BLIND OPTIMISM, 2010: BROWNS 27, PACKERS 24

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

“Good God! Is that…is that football being played by a team in shiny orange helmets?”

This is the thought that kept swirling in my head as I watched the replay of the Browns-Packers game, the first of the preseason. And I’ve come to the conclusion that yes, in fact, that was football on display by the Cleveland Browns Football Club at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Saturday night.

Let’s get this out of the way first: In a real game, the Green Bay Packers very likely hand it to the Browns on every level. Aaron Rodgers’ 12-13 statline tells us there is a long way to go in the still-under-reconstruction secondary, and the first unit generated almost nothing in the way of a pass rush, a somewhat alarming development. While most teams stay fairly vanilla in the preseason, Rob Ryan had the Browns blitzing constantly, so we’re left wondering why they were unable to get after Rodgers at all. We did learn that I was 100% correct about TJ Ward’s penchant for bringing hat.

Jake Delhomme, puttin' his mind to it.

Jake Delhomme might not be a Pro-Bowler, but at least he’s a pro. He got through reads and got the ball downfield with efficiency and accuracy, which is all you have to do if your team can already run the ball. And the Browns can. The first team offensive line was dominant, with Joe Thomas and Alex Mack handling business as usual. Delhomme’s uniform remained sparkly white.

It’s hard to get too excited about first week preseason wins in which a lot of snaps were played by guys who might be driving for Brown instead of playing for the Browns in a few weeks. And it’s impossible to really know what we got from the defense. But I saw enough to reaffirm my belief that the Manguin has this ship headed away from the storm that has been the last decade of Browns football, and that the Browns will be competitive in 2010. I’ll say it again- I see an 8-win team here.

The second of Phil Dawson’s late field goals passed through the uprights. “I’ll take it,” I thought to myself. “I’ll take it.”

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FOOTBALL ROAD TRIPS

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

EPISODE 1: CLEVELAND ROCKS

One of my favorite pigskin traditions is the tailgate party. Big groups of revelers from all walks of life, some decorated, some more understated, all equally excited for the day’s festivities. It’s a lot like you get before a big concert. That’s not just grilled sausage and tap foam in the air. It’s anticipation. Those good times are only enhanced when you’re in a new environment that jives with your personal football DNA.  I love to travel, and I love football. I’ll build road trips around a football game because it is a great way to get to feel for a place in a relatively short period of time.  Some of these trips become epic, lifelong memory-makers.

December, 2005. My buddy Tim and I had been talking about this since we were 14 years old. Friends since the third grade, only as freshmen in high school did we discover that we were both Browns fans (a fairly unusual find among Huntington Beach, California youngsters in the 80’s). Now, some 15 years later, we were finally going to make it to Cleveland for a game. We made a joint decision to go to a game in December in the hopes of the worst weather possible (seriously).  Aside from that, Tim left the gameday logistics to me, which anyone who knows me can tell you is a decision of questionable merit. Nevertheless, this time it worked out pretty well. I scored seats in the front row of the Dawg Pound, and the weather report in Cleveland was threatening to cooperate with a phenomenal blizzard. The picture we’d been painting for a decade and a half was materializing before our very eyes. As we drove to the airport, we were bro-hamming like Pistol and Jobin.

In retrospect, it is clear that we had forgotten a critical fact: we are Browns fans, and as such, bad things were sure to happen (even the most blindly optimistic among us have to acknowledge that a certain pattern has emerged here). Somehow, though, it didn’t matter to us that our red eye flight from LA to Cleveland left us both exhausted and wondering whether perhaps we had unknowingly crossed the “too old for this stuff” median somewhere over Nebraska. It didn’t matter that we enjoyed so much Cleveland night life that Friday evening that our planned day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was cut down to a little more than one head-pounding, exit-eyeing hour. It didn’t matter that my alma mater, UCLA, got utterly demolished by Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and the Trojans that day as Tim and I watched from the Winking Lizard in downtown Cleveland. (*OK. It might have mattered to Tim a little. He’s an SC guy.)

All these things should prepared us for the result of that Sunday’s events. But gameday began in such promising fashion that the trip remains a total positive. We had breakfast way too early, found somewhere to get a pre-game 12 pack, and headed toward the stadium. Now, when I say headed, I mean it. We had to lean forward at near-horizontal angles just to keep from blowing away in the gale force winds. We both had numerous icy ground close calls- as we trekked toward the stadium we wondered whether ice skates might not be more effective. In short, despite our best intentions, we were ill-prepared. It was so cold and snowy that Tim and I were both forced to buy new gear from the vendors near the stadium that morning.

We wandered the parking lot outside the stadium, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. People tossing footballs around in a blizzard, cooking fantastic pre-game meals, shotgunning PBR’s in big circles…America. We notice some funny trends, like the fact that Anti-Steeler gear was prominent even though the Jags were in town, or that people in the Midwest apparently really like that bean bag game I can’t call by it’s real name for fear of ending up in the wrong set of google search results. But some things are the same everywhere; everybody is having a good time.

