Pointing the finger at the enemy and the latest from Baker Mayfield
By STEVE KING
When Browns safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. pushed Kansas City Chiefs running backs coach Greg Lewis and got ejected early in Cleveland’s 33-29 loss on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, it was just another in a long line of opposing NFL coaches and players getting into it with one another during games.
Browns fans will remember when punter Chris Gardocki made an obscene gesture toward Pittsburgh head coach — and recently recognized Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Cowher — after he was roughed up by two Steelers players during Cleveland’s 23-20 win in a game 21 years ago Friday, on Sept. 17, 2000, at what was then known as Cleveland Browns Stadium.
KC Postgame notes, reactions and much more
Gardocki had just been crunched — flattened on a block — by the Steelers’ talkative Joey Porter, who wasn’t the cleanest player who ever lived. Earlier in the game, Porter and Jason Gildon, also a linebacker, double-teamed Gardocki on a hard block.
Gardocki had had enough. So, he hustled over to a spot in front of Cowher as he stood on the Pittsburgh bench, squatted down and flipped him off with his middle finger. He felt Cowher, a former Browns linebacker and assistant coach in the 1980s, had ordered the rough play to injure him and take him out of the game.
Gardocki was one of the best punters in the league at the time, and without him, the Browns would have suffered greatly on field position without his punting and without him as a holder for Phil Dawson on field-goal tries.
There have been a lot of Browns fans over the years who would have given just about anything to flip off the head coach– any head coach — of the archrival Steelers.
Gardocki was fined $5,000 by the NFL for the gesture, but the way he looked at it, it was worth it.
“It’s unfortunate what I did afterward,” Gardocki said. “I apologize to the Cleveland fans and the ownership and organization.
“But I don’t take that back at all because my career is very important to me.”
Gardocki also scoffed at the Steelers’ notion that they needed to block him.
“They’re the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that shows what kind of character they’ve got,” he said.
As it turned out, Gardocki signed with the — gulp! — Steelers in free agency after the 2003 season, uniting him with Cowher and Porter. Gildon retired that offseason.
Wonder what Gardocki’s first meeting with Cowher and Porter was like?
The latest from Baker Mayfield:
On former Browns QB and current Texans QB Tyrod Taylor and what Taylor meant to him when entering the league:
“I think people took Tyrod for granted. He is an extremely good leader. His work ethic alone, his routine and being the same guy every day for every single person in the building, it is a tremendous way of showing his leadership. Obviously, he is a great athlete and great quarterback. Everything he taught me leading by example and doing different things, not that we lead the same way but there are always different ways to learn. I am very thankful to have stepped into a QB room with (free agent QB) Drew Stanton and Tyrod that I was able to learn from those guys. It is something I am obviously very grateful for.”
On attempting to throw it away under pressure instead of stepping up into the pocket on the interception in the fourth quarter:
“Hindsight is 20/20. I wanted to throw it out of bounds. You can say throw it away earlier, but then the coaching points of me trying to use my legs, scramble out and take advantage of some of the free yards, there is going to be some criticism either way regardless. Just try to find a way to not have a negative play.”
On if he was trying to throw the ball out of bounds on the interception late in the fourth quarter:
“Yes, I definitely was not trying to throw it straight to No. 21 (Chiefs CB Mike Hughes) – that is for damn sure. I was trying to throw it out of bounds. (Chiefs LB Daniel) Sorensen just got enough of me to keep it in bounds.”
On the Texans defense:
“A (assistant head coach/defensive coordinator) Lovie Smith defense. They are going to be fundamentally sound. They are going to get lined up and play hard. They are going to be about the ball and trying to get takeaways. We have to be sound in doing our job, lining up and seeing what they are in and just playing hard and executing our job.”
On what the Browns offense can build on from Week 1:
“I think we started fast. That was a big emphasis for us. Now, we just need to obviously finish. It just comes down to us doing our job. All of the little things matter. The illegal shift penalty and staying ahead of the chains, all of those little things matter, especially when you are on the road against a great team like Kansas City. We played a good game against a great team. On the road, we have to play a great game against a great team. It is a good lesson for us as long as we learn from it. As long we handle it, it will be a blessing in disguise that it happened in Week 1 rather than later on down the road.”
On if his mindset changes or sharpens in the fourth quarter and late in drives:
“Yes and no. There are different ways that the ebbs and flows of the game are going. I would say offensively, we were able to move the ball extremely well. We were very efficient. Just trying to stay on track with what we were doing is the main focal point when it comes to games like that. There are different instances where we need to take a shot here, but just about a minute left and a timeout, just getting the chunk play, which we did on the screen play, getting gown where we need one more chunk play and take care of the ball on first down. It is different on every game, but especially in a game like that, it is just about doing our job and staying on track.”
On if he is harder on himself if he makes a mistake in the fourth quarter versus any other time in the game:
“Yeah, it is a critical situation. Those are the moments when you look back and everybody is going to remember that play. That can be the difference. Those moments no matter what happens previously in the game, you can throw all of that out the window as long as you have a chance and whoever has the ball last, if you can make a play, those are the ones that really matter.”
