Stunning

REALLY, REALLY COOL, BUT COMPLETELY STUNNING

By STEVE KING

How did all this happen with the Browns, especially in such a short period of time?

For that matter, has it really, truly happened, in any period of time?

I guess it has, for I see evidence of it at every turn.

You go on the internet and see something about Freddie Kitchens.

You go to another site and read something about Odell Beckham Jr.

You turn on the TV and watch something about Baker Mayfield.

You turn the channel – OK, remotes are used now, so you click the remote — and see something about Jarvis Landry.

You pick up a newspaper – Google it, millennials, to find out what that is – or a magazine and there’s a piece about Myles Garrett, or Denzel Ward, Nordonia High School’s own, or Nick Chubb.

Indeed, in just about each and every story, or program, or soundbite, or whatever, John Dorsey is mentioned.

And that’s just the public stuff. When it comes to the people on the street – the real public – the conversation is all about the Browns.

It is very early April, a full five months – almost a half-year – before the regular season begins, and for months already and surely continuing infinitum, the Browns have been the top story not just in the NFL, but in all of sports, pro and college, and not just in Cleveland, not just in Northeast Ohio, not just in all of Ohio, but throughout the whole country.

Stunning.

Truly stunning.

Really.

A year ago at this time, when the Browns were coming off an 0-16 season and a two-year record of 1-31; when Hue Jackson, who presided over those two gems, still somehow had his head-coaching job; when Mayfield was still just an NFL Draft prospect; when Beckham Jr. was still playing for the New York Giants; and when Kitchens was still in his first few months on the job as an unknown assistant, so much of a faceless, nameless football person that not a single Browns fan could have picked him out of a lineup, who could have seen all this coming, all this happening?

No one, absolutely no one, not even the most hopeful of Browns fans.

But it has happened, and it’s really, really cool, wouldn’t you agree?

Yeah, I thought you would.

THE FORMERLY LAST SHALL BE THIRD

The Browns haven’t been No. 1 in anything – anything good, that is – for a long, long, LONG time.

You have to go back to 1989 – 30 years ago, for crying out loud – to find it, as the Browns won their fourth AFC Central Division championship in five years dating back to 1985, made it to the playoffs for the fifth straight season and advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the third time in four years.

Bernie Kosar was the quarterback, throwing to people like Webster Slaughter, Reggie Langhorne, Brian Brennan and some guy named Ozzie Newsome.

Kevin Mack missed most of the season with substance abuse problems but came up big in the final – division title-clinching – game against the Houston Oilers, the forerunner of today’s Tennessee Titans.

The Corner Brothers, Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield, were in their last season together as the top two cornerbacks in the NFL.

Clay Matthews was still working his way to the cusp of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 Art Modell – yeah, that guy – was the owner.

And the head coach was Bud Carson, the man, who, though very kind, never really forgot he had coached with the arch rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

So, then, the Browns want to be No. 1 once again in their division, now the AFC North. But that won’t be decided for quite a while, In the meantime, they’ll gladly take a third place – not in the division or even the conference, but rather the entire NFL.

Conor Orr of sportsillustrated.com wrote a piece the other day entitled, “The Super Bowl Jump: Which 2018 Non-Playoff Teams Could Contend.” In it, he ranked the Browns third, behind the No. 1 Green Bay Packers and the Steelers. He ranked five teams in all. After the Browns came, in order, the Oakland Raiders and then the New York Jets.

Orr began the story with a heavy Cleveland flavor.

“The Browns’ celebratory display of talent on Monday cemented a strange kind of hype in Cleveland. Not just the, ‘Oh, maybe this general manager won’t burn the building to the ground’ kind of hype, but the, ‘Holy crap, we’re good enough to win the division’ kind.

“This is a fan base that should treat these rapid vacillations with caution. And often does. Never has a group of people perfected the ability to love something completely, but also with the necessary reticence.

“Working for that fan base, though, is the fact that often, the other Super Bowl team that isn’t the Patriots is one year removed from the same kind of adrift existence that Cleveland was two years ago. The Rams had swallowed themselves whole under Jeff Fisher, becoming a picture of irrelevance, before their rebound under Sean McVay. The Eagles were 7-9 in each of the two years before they won the Super Bowl. The Falcons were 4-12, 6-10 and 8-8 in their three seasons preceding their Super Bowl trip.

Here’s what Orr said about the Browns:   “Baker Mayfield is the real deal. And while most all-star receiving corps are not worth their financial heft, Odell Beckham ad Jarvis Landry could be something spectacular together. The offensive line will need to come together, as will a brand-name coaching staff with a mix of risers and former head coaches. This is a lot on a first-time head coach (in Freddie Kitchens).”

Enjoy this stunning article? Check out our previous post here