Tim had a little less travel experience than I did, and wondered aloud what we were going to do for the next few hours since we didn’t know anybody or have a car from which to operate a home base of any kind. Looking at him with my “obviously, you’ve never slept on a bench in Italy” smirk, I walked over to one group and simply mentioned we were Browns fans in from out of town wondering what we ought to do after the game. Within seconds, we both had cold beers and fresh eats in our hands, and a place to hang until kickoff. Cleveland Browns fans are die-hard, and your credentials are instantly bolstered when you explain that you chose Cleveland in December for the climate. Instant pals are some of the best things about football. Sometimes they become actual friends, and sometimes they are destined to remain just “that dude with the sweet Clay Matthews jersey/snowsuit,” but all are integral to the fan experience.

Big ups to these guys, who helped make Tim my first trip to Cleveland a success.

Oh, right!! The game. I almost forgot. It was limb-numbingly cold all day long. We were seated next to the Frye Guys, before they became a network pre-game clip constant. At one point, we made the big screen (and a night later, Tim was in the Monday Night Football halftime montage, which is infinitely cooler than being on the big screen).  The game was largely devoid of excitement aside from the high of Braylon Edwards scoring 2 impressive touchdowns, arriving with every ounce of promise we believed he had, and the low of it all ending just as quickly as it had begun, with Edwards laying in a heap along the sideline clutching his knee. The Browns pulled close, but David Garrard’s legs saved the Jags from the embarrassment of a late season loss in Cleveland.  Final score: Jags 20, Browns 14.

If you’re really interested, the recap is HERE. But really, I’ll tell these stories occasionally because it helps me dispute, in a roundabout, totally self-aggrandizing, unnecessarily verbose manner, the assertion that football is just a game about which we should not care as much as we do. On the contrary. Football is for those who love life, and also a means to the expression of that love. Happy Football Day, everybody.

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BLIND OPTIMISM 2010 (AND BEYOND): LEBRON’S NEW SCHOOL TREASON IS GOOD FOR THE BROWNS

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

To my fellow Cleveland Browns fans who also love the Cavs and loved Lebron: I am

Now is the time to rekindle your love affair with the Cleveland Browns.

sincerely sorry for your loss. As most of you know by now, I am a sports mutt.  One fortunate (for me, anyway) side effect of my having been born and raised in Southern California (aside from the spectacular weather) is that I have not shared your Indians-and-Cavs-related pain as I have that caused by our Browns.  I managed to get sucked in only to the Cleveland football morasse, not its entire sports suffering.  The mediocre Angels teams of my childhood and adolescence have grown up into the perennial bullies in the American League West, having won five of the last 6 division titles and forever quenched my baseball thirst with a World Series championship. Aside from a brief hiccup in the 90′s brought about by Magic’s early retirement, my Lakers have rarely offered anything but dominance.  Kobe flirted in free agency but we never saw him really think twice about anybody else.  So, I can’t entirely relate to what you’re going through today.

As an outside (for our purposes here) observer who has spent a some time in and around your town and enjoys it, allow me to offer a Brown-and-Orange-hued silver lining to help you recover from your involuntary Lebronectomy:

You’re a football town.  Always have been, always will be. And I love you for it.

Buck up, my fellow Dawgs.  For it is once again football season in Cleveland.  And this time, your reasons for optimism are actually many.  I’ve been detailing some of them in this space and will continue to do so, but the key takeaway is this: I’m no longer just knowingly blowing smoke.  There was something to this team at the end of ’09.  Remember it.  Believe it.  Cling to it.  Because it is real.

Look, I actually think the Cavs will be fine.  Byron Scott is a damn good coach and he’ll keep that team winning.  But for those of you who have been letting it slide a bit, it is time to get back all in with your football team.  I’m not saying they go to the playoffs or win the division in 2010.  They don’t (I don’t think).  But I’m fairly confident they’re going to be significantly better than most folks out there are giving them credit for, and I’m not usually way off when it comes to this stuff.  I get ‘em wrong, to be sure, but I don’t usually just flat-out whiff.  The good times are coming back.  I’m telling you.  It’s coming.  And you can help hasten its advance.

There was a time when Cleveland Municipal was the most significant homefield advantage in football.  I submit to you that there is no reason other than lack of on-the-field inspiration that this will not again be so, even in a cavernous, new-wave monster like Cleveland Browns stadium.  I remember games where the Dawg Pound carried the team to victories on waves of roaring sound borne of decades of hard work, tough living and bitter freaking cold.  All that stuff is still in your sports DNA, Cleveland.  And frankly, it’s wasted on basketball.

So gather up all this crap you’re feeling right now, ball it up, stuff it into an emotional compartment, and save it for September 19, when the Chiefs come to town for the home opener, and take it out on them.

But don’t forget to save tonight’s video from The Decision to re-kindle your anger come week 17.  Steelers.

Hang in there, C-Town.  WOOF!

