – comes with the USA Today Sports Special Edition that’s been on sale for about a week. It’s a look at all the NFL teams and where they’re at following the draft as they get ready to finish their spring work and prepare for training camp in two months.
On the cover of “NFL Forecast” is none other than Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham with the tease title, “Cleveland’s all in after a wave of offseason moves.”
The feature article inside, on page 8, is entitled, “Optimism swirls around Browns.” Written by Jeff Risdon, it details all the players the Browns have added, and all they’ve sent packing. These are, as you well know, long lists in both regards.
Further inside, on page 19, is the team report on the Browns with these three subtitles:
*“Can Freddie Kitchens keep the boat sailing straight?”
*“Can a rookie kicker be consistent?”
*“Does Morgan Burnett have enough left in the tank?”
You would do well to get a copy of this at your neighborhood newsstand. It’ll make you feel even better.
WAIVE GOODBYE TO SCOTT’S BROWNS CAREER
I had running back L.J. Scott lasting all season and leaving a lasting impression.
I was only half-right.
Scott did indeed leave a lasting impression – having one of the shortest stays in Browns history after making one of the oddest and most head-scratching decisions that anyone can remember.
Scott, a former Hubbard (Ohio) High School and Michigan State star, decided to leave the Browns after just one day – one day!! – following his signing a rookie free-agent contract earlier this week.
He just quit, the Browns and football all in one fell swoop.
He’s over and out.
And perhaps only he knows why.
Oh, well.
It’s the craziness that an NFL team goes through at this time of the year. You can’t predict it or understand it. You just have to accept it and move on.
Buckle your seat belt. The Browns are relevant again – very much so – and as is the case with any emerging team, it’s going to be a roller-coaster ride. There are going to be a lot of highs, and a few lows, and plenty of things – like the brief stay of Scott – that just make you shake your head.
Whatever the case, the Browns continue to look for running backs because of the tenuousness of Duke Johnson Jr.’s situation with the fact he has his nose out of joint. When they waived Scott – after he waived them for goodness knows what reason – they signed someone named D’Ernest Johnson.
The situation with Johnson – Duke, that is – is something to really watch. The Browns keep telling him that he’s still in their plans, and he keeps doubting them because they signed Kareem Hunt. Does Johnson understand that Hunt is suspended for the first eight games of the year? Does he understand the Browns signed Hunt because, even with the fact he’s got some serious off-the-field issues, he’s an incredible talent?
The way General Manager John Dorsey looked at it, the Browns couldn’t afford to pass up Hunt. Johnson needs to clear the cobwebs from his head and look at the facts – to look at reality, which includes the real possibility that Hunt may mess up again and never see the field with the Browns.
Stay tuned.
HAVE YOU HEARD COLIN COWHERD?
I guess that sports talker Colin Cowherd is still on the air.
Hmmm.
I didn’t know that.
I love sports, and I like to listen to sports talk radio, and even sports talk on TV.
But I can’t remember the last time – if ever – I’ve listened to Cowherd. What station is he on, or stations?
And I don’t think I will listen, ever. I like good honest sports talk, or fun sports talk. What I don’t like are guys who always criticize people, especially the high-profile ones, because they know it will draw ratings. That’s a game – a ruse – and I don’t like ruses. As for games, they’re for on the field, not over the airwaves.
So, as I hear it and read it, Cowherd is going after Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. He’s insinuating – or, more specifically, outright saying – that Beckham is a drama queen.
Hmmm. Again.
Does Cowherd know what year it is?
It’s 2019, if I’m not mistaken, isn’t it?
It’s not 1954, 1965, 1977, 1982, 1993 or even 2007. Back in those years, when it was a different time in both society and sports, including the NFL, there weren’t really that many drama queens, even among the superstars. They mostly behaved themselves.
But that was then, and this is now. And now there are as many drama queens in all of pro sports as there are pimples on a pig’s backside. And there are a lot of pimples on a pig’s backside.
Indeed, even the guys who have no business being drama queens, are such. These guys – all of them, everybody on the roster – realize that that pro sports is entertainment and so they play up to the camera, the fans, the media, really, anyone who will listen or watch or pay attention, even sports talkers.
So for Colin Cowherd to make a big deal out of what Beckham is doing or not doing to suit his tastes, means he’s stuck in the past. Perhaps he would be interested in some of my eight-track tapes. I’ve got Sly and The Family Stone’s Greatest Hits.
This is all so tedious.
Next.
