By STEVE KING
Ever watch one of those suspense-filled movies, or TV programs, in which people are stranded in some remote place and must find their way back to civilization?
Of course you have.
The group is making progress until someone stumbles and falls, breaking his leg, It would be impossible for the rest of the party to carry him with them, so they put him into a safe place and tell him to wait there until they can find help and return to rescue him.
It seems like such a crass, inhumane thing to do, but it’s the only real choice. Everybody understands, especially the injured man. The safety and well-being of the rest of the party can’t be compromised for that of just one person.
And so it is in sports, particularly the NFL, where severe injuries are, unfortunately so, extremely common. Players know that when they join the league.
That’s where the Browns — and Odell Beckham Jr. — find themselves now after the team’s No. 1 wide receiver was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered early in the 37-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
The Browns — his teammates and the coaches — will certainly miss Beckham for both his play and his tough, refuse-to-lose attitude. He is the most high-profile Brown and a team leader.
The Browns, knowing that he had likely suffered a season-ending knee injury, spent Sunday night following the game commiserating and then again Monday morning when the MRI substantiated their fears. They’ll circle back to get Beckham so he can become part of the team again sometime next year when he recovers, but right now, the rest of the club has to move on and begin getting ready for Sunday’s visit by the Las Vegas Raiders to FirstEnergy Stadium as the Browns continue along this special journey that just may land them in the AFC playoffs for the first time in 18 years.