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THE MANGUIN, REDUX: JUST SAY NO TO QB COMPETITIONS

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

Let's not do THIS again, shall we?

Now wait just a Kosar-Testaverdian minute, here.  Just a couple of weeks ago I blogged in this space that I was cautiously optimistic about Coach Mangini’s approach and ability if left to simply coach the team.  I was on board, I wrote. While I stand by that, let me assure you that I will be diving headfirst off that ship and swimming hard for the S.S. GRUDES if Mangini expects us to countenance another farcical quarterback competition.

Mangini was less than committal this week when questioned about the likely starter, saying of Delhomme that it was “going in that direction” but that he liked what veteran and longtime Seahawks backup Seneca Wallace had done as well.  Let me state this very clearly: NO.  No, no, no, no, no, no, NO.
I will not tolerate this again.  Despite my support of his program in general, it’s impossible to deny that 2009 was thrown to the wolves in large part due to Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s failure to simply choose a captain and stick with him.  Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn- and I mean either one- would have produced more effectively had they been given the job outright and supported.  Instead, the Manguin flailed around under the guise of some cockamamie notion of competitive secrecy and we failed to complete a forward pass until roughly November.  Something like that.
Just name Delhomme the starter and be done with it.  Your whole locker room knows he is your only shot for a competitive 2010.  They also know that the Walrus isn’t about to let you ruin Colt McCoy the way you and Romeo combined to ruin Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson.  Yes, Seneca Wallace is a nice, gutsy player with considerable skills and a solid understanding of the game.  But he’s Seneca Wallace.  Jake Delhomme played in and damn near won a Super Bowl, and though his 2009 was atrocious, even a halfway respectable rebound would mean worlds of improvement from the play at that position in Cleveland last year.  Aside from that though, there’s the obvious: at this point, just like Obi Wan Kenobi to your Leia, coach…he’s your only hope.
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MY PERSONAL ALL-BROWNS TEAM

Posted on June 5, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

THE MF M.D.P.

Since we’re still in the early phases of getting to know each other, I thought now would be a good time to break out my personal All-Browns Team.  A lot of people think these little exercises are pointless or ridiculous (fortunately, 99% of those people aren’t in the demographic I’m targeting…I’m assuming you’re a football fan).  Like Rob Gordon from “High Fidelity,” I’ve always enjoyed the combination of sports banter and nostalgia that comes with making Top-Whatever lists. Plus, it’s a good way to set the tone for, or parameters of, the discussion going forward.  In music, for example, it just helps us understand each other better if I know whether you’re a Stones or Beatles person.  Likewise in football; you’re probably coming from a different place if you wear a Joe Thomas jersey than if you wear a throwback Sipe, or a Josh Cribbs for that matter.  So, you may be wondering, whose jersey do I wear?
Well, actually… nobody’s, as it turns out.  I’m still looking for that dare to be great situation.  But I do have “my guys”- those players whom I have identified as great players, great Browns, or just guys I happen to love watching play football.  PLEASE NOTE: I am only choosing from among players I have seen play (and not on old reels on the NFL Network. I have to have seen them play a game in my lifetime).  Obviously, Jim Brown is the greatest player in Browns and probably NFL history.  Conceded.  But under the parameters of this analysis, he doesn’t qualify.  I debated whether any affiliation with the Ravens should also be grounds for elimination, ultimately deciding against such a constraint.  But just barely.
My personal All-Time Browns team is coached by Marty Schottenheimer, who believed unfailingly in the time-tested formula of a physically dominant defense and power running game.  Even went 14-2 with the Chargers on that formula during the new “pass-first” era.  Of course, he was promptly fired for the achievement (and replaced with Norv Turner, of all people!).  Just a damn good ball coach.  Be it not forgotten:  There’s a gleam, men.  There’s a gleam.
OFFENSE

