No love for the Browns already

By Sean McClelland | Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 06:37 PM

Super Bowl odds are out and this (from Bovada) isn’t so encouraging if you’re a Browns fan. Hint: Look toward the bottom.

Green Bay Packers … 6/1

New England Patriots … 7/1

New Orleans Saints … 8/1

Philadelphia Eagles … 12/1

Pittsburgh Steelers … 12/1

Houston Texans … 12/1

Baltimore Ravens … 14/1

New York Giants … 15/1

San Diego Chargers … 16/1

New York Jets … 16/1

San Francisco 49ers … 18/1

Dallas Cowboys … 18/1

Detroit Lions … 18/1

Atlanta Falcons … 22/1

Chicago Bears … 30/1

Arizona Cardinals … 30/1

Miami Dolphins … 35/1

Cincinnati Bengals … 40/1

Tennessee Titans … 40/1

Indianapolis Colts … 50/1

Oakland Raiders … 50/1

Carolina Panthers … 50/1

Denver Broncos … 50/1

Kansas City Chiefs … 50/1

Seattle Seahawks … 60/1

Buffalo Bills … 60/1

Washington Redskins … 60/1

Minnesota Vikings … 75/1

St. Louis Rams … 75/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers … 75/1

Cleveland Browns … 100/1

Jacksonville Jaguars … 100/1

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Childress named offensive coordinator

By Sean McClelland | Friday, January 27, 2012, 04:08 PM

Brad Childress is their new offensive coordinator, the Browns just announced.

Here’s the rest of the press release:

Childress brings 33 years of coaching experience on both the collegiate and professional levels to the Browns, including 13 in the NFL. Most recently, he spent five seasons (2006-10) as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

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Another ex-Brown makes good

By Sean McClelland | Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 05:48 PM

Highlights tend to happen for players, coaches and even franchises when they leave Cleveland.

Running back Greg Pruitt went to the Super Bowl with the Raiders, receiver Paul Warfield with the Dolphins, center Shaun O’Hara with the Giants, defensive tackle Israel Idonije with the Bears, defensive end Nick Eason with the Steelers. All played for the Browns.

Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians went to the Super Bowl with the Steelers after parting ways with Cleveland. Former Browns head coach Forrest Gregg was fired, then took the Bengals to the Super Bowl as their head coach. And, of course, Bill Belichick, who coached the Browns in the early 1990s, is back in the Super Bowl looking for his fourth ring since leaving town.

The Browns, one of four teams never to appear in a Super Bowl (Detroit, Jacksonville, Houston), became the Baltimore Ravens in 1996 and magically went to the Super Bowl and won it a few years later.

And now defensive tackle Gerard Warren is going to the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, who face the New York Giants on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis.

Good for him.

“Big Money,” as he was called when the Browns drafted him third overall in 2001 (immediately ahead of future hall-of-famer LaDainian Tomlinson and possible future hall-of-famer Richard Seymour, not to mention Justin Smith), was always entertaining, especially when he talked about his drinking and womanizing. It’s kind of shocking, given his partying image early in his career, that he’s lasted in the league this long, but this is his 11th season.

My favorite “Money” moment was when he turned out the lights in the locker room while safety Earl Little verbally throttled a Cleveland gossip columnist for writing something he found objectionable.

Warren’s been a decent pro, but certainly far from the impact player the Browns thought they were drafting.

I remember that draft well, especially how then-Browns coach Butch Davis extolled the virtues of Warren, a player he had liked for years, dating to his days as head coach at the University of Miami, where he tried and failed to recruit him.

Finally, Warren couldn’t say no to Butch, or so went the draft-day narrative.

For as high as he went in the draft, Warren should have had an Ndamukong Sue impact. Instead, he became more of a workmanlike journeyman, and Browns history relegates him to bust status, following in the footsteps of No. 1 overall picks Tim Couch (1999) and Courtney Brown (2000).

And there was, of course, that high-profile incident when Warren was arrested for having a gun in his car while attending a party hosted by Plaxico Burress, then of the Steelers. Burress, of course, later would shoot himself in the leg after bringing a gun to a New York nightclub and spend about two years in prison. Of course they were friends.

But now, after all that, after bouncing from the Browns to the Broncos to the Raiders to the Patriots, Warren has an excellent shot at a Super Bowl ring.

The lesson here? It pays to hang around the league as long as possible. And, yes, it pays to get away from the Browns if you want to get to a Super Bowl.

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Lerner wearing out his welcome across the pond?

By Sean McClelland | Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 04:02 PM

Several years ago I remember getting a call from a British radio station as Browns owner Randy Lerner was contemplating buying Aston Villa, a soccer team over there.

They wanted to know from someone who had covered the American football team Lerner owns what kind of person they were getting mixed up with.

They were skeptical because they noticed the Browns often were at the bottom of their division.

I told them I thought the Browns were headed in the right direction, finally, and that Lerner had grown into his role as owner after inheriting the team from his father, Al Lerner, the man who inexplicably was awarded the new Cleveland expansion franchise despite helping the previous owner, his buddy Art Modell, move the original Browns to Baltimore.

Well, Lerner did buy that soccer team and now the Villa fan base is getting restless, perhaps discovering what Browns fans have known for a while now — that any sports team he touches turns to something less than gold.

The promised turnaround has not taken place and speculation across the pond is that Lerner intends to sell Villa, citing his divorce and four children as reasons he can’t devote enough time to the venture.

At the time Lerner’s interest in the soccer team came to light, I wrote that he should get the Browns going in the right direction before taking on Villa, and I actually thought he had done this by hiring Phil Savage to map out the personnel moves.

And I still think Savage could have gotten the job done eventually.

