Of injuries, incompetence and insults
By STEVE KING
Some thoughts on three topics:
*Now do you see why the Browns have Case Keenum as their backup quarterback to Baker Mayfield? He is an accomplished veteran who knows head coach Kevin Stefanski’s offense inside and out and could, if needed, step in and do a good job. He’s one of the top backup passers in the NFL. Conversely, the Indianapolis Colts are in deep trouble now with the news that quarterback Carson Wentz’s foot injury – suffered after just 1½ training camp practices — will cause him to miss about three months. They don’t have a Case Keenum. They don’t have anyone credible. And as such, their once lofty expectations for 2021 may be nothing more than a pipedream now.
*Also, I am torn by the announcement that former quarterback Bill Nelsen and former linebacker D’Qwell Jackson make up the 2021 Cleveland Browns Legends class. Though he doesn’t get mentioned much – if at all, really – in team history, Nelsen was a key player a little over 50 years ago. He was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1968 offseason as insurance for the great Frank Ryan, whose injuries were piling up and taking their toll. When Ryan – and the offense and the team overall – really struggled at the start of the 1968 season, head coach Blanton Collier made the tough, painful decision to bench the man who passed Browns to the 1964 NFL title and insert Nelsen. It worked out like a charm, as Nelsen jump-started the offense and team as the Browns made it to the NFL Championship Game – the doorstep of the Super Bowl — that year and again in 1969. So why am I torn? It concerns Jackson. He is one of my all-time favorite Browns. He was the consummate pro and one of the nicest, kindest players you’ll ever meet. However, while he was a good player, he was far from being a great one. To put him into the same sentence with Nelsen is a farce. It’s not fair to either player, or to the Legends and the process for induction. It’s the Browns’ way of ramrodding the expansion era down the fans’ throats. That’s really insulting. Here’s a news flash, Browns: the era has been overwhelmingly an unmitigated disaster. There have been only a handful of truly fine players during it, and Jackson isn’t one of them. So, stop it, Browns. Stop it right now. You are embarrassing yourselves.
*And finally, I am not impressed at all – and in fact I amazed and disappointed – that the Browns have brought in former Detroit Lions General Manager Bob Quinn as a senior voice in their personnel department. He made a real mess of the Lions in a lot of ways. It will take them a while up there to work their way out of all of that. So, then, with that, what can he possibly add to the Browns, other than to show Andrew Berry and his guys what NOT to do? And to boot, like many who come from the Bill Belichick tree, Quinn has no personality whatsoever and comes off as being sullen and mean. As such, the Browns can’t put him in front of a microphone or camera under any circumstances.