QB: BERNIE KOSAR
Most Browns fans of my vintage have a similar affection for an awkward, sidearm sling followed by a fluttery duck-esque lob that somehow falls softly and perfectly into the hands of the intended receiver, over and over again.  Survived on brains, moxy, and uncanny touch.  To this day it chaps my hide that my buddy Tim has a picture with him and I don’t.
RB: EARNEST BYNER
FB:  KEVIN MACK
Despite his association with certain unfortunate events, Byner was an outstanding all-around back with plus power.  As the surname indicates, Mack was something you either got out of the way of or it destroyed you.  Both went for more than 1,000 yards in ’85, only the third pair of teammates to accomplish the feat in NFL history. If not for Roger Craig and Tom Rathman, they might be known as the best backfield 1-2 punch of the 1980’s.
WR: WEBSTER SLAUGHTER, REGGIE LANGHORNE
Sensing a theme?  Look, we’re Browns fans.  If I were a Giants or Cowboys or Steelers or Dolphins fan, I might have a sprinkling of guys from various eras.  As it stands, we in the Pound haven’t had a lot of great players to follow the past couple of decades. There’s not a lot of competition here because the Browns of the mid-to-late 80’s are the only decent team the franchise has seen during my football cognizance, so they are going to be well-represented here.  Regardless, these two could have produced in any era.  Kevin Johnson, Keenan McCardell, Brian Brennan, and (for a minute each) Antonio Bryant and Andre Rison were all awfully good as well.  But as good as they were, doesn’t this list just prove how limited the talent has been for the most part?  I mean, Slaughter and Langhorne doesn’t exactly scream Rice and Taylor or Irvin and Harper, does it?  And then there’s Braylon.  I’ll get to him in another article sometime soon, but suffice it to say there is no other Brown by whom I have felt so completely and utterly let down in thirty years.  He should’ve been The One.
TE: OZZIE
Duh.
LT: JOE THOMAS
I’m pretty convinced he’s the best all-around left tackle in the game today.  You have to give Savage a lot of credit for doing the right thing for the franchise with the #3 pick in ’07.  Too bad he didn’t follow it up by trading up for Peterson instead of Quinn (I liked it at the time. I’m just saying).
LG: ERIC STEINBACH
They’ve had some decent players, and I know Steinbach may not be around much longer because depending on who you ask, he’s either slipping generallly or just not a good fit for the Manguin’s power running attack, which demands big, road-grading guards.  Steinbach is more of an athlete and technician.  But that athleticism allows him to get out into blocking lanes that a lot of big men can’t get to, and to manipulate more athletic defenders when he gets there.
C: ALEX MACK
Another potentially huge move for the franchise to skip the splash pick and plug in the best center prospect I’ve seen in a decade.  Mack is only going into his second NFL season, but I’ve been watching him since Cal. Love the kid, as I explained in our Center Rankings. Steve Everitt was pretty solid.  LeCharles Bentley would’ve been the perfect Browns pivot.   Horrendous luck.
RG: SHAUN O’HARA
Why is this guy a Giant, again?  I mean, I went back over thirty years to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anybody, and it’s embarrassing how bad the Browns have been at this spot.  I liked O’Hara right away.  Attitude, technique, reliability.  Check, check, check.  He has a Super Bowl ring, and has opened holes of enormous proportion for the likes of Earth, Wind and Fire for years now.
RT: RYAN TUCKER
Tuck was an animal on the right side for a number of years. If the Browns could have peak Tucker right now, they’d have one of the top 5 offensive lines in the league, easy. It’s a shame he was wasted on a garbage team for the bulk of that time.  Cody Risien was solid back in the day.
DEFENSE

DE: ROB BURNETT & CARL HAIRSTON
Burnett was nasty, and proof that Belichick has always known exactly what he was doing when it came to defensive linemen.  Stout against the run and a really good pass rusher, Burnett had 28 sacks from ’92-’94, and won himself a ring in 2000 with the hated Ratbirds.  Big Daddy Hairston was just a pro.  Got after the quarterback well, and seemed to come up with big plays constantly.  As an aside, I sure would like to have seen what Courtney Brown would have been had he not been so fragile.
DT: MICHAEL DEAN PERRY & BOB GOLIC
The MF MDP, as I call him, was the most under-appreciated NFL player of his era. He was ultra-quick off the ball, dominated the nose in the run game and was hell on quarterbacks.  An upper-middle classman’s Warren Sapp.  Plus, absolutely unstoppable on Tecmo Bowl, as my boy Murph can attest.  Golic, meanwhile, was a tough-as-nails DT with a big personality, and later a super-understanding R.A. to Zach, Slater & Screech.
OLB: #57 & CHIP BANKS
I still compare all OLB’s to Clay Matthews, Jr.  Incredible motor, and just had an innate feel for the game.  His kid ain’t bad, either.   Meanwhile, Marty’s trade of Chip Banks remains one of the biggest blunders in franchise history.  He was as physically gifted as any man to step on an NFL field, and on his best days reminded me of Lawrence Taylor.  (I said it. What?)  Remember that time he sacked Bernie four times in an afternoon, leading the Colts to a shellacking of his former team?  I do.  Jamir Miller gets a nod here as well, as a fellow Bruin and the first Browns post-Return Pro-Bowler.  Had he not gotten hurt, he could’ve bumped Banks.
ILB: EDDIE & MIKE JOHNSON
These guys were just solid pieces.  Generally, they didn’t have much to work with, and their careers didn’t entirely overlap, but they fit nicely together here.  I admired Andra Davis’ productivity and D’Qwell is a tackles machine, but neither is much of a playmaker.  Both Johnsons were.
CB: HANFORD DIXON & FRANK MINNIFIELD
Duh x 2.  The O.D.’s.  (Original Dawgs)
S: ERIC TURNER & FELIX WRIGHT
Turner is one of my all-time favorite football players, period.  A fellow Bruin and a stud Browns safety, there has never been a better layer of wood, bringer of hat, destroyer of middle goers-over than E-Rock.  But Felix Wright was pretty damn close, and provided one of the all-time Browns highlights when he dumped Don Beebe on his head in a playoff game.
KR: JOSH CRIBBS: Mind-boggling power and explosiveness as a return man.
PR: ERIC METCALF: Mind-boggling speed and quickness as a return man.
The Ice Cube gets a solid honorable mention here, too.  The Browns have certainly had their share of great returers.
K: PHIL DAWSON: The Steady Texan.
P: CHRIS GARDOCKI: I guess.
Who did I miss?  Who is on your personal All-Browns Team?  Check in below!
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THE MANGUIN: I’M ON BOARD. (OR, PRELUDE TO GRUDES?)

