If you’ve listened recently to “Cleveland Browns Daily,” then you’re shocked.
Airing from 1-3 p.m. every Monday through Friday on Cleveland’s WKNR (850 AM), one of the Browns’ flagship stations, it has usually been like any other team-produced radio show in that everything is made to look rosy, despite how bad it really is.
Think the late, great fake Tariq Aziz, the former high-ranking aide and spokesman under Iraqi President Saddam Hussein who never met a half-truth he didn’t like, and you have the idea of what “Cleveland Browns Daily” is.
Or at least was.
Lead host Nathan Zagura, along with his cohort, ex-Ohio State linebacker and Elyria Catholic High School product Matt Wilhelm, had done their best all year to smooth over a horrible season. No one can blame them for that. It’s what they were being paid to do.
And you always do what your bosses tell you. It’s a good way to stay employed.
Keep that in mind for a moment.
Now, though, Zagura and Wilhelm are being extremely critical of Browns General Manager Ray Farmer, head coach Mike Pettine, offensive coordinator John DiFilippo, defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil and their decisions and schemes.
It’s hard at times to differentiate between their analysis and that of media members, all of whom have been … well, extremely critical for some time now.
Members of the media are just trying to be honest and objective. No can blame them for that. It’s what they’re being paid to do.
And you always do what your bosses tell you. It’s a good way to stay employed.
But what about Zagura and Wilhelm, who are being paid by the team to do a show inside of Browns Headquarters, just down the hall from the offices of Farmer, Pettine, DeFlippo, O’Neil and others. It’s hard to believe that Zagura and Wilhelm are lashing out at the people they were formerly charged with protecting. It’s like a civil war of sorts inside that building.
Why, though, is this happening?
Because their bosses, namely team owner Jimmy Haslam and President Alec Scheiner, have obviously told Zagura and Wilhelm to do so. And by doing that, they’ve said, in essence, that they don’t care anymore about propping up Farmer, Pettine and all of their subordinates. Why should they? Those guys will be summarily fired at the end of the season, if not before, possibly as early as next week when the Browns have their bye week, so there’s no need to stand behind them.
Along with that, the Browns are smartly trying to get ahead of the curve, or at least stay up with it, by aligning themselves with the vast majority of their fans who are fed up with the losing, and with the jobs being done by Farmer, Pettine and all the scouts and coaches, and want to see major changes.
By staying with Farmer, Pettine and the rest, the Browns would, in effect, be condoning the performances of people responsible for a team that has lost four in a row and is 2-7 as it heads to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers on Sunday. That would be a public relations disaster, and the last thing this team needs is another public relations disaster.
Et tu, Brute?
Yup.
At least it makes for interesting listening, something that previously happened only when Browns radio play-by-play announcer Jim Donovan served as guest host.
