It is times like this when I can’t get Joe Banner off my mind.
You remember Banner, don’t you?
Perhaps you remember him as “The Genius.”
Or “The Little General.”
Or “The Curmudgeon.”
Or some other nicknames that are not family-friendly.
Indeed, I’d like to get down on my knees, look the former – thank goodness – Browns president right in the eye and give him a piece of my mind. It’s always good to share with those who have none.
It was the offseason following the 2012 campaign and the Browns, for the fifth straight year, had posted a losing record, finishing 5-11. They had only two things going for them. Both were players, one of whom was named Joe Thomas, a left tackle who is going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, and Phil Dawson, the best kicker in Browns history – even better than the great Lou Groza, a Hall of Famer.
No matter what else got screwed up – and that was just about everything – you could count on Dawson and Thomas being at, or at least near, the top of the NFL at their respective positions.
Banner left Thomas alone, but he decided to put his grubby little fingers into the Dawson situation, allowing him to walk in free agency without so much as even talking to him, let alone offering him a contract.
It is 2016, and Thomas is still going strong, but the Browns have never found a competent replacement for Dawson. The kicking has been an absolute disaster since then. It has morphed into being just another big problem to solve.
It has come up to bite the Browns any number of times in the four years since, including Sunday, when Cody Parkey missed three field goals, including the potential game-winner from 46 yards as time expired in regulation, in an eventual 30-24 loss to the Miami Dolphins in overtime at Hard Rock Stadium.
Although that is obviously what lost the game for the Browns — you can’t afford to miss three field goals and expect to win — I’m not going to blame him. He did the best he could on short notice, not joining the team until Saturday.
Plus there were too many good things that happened to let any negative override them.
The Browns battled from behind to lead 13-10 at halftime. Then they battled from a 24-13 fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game at 24-24.
Rookie quarterback Cody Kessler played pretty well in his NFL debut.
Terrelle Pryor did everything but drive the bus to the stadium.
Isaiah Crowell ran effectively.
Playing extremely short-handed because of injuries, the defense was, in many ways, superb.
To be sure, head coach Hue Jackson squeezed everything out of his young team that there was to be squeezed out. In addition, he did a great job of putting together a Kessler-friendly offense and then preparing him to execute it.
The Browns just ran out of gas in the end. It was no more complicated than that.
As this young, inexperienced team matures, it will have enough to win these kind of games. But the Browns are not anywhere close to being there yet.
And then again, none of this would have happened if Phil Dawson were still with the Browns. He was always as good as gold in clutch situations during his 14 seasons with the club.
If Dawson were still here, then the Browns would be celebrating a much-needed victory, the kind that does more for the confidence of a growing team than you could ever imagine.
So, Joe “Punxsutawney Phil” Banner, thanks. Thanks very much for being such a poor team executive.