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

EL MANGUINO

The Browns have themselves a young, occasionally gruff defensive-minded head football coach.  An alleged prodigy, he was quickly labeled a genius by people who know a thing or two about football.  He’s not popular with the media, due in part to his own limitations as a human being and due in part to the media’s unreasonable prerequisite that its subjects be showmen in addition to teachers and leaders.  I don’t know about you, but to me, this is starting to sound vaguely familiar, and as a Browns fan, I would really prefer they put substance before style this time.  So, when Mike Holmgren announced he was keeping Eric Mangini on as head coach, I was pleasantly surprised.

His first year in town was at times excruciating.  He fumbled through a quarterback competition in which the two primary participants were equally incompetent, and a front-office debacle that highlighted the Browns’ ingrained dysfunction and hammered home just how difficult it is for one individual to handle the job of running a football team.  It got bad enough that at one point, Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski even made the ridiculous but attention-garnering argument that Cleveland’s hiring of Mangini was the worst NFL coaching hire in 25 years.  When the Walrus was hired, it seemed a mere formality that the Manguin’s first year on the job would also be his last.
But a funny thing happened on the way to Mangini getting fired.  The Browns turned loose Jerome Harrison and Joshua Cribbs, and pounded the rock down four opponents’ throats on their way to winning four straight to close the season.  For the most part, these were convincing victories in which the Browns were clearly the superior football team.  Those who did not watch closely have dismissed the streak because of the competition against which it occurred.  Mistake.  This was a team that at the end of the season was putting it together on both sides of the ball, and already had the best special teams in the NFL.  They finished 8th in both rushing and sacks, two areas I consider fairly critical to football success.  And they did it despite having horrendous quarterback play and a brutal first half.
In a coach’s first year, things have a tendency to get ugly at the outset, and they certainly did here.  By the end of the season, however, the improvement was not just noticeable; it was immense.  The Browns were executing.  Offensive (well, running) plays looked well-designed and well-run.  Everyone appeared to be on the same page, and a team that started 1-11 played harder to the season’s final whistle than any this franchise has seen since The Return.  I submit to you that this has everything to do with Eric Mangini.
Listen closely to the guys who have been with him before, and they’ll tell you he’s “a damn good football coach.”  Look back at his Jets tenure, and I’m still not sure he should’ve been fired (though admittedly, I would fire just about anybody if it meant I could have Rex Ryan coaching my team).  The Jets were 8-3 to start his final season in New York, and it seems pretty clear the ensuing collapse was largely a product of Brett Favre’s arm falling off and the team having no acceptable backup.
Regardless, three things seem clear to me.  One, Eric Mangini understands that football starts in the trenches.  I need only look at his first draft pick with both the Jets and Browns- Nick Mangold and Alex Mack- to be convinced that he shares my preference for big, strong, will-destroying offensive lines.  Two, Eric Mangini knows defense.  If Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick ever hired you as a defensive coach, you have my trust in that area.  But the way the Browns’ defense was playing at the end of the season, after Mangini had a chance to install a system and learn the personnel, was impressive.  They were producing, and with middling talent.   Third, and perhaps most importantly:  Eric Mangini’s football teams have an unmistakeable identity.  An Eric Mangini football team is physical, disciplined, and is built with the intention of imposing that physicality on the opponent until the opponent quits.  That is an identity is one reason that should give Browns fans clamoring for yet another coaching change pause.  The way the Jets look today is another.
In short, I think Eric Mangini is probably a damn fine football coach.  All this said, the proof is in the pudding, and Mangini has to win to stay.  I reject the going assumption that the Browns will finish with another 3 or 4 win season.  With creative coaching and a few breaks, this team can finish around .500.  A tough schedule awaits, but this is the NFL.  Either you’re prepared to play the best or you are irrelevant.  I’m on board with what I interpret to be the Manguin’s plan.  But should we be looking at another 1-11 start or 3-13 finish, you will be able to find me behind the wheel of a rather noisy GRUDES bandwagon.
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BLIND OPTIMISM 2010, PT. 1: THE TRIPLE-H ATTACK

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

No, not this guy. Harrison, Hardesty & Hillis!

You can be forgiven for being among the majority of NFL fans who have no idea that the Cleveland Browns actually finished 8th in rushing offense in 2009.  When they learn it, many tend to discard the stat because the Browns absolutely exploded over their season-ending four-game winning streak against relatively weak competition, including a franchise record and third place all-time 286 yards by Jerome “The Ghost” Harrison in week 15 against Kansas City.  A healthy skepticism is warranted here.

