Tony Grossi suspended

Tony Grossi suspended(Photos by The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com)

Posted By: County Sports Network February 26, 2020

TONY GROSSI SUSPENDED – JUST A VERY UNFORTUNATE SITUATION

By STEVE KING

We bill Browns Daily Dose as a website where you will see stories that will appear nowhere else.

Sometimes that promise becomes more noteworthy than at other times, and such is the case with this post.

The news is swirling in Cleveland media circles of the immediate and indefinite suspension by WKNR-AM and ESPN Cleveland of its longtime Browns beat reporter, Tony Grossi, for a remark he made into a live microphone about Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield on Tuesday while covering the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

But only here will you see any opinion/analysis of the situation and not just another Tony Grossi suspended tweet or post.

Grossi, who previously worked at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has covered the Browns for 35 years. He often offers a unique perspective and sometimes even with unique stories, on the team. He knows the Browns – and the NFL – inside and out.

A Cleveland area native and proud of it, he is a good man – a really, really good man. After having sat directly in front of him in the Dino Lucarelli Media Room at Browns Headquarters in Berea for a long time, I can say that without hesitation. I can also say without equivocation that I like Tony a lot – a whole lot — and consider him a friend. I would do anything for him.

But sometimes, he goes completely out of character and says things that are just plain wrong, mean-spirited and/or hurtful, and I don’t know why. Like another longtime Browns beat writer described it to me on Tuesday, “Tony is loose with his words.”

That’s true, and it’s also unfortunate, and that’s especially so – for everybody concerned — in this instance. Actually, it’s more than that this time, really. It’s egregious. It truly is. For whatever reason, Tony violated all kinds of professional, moralistic and possibly even legal standards, and it makes me sad because that’s not who he is.

However, when you say it – and keep saying things like it over the years – it becomes who you are in some people’s eyes.

The whole thing just sickens me. I pray for Tony Grossi and all those involved, and affected by, Tuesday’s situation.

Before the Tony Grossi suspended article:

   

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
SHARE TWEET PIN SHARE