But that 2007 season was just a mirage and soon more changes were being made. You could argue Mike Holmgren has given the team some direction, but it’s been two years now and they’re coming off a four-win season, so Browns fans are right to wonder what’s going on, as are Villa fans.

So I guess I should apologize to that radio station for misleading listeners into thinking Lerner was on his way to becoming the kind of owner who could see to the building of a winner — in any sport.

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Ex-Browns coaches making news

By Sean McClelland | Monday, January 9, 2012, 12:21 PM

The Kansas City Chiefs announced they are removing the interim tag from former Browns head coach Rome Crennel, giving him a three-year contract as successor to the fired Todd Haley.

Crennel was 24-40 with the Browns from 2005 through 2008, posting one winning season in 2007 but somehow missing the playoffs despite going 10-6 and causing some unexpected excitement.

The Chiefs went 2-1 after Crennel was promoted from defensive coordinator, beating the Packers and Broncos while losing to the Raiders.

I fully expect Crennel to lead his team to the Super Bowl, following in the tradition of Forrest Gregg and Bill Belichick, other former Browns coaches who have done the same.

It’s a good deal for the media in Kansas City as Crennel was quite accommodating during his Cleveland years even under the most trying of circumstances, such as when his handpicked offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon was a dismal failure or when he was expected to win with the likes of Charlie Frye and Trent Dilfer at quarterback.

Also, it has come to light that 68-year-old Marty Schottenheimer, who guided the Browns to relative glory in the mid-to-late 1980s, will interview for the vacant Tampa Bay job on Tuesday. Just can’t get it out of his blood, I guess.

If he gets the job, Jets fans will be rooting for him to name his son, Brian, offensive coordinator, assistant head coach or anything that gets him out of New York. Surely Marty’s brother,62-year-old Kurt Schottenheimer, would be a candidate to sign on as defensive coordinator.

And speaking of ex-Browns coaches doing well, the Saints’ offensive coordinator is Pete Carmichael Jr., who spent a season on Chris Palmer’s staff in 2000.

And, of course, you can’t turn ESPN on these days without seeing Eric Mangini offering opinion or analysis. Who knew he could talk this well?

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‘Red Right 88’ anniversary is today

By Sean McClelland | Wednesday, January 4, 2012, 05:01 PM

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the game that came to be known as “Red Right 88,” the playoff game against the Oakland Raiders that the Browns lost because they had no confidence in injured placekicker Don Cockroft and Brian Sipe tried to be a hero with an ill-advised pass in the end zone to Ozzie Newsome that was intercepted by Mike Davis.

The play, called “Red Right 88” in its shortened version, is on YouTube in case anyone wants to relive the agony or experience it for the first time. The wind-chill factor is what I’ll remember most. It was 36 below, not quite as bad as the “Freezer Bowl” that the Bengals and Chargers would play a year later in Cincinnati, but don’t tell that to my extremities.

That was a fun year to be a Browns fan, relatively speaking. Lots of heart-stopping finishes leading to the team’s first playoff appearance since 1972.

Seven seasons was considered an unconscionable postseason drought for an organization that had been a perennial contender from its earliest days into the NFL right up until losing in the playoffs to the ‘72 Miami Dolphins, who went on to win the Super Bowl and finish 17-0.

Fast-forwarding to the present, it’s now been nine years since the Browns last made the playoffs and 17 years since they last advanced in the postseason (under Bill Belichick, by the way).

Throw in three years when the team simply didn’t exist and it doesn’t get much sadder for a franchise in a league that goes out of its way to promote parity.

Fear not, though. Pat Schurmur tells us better times are ahead. But it’s the third year of the Mike Holmgren-as-president era and the Browns still can’t tell you who their quarterback will be next season.

All we have to look forward to, it seems, is the Brad Childress press conference announcing the former Minnesota Vikings head coach as offensive coo——-.

Oh, sorry, I was yawning.

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LB Jackson named Player of the Year

By Sean McClelland | Friday, December 30, 2011, 05:38 PM

The Cleveland chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America has voted middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson its PFWA Player of the Year.

Safety Mike Adams was named the PFWA Dino Lucarelli “Good Guy Award” winner, which means he was probably one of the anonymous veterans whose comments appeared during the Peyton Hillis “intervention” mess.

Both awards make sense.

Jackson has started every game this season, totaling 145 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, one interception and one forced fumble. His 145 tackles are the second-most in the NFL this season and his three fumble recoveries are tied for second.

According to the press release issued by the Browns, the “Good Guy Award” goes to a player for his “cooperation with the media and for the way the player carries himself in the community and with his teammates.”

Adams has a foundation called “Rising Stars” dedicated to improving the conditions of families in low-income areas. He has started every game and recorded 55 tackles, a team-leading three interceptions and one fumble recovery.

In addition, whenever you read the phrase “one veteran said” in a Browns story, it’s never a reach to think it’s probably Mike.

Recent PFWA Players of the Year:

2001: LB Jamir Miller

2002: RB William Green

2003: LB Andra Davis

2004: SS Robert Griffith

2005: RB Reuben Droughns

2006: LB Kamerion Wimbley

2007: QB Derek Anderson

2008: DL Shaun Rogers

2009: KR Joshua Cribbs

2010: RB Peyton Hillis

2011: LB D’Qwell Jackson

“Good Guy Award” Winners:

2001: QB Tim Couch

2002: DB Corey Fuller

2003: OL Shaun O’Hara

2004: DB Daylon McCutcheon

2005: OL Jeff Faine

2006: DB Brian Russell

2007: K Phil Dawson

2008: DB Brandon McDonald

2009: LB David Bowens

2010: OL Joe Thomas

2011: DB Mike Adams

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