It is also misguided.
I offer three pieces of evidence for my conclusion that the Browns will put a top-10 running game on the field again in 2010.  First, they are suddenly deep and talented at the running back position.  Second, the Browns have compiled quality personnel along the offensive line.  And third, Eric Mangini’s philosophy involves a maniacal commitment to establishing a physical, dominant running game.
1.  The TRIPLE H ATTACK: No, I’m not talking about a fake wrestler with flowing blonde locks. I’m talking about Jerome Harrison, Montario Hardesty, and Peyton Hillis.  Despite a lack of NFL notches on their collective belt, this running back committee has the skills to get it done and then some.  Harrison surpassed the 1,000 yard mark despite not starting a game until late in the season (he was, for reasons that remain unbeknownst to me, sitting behind Jamal Lewis, whose legs retired in 2005).  Supremely talented, Harrison was the Pac-10’s leading rusher as a senior, outgaining the likes of Maurice Jones-Drew, Reggie Bush, Marshawn Lynch and LenDale White. Oh, wait- says here he led all of Division I that year.  Hmmm.  Browns fans have been clamoring for him to get a bigger role, nicknaming him “The Ghost” for his tendency to disappear as a result of inexplicable coaching decisions.  Hardesty was a highly effective workhorse as at Tennessee, gaining 1,947 yards and scoring 21 TD’s, but was also injured frequently during his time with the Volunteers.  Peyton Hillis was the Broncos’ most effective ball carrier as a rookie out of Arkansas, where he helped Darren McFadden and Felix Jones spark a not-at-all-new-but-reborn phenomenon, the Wildcat.  And when the Browns run that particular set, the opposing defensive coordinator also has to deal with Josh Cribbs, who is perhaps the most under-appreciated playmaker in the entire NFL.  He rushed for 381 yards on 55 carries.  That’s a 6.9 yard per carry average, if you need him.  I tell anyone who will listen: Josh Cribbs is absolutely unbelievable.  If you haven’t seen him, you’re missing out.
2.  O-LINE: AGILE, MOBILE & HOSTILE: Any football observer worth his or her salt will concede the critical importance of the offensive line.  But not all teams put their money where their mouth is.  In 2007, the Browns began to get it right, drafting ManBearTackle Joe Thomas with the third overall pick.  They signed Eric Steinbach to play guard right next to him, and the undersized athlete has been a solid cog.  Last year the Manguin traded down several times to snag Cal Bear Alex Mack, the best rookie center I’ve seen in years.  Floyd Womack and Tony Pashos are two mauling vets on the right side, and will be an upgrade over the mish-mash the Browns threw out there at those spots last year.  (And again, they finished 8th in rushing last year).
3.  MANGINI RIDES THE BIG UGLIES: This is neither the first nor the last time you will see me arguing that the Manguin gets a bad rap.  I know- he’s gruff, unpolished, gives you that beady-eyed sneaky feeling that is generally reserved for Canadians on South Park, and was the rat behind SpyGate.  To a degree, he’s earned it.  But here’s the thing: Eric Mangini is a damn good football coach, and he coaches the kind of football I have always wanted the Browns to embrace.    You do see what the Jets are doing on the ground, don’t you?  Same blueprint, and it’s a sound one.  Step one: draft the best pivot you can find (The Jets’ Nick Mangold and the Browns’ Mack are two of the NFL’s best, as we discussed in our NFL Center Rankings).  Step two: solidify left tackle (fortunately for Mangini, Thomas was already manning the blind side.  Step three: POUND! THAT! ROCK!
We Browns fans must constantly look for an impetus for optimism.  I submit to you that the running game is a primary reason to be optimistic about 2010.  Rest assured that the TRIPLE H ATTACK will give the Browns a chance to stay in every game.
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“I’M NEVER GONNA LOSE TO DENVER.”

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

Colt McCoy: Winner.

I knew I liked Colt McCoy.  Those of you who read the draft blog knew it, too.  Aside from being a little shorter than the prototype, what’s not to like?  The all-time wins lead among NCAA QB’s?  The 70% accuracy clip?  The obvious leadership skills?  The coach’s son football IQ?  Hell, even the exalted GRUDES could only come up with one nit to pick, suggesting during his QB camp session that McCoy’s Texas twang could get lost in translation in the huddle, a risk that, given Colt’s positive attributes, I thought the Browns were wise to assume.