On his message to the team after last week’s loss:
“There is a fine line of beating yourself up after it and then realizing there are 16 more. I think we should beat ourselves up about it because we feel like we should have won that game, but there are 16 more. It is the mentality of ‘Hey, we have to go out next week and go do our jobs, but this one should sting and we need to learn from it because we had that game and need to close it out.’ There is a fine line of walking that. That was my message to them of we are going to be really good if we just do our job and continue to be efficient in moving the chains and help out our defense by staying on the field, but this one needs to sting and you need to remember that and that all of the little things matter. That is how we should approach the week of practice.”
On excitement to play in front of a full FirstEnergy Stadium:
“I am very much looking forward to it. Considering the past two years and all of the excitement that has been building and all the hype here, to be able to get in front of a full crowd in our home stadium, I am looking forward to it. Hopefully, that place is rocking.”
On being really good in the fourth quarter at times and struggling at times and if it is a goal to be more consistent in the final 15 minutes:
“Like I said, those fourth quarter plays are the ones that truly can change momentum, especially when you are on the road and the crowd is getting into it in Kansas City. You have to make the little plays in the fourth quarter just to keep your offense o the field. Yeah, I am going to be critical of my game regardless. There will always be games good or bad that I will want plays back. You want to make all of those plays in the fourth quarter.”
On the performance and speed of Browns WR Anthony Schwartz last week:
“Obviously, you guys saw it firsthand. His speed on that long ball that he caught and able to stretch the field, especially for a rookie stepping into that environment like that for his first professional game, not exactly the typical road game and such a hostile crowd. I am proud of how he did, and I know he is going to want to continue to improve and get back out there.”
On WR Jarvis Landry’s physical shape being showcased last Sunday:
“Jarvis looks extremely well right now. He is moving around great. Mentally, he is such a leader for us – the team as a whole, not just the offense. The way he carries himself, plays and that physical presence, he is a physical guy. He is not the biggest guy, but he lays his body on the line. He has done a great job of putting himself in a position to have a great year.”
On Landry’s 5-yard TD run after spinning and alluding defenders:
“That is a grown-man run. That is just determination and wanting it more than the other guys. You can tell. That fires guys up. That is what I told him is when he plays like that, it elevates everybody around us.”
On Head Coach Kevin Stefanski going for it in fourth down situations and the confidence it gives the offense:
“First, I would say we need to do better on third down. We were not great on third down, but if you add in our fourth down conversions from Sunday, we were better – about 45 precent. We need to do better on third down, but then on fourth down, his belief in us permeates through the team of he trusts us to do our job. When you are in a good headspace to go execute in a critical down, good things happen.”
On how TE David Njoku’s ability to make plays down the field impacts the offense:
“He is a guy who creates mismatch problems. The fact that he is such a big guy and can run like he does, they have to decide whether they are going to put a big guy on him to try and bring a physical presence or bring a speed guy. It is a difference-maker for us. It is also one of those things for us to key in on and how teams try to defend us. We have to realize that David is one of those special guys who we can get a lot of tips off of.”
On how Njoku has become more consistent throughout his career:
“I just think he is so locked in on the gameplan and trying to execute exactly what his job is each and every play. I think the steps he is taken in the run game have been huge for him and obviously for us in the run game, as well. That separates him because then guys are trying to put linebackers and safeties down in the box with him, and he is able to run by them in the pass game.”
On his mentality to run downfield and block on Schwartz’ play:
“Just doing anything we can to win. That has always been my mentality. If I can help the team win in any way, I am going to do it, no matter if it is an unorthodox play of a quarterback making a block. That is just the nature of this game, and I am going to do whatever is required.”
On if he was meant to be the trailer in the pass play down the field at the end of the first half:
“I was not supposed to be there, but I did have a little fun doing it. It was a good time.”
On if being downfield blocking makes Stefanski nervous:
“You have to ask him (laughter).”
On a potential option pitch in the distance during the last play of the first half:
“I thought it was great, a four-by-four spread. Jarvis did not exactly know that I was going to be there either, but it looked natural.”
On deciding to address the team at that moment following the Week 1 loss:
“Definitely, all of the time that you put in during the offseason and the extra week of preparation against that Week 1 opponent, both messages were kind of going around the locker room – guys had their heads down and you want to tell them to pick their heads up, but also guys were saying we have 16 more. That is why I said it is a fine line walking of be critical of yourself – you absolutely should be – and I will be damned if we are not because we expect to go in there and win. There are also more opportunities so you have to roll with the punches. You face adversity. How do you handle it? How do you handle it the next week? How do you approach the week of practice and how do you know to show up next week?”
On the parole board suggesting to commute Julius Jones’ death sentence:
“That is extremely great news in the state of Oklahoma having that clemency granted to not be on a death sentence. It is unbelievable. Hopefully, we will continue to push forward, spread the message and spread the facts about the truth. Hopefully, he will be on parole and the case will be solved soon.”
On if he and his wife have a wager on this weekend’s Oklahoma-Nebraska game:
“That is a lose-lose for her (laughter).”
| Key dates ahead Sunday: Week 2 vs. Houston, 1 p.m.Sept. 26: Week 3 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.Oct. 3: Week 4 at Minnesota, 1 p.m.Oct. 10: Week 5 at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05 p.m.Nov. 2: NFL trade deadline, 4 p.m. |