All that was before I saw the NFL Network’s Draft Journey feature on him.   Now?  He is already one of my favorite Browns ever.   Here’s why.  They went through the obvious pre-draft storylines- incredible college career, knocked out of the National Championship game at the pinnacle of said college career, injury rehab and draft preparations.  Then they got to draft day.  As the Rams turned in their card, Colt said “the pick is in…it’s not me, my phone hasn’t rung yet.”  It was a joke, and nobody seriously expected him to be picked anywhere near the number one slot, but somehow I got the feeling that he was genuinely feeling some unwarranted snubbery.   The look on his face was that of a competitor in the early stages of frustration he cannot control.
As Denver started to trade down, McCoy took notice: “You can’t count on anything, but that’s a good sign.”  When it happened, I thought the Broncos were dropping down to target Dez Bryant or Dan Williams.  But judging by Colt and his father’s reactions when Denver selected Tim Tebow instead said it all- they clearly thought Colt had a shot to be the Broncos’ pick.  While his son put on an unconcerned, confident front, the elder McCoy quietly shook his head.  Neither was fooling anyone- they were extremely disappointed.
The next day, when the Browns finally pulled McCoy out of his free-fall late in the third round, the relief was obvious.  Frankly, Colt didn’t look half as happy as I did here at Dawg Pound West.   I’m excited.  Through everything I’ve seen of McCoy off the field, he handles every situation appropriately and with class.  On the field, he leads his team to victories.  The list of traits I require from my quarterback isn’t much longer than that.   As he spoke about the experience after the pick was announced, he rattled off the Crash Davis list of obligatory soundbites- “As a competitor, you want to be picked first”; “I’m excited to be a Brown”; I’m just going to go up and learn from Jake Delhomme and try to help the ball club in whatever way I can.”  But at one point, he let his guard down and uttered six words that endeared him to me more than any throw, win or quote ever could: “Watch. I’m never gonna lose to Denver.”
Yes.  YES!  It’s not that he said it.  It’s that he’s believable when he says it.  It’s not something he hopes.  It’s something he knows.  This is not to disregard the obvious point that whether the Browns lose to the Broncos with McCoy at the helm at any point in his career is unknowable to Colt or anyone else.  That’s irrelevant.  What is relevant is that Colt McCoy will accept nothing less than victory and optimum performance every time out.  There are a lot of things I don’t know about football and about playing quarterback.  But one thing I do know is that guys with that attitude tend to succeed.  Jamarcus Russell, Jeff George, Heath Shuler, Rick Mirer, Tim Couch, Akili Smith- I’m pretty confident that fortune or chance are not the distinguishing factors between those guys and a group like Manning, Brady, Brees, McNabb, Rodgers.  The latter group wanted it more.  Period.
As McCoy will learn, most Browns fans consider the Steelers or Ravens their most despised rival, and rightfully so.  But as I detailed here the other day, the Broncos hold a special, dark place in my football heart.  If Colt lives up to his draft-day proclamation, I suspect I will be most pleased with all the attendant results.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go buy a new toddler Colt McCoy jersey for my son.
GO BROWNS!!
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DAWG DRAFT 2010

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

Better bring the hard hat and sledgehammer to C-Town, Colt. There's plenty of heavy duty work to do.

Snarls to full wag in exactly 26 slots.  I was fine (if a bit unexcited) with the Joe Haden selection.  But after the Browns followed an apparent reach for TJ Ward at number 38 by paying a handsome ransom (thank you, thank you very much) of a 3 and two 5’s to move up and select Montario Hardesty, I was dismayed.  After the Gruden tapes I simply wanted Colt McCoy, and had no choice at this point but to conclude that the Browns did not.  Mind you, I am more inclined to trust this particular Browns brain trust than any since The Return.  But we were led to believe McCoy would be gone by the early second at the latest, and here the Browns were trading up into a second choice in the second round to select someone else for the second time. Visions of CouldaBeenBrowns danced in my head, with an undersized, accurate, productive leader named Drew Brees leading the march (don’t worry, LaDanian was right next to him).

Here in SoCal we have a lot of days that go something like this:  from sun-up until just before noon there’s a non-intrusive sort of haze known as the “marine layer.” (Two quick sidenotes: (1) this mystical phenomenon is known as “fog” everywhere else I have ever seen it.  (2) “SoCal” refers only to that area West/South of the 5 and South of the San Bernardino/San Gabriel Mountains, with a small carve-out for the exotic wonderland that is Santa Barbara.  Everything else is NoCal, Nevada or Western Arizona.)  By noon, the marine layer burns off, leaving an obnoxiously pleasant afternoon that fluctuates between 72 and 85 degrees with a gentle ocean breeze for about 310 days out of the year.

That average SoCal day is a metaphor for the Browns 2010 draft.  It started off sort of bland.  You know the kind of morning where you wake up glad you have your job, but not all that psyched about doing it that particular day?  That was Joe Haden.  Real good player, not a real exciting draft pick.  Not his fault.  Regardless, I was in dire need of a delicious double espresso and the Browns brain trust just kept serving up the 3-day old Sanka.  It’s not that I viewed the players drafted this weekend negatively- quite the contrary.  As a Pac-10 guy, I like TJ Ward a lot.  He brings hat.  I think Hardesty at least offers a backfield element that wasn’t there before and at best could be Thomas Jones (as in, outstanding).  I’m unreasonably excited about Carlton Mitchell because he went to the same school as the pass-catching machine known as Brandon Marshall.  I’m on board.  But much like the Dude’s rug, it was the selection of Colt McCoy that really tied the room together.

NFL Cliche #1: You can’t win without a quarterback.  Maybe Colt McCoy is a big-time NFL quarterback and maybe he isn’t.  But he’s the Browns’ best bet at the moment, and the guy who ultimately will get the blame or credit for drafting him knows a lot about quarterbacks.  A team can do a lot worse than to take a shot on a kid that is the NCAA’s all-time winningest quarterback (let that sink in for a moment), completed 70% of his passes in college, and perhaps most importantly, has the GRUDES seal of approval.  Welcome to Cleveland, Colt.  Go get ‘em, kid.  And, as always, GO BROWNS!

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THE BIRTH OF DAWG POUND WEST, AND THAT HORSE-TOOTHED BASTARD

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Ryan Burns, Editor-In-Chief

They never won it all, but these guys could play with anybody.

I am a Browns fan because my dad is a Browns fan.  (Thanks, Dad.)  I grew up in southern California and never set foot in Cleveland until I was thirty.  What I’m getting at is that I don’t really have a rational explanation for how I got so hooked on a team thousands of miles away instead of one of the local teams.  It always seemed to me that the Raiders were really from Oakland and the Rams were for tennis fans.  And when you’re 8, San Diego (90 miles) and Cleveland (2356 miles) are essentially equidistant from Huntington Beach. Nowadays, I think it’s fair to say that my dedication has surpassed even the old man’s.  (The Browns-induced cynicism, however, is another story.  Tax season is my dad’s busiest time of the year, and having just finished it you’d think he’d be relaxing on a beach somewhere.  Nevertheless, he found time to email about his concern that Joe Haden would be a Langhamian bust.  I, meanwhile, choose blind optimism.)

Though I learned about the tenets of Browns fanhood from afar, I learned them in the time-honored tradition of all modern-era Browns fans: through frustration and heartbreak.  I vaguely remember my Dad being pretty upset about Red Right 88, but was just young enough that the meaning was largely lost on me.  My painful initiation came when the Drive, the Fumble and, as I call it, the Destruction lined up in the latter half of the eighties to pummel me into gridiron submission.  My dad and I watched The Fumble at a sports bar called The Courthouse that doesn’t exist anymore.  I remember being really up for that game, like they were going to shove it down the Broncos’ throat this time.  And they really should have.  Earnest Byner burst through the left side, and I exploded into cheers.
I was 11.  I thought he had scored.   I was celebrating long after everyone else in the bar realized what had happened, and it took me that horrible, awkward two-count to realize that I was the lone schmuck. Suddenly I was the slow-build clap guy with no followers from Can’t Hardly Wait.  It took me right back to the previous year, when John Elway had ripped my heart out of my chest like Mola Ram.  And then two years later he returned for my soul, seized it, dropped it in a pile of steaming walrus dung, and pounded it into oblivion with a sledgehammer.  He became the personification of all that was wrong in the world.  And that is how John Elway got his nickname.  I told you that story so that you would understand that I am a true Browns fan, and also so you would understand when I tell you that henceforth, you will never see me refer to John Elway as anything other than the following:  That Horse-Toothed Bastard.
Anyway, I decided to post the above photo because although it reminds me of years that ended in such frustration, they were also the years that bound me forever to my squad.  Those teams were damn good, and they produced a lot of memories while forming a football fan. Guys like Ozzie, Chip Banks, #57, Bernard F. Kosar, Kevin Mack, Reggie Langhorne and Felix Wright stick out.  I remember September 19, 1993, the day my buddy Tim and I coined the phrase “Dawg Pound West” (coined to us, anyway) , when Eric Metcalf went dancing into the endzone on a counter with a second left to win it 19-16  at the LA Coliseum, allowing a contingent of a few thousand Browns fans to erupt amongst a sea of silver and black that had been ceaselessly “WOOT-THERE IT IS!”-ing us all day (I still hate that song).   I remember watching Vinny Testaverde have one of the games of his life at the Big A against the Rams.  I remember Tim and I meeting up at 7:00 a.m. at one or the other’s house, with our parents looking at us with that look that wants to ask whether their child is on drugs as we headed off for an early breakfast at Denny’s before proceeding to Patsy’s Irish Pub to stake out a good seat a couple hours before kickoff.  The kind with a view of the big screen but also far enough from Krantz and the Smokers.  I remember the original showtime corner combo and Dawg Pound founders, Minnifield and Dixon.  I remember getting to meet Webster Slaughter at a San Diego State game.   I remember Donnie Rogers getting drafted out of my favorite college and eventual alma-mater, UCLA, to my beloved Browns, and I remember the day my dad had to use him as a tragically poignant teaching moment.  I remember Eric Turner following in his footsteps, fulfilling his promise, and disappearing too soon, just like Donnie.  I remember the Headband, before he became the Hoodie.  And I remember being unbearably disappointed and hurt for my fellow Browns fans the day Art Modell did the unthinkable and unforgiveable.
Now, a few days after the 2010 draft, Browns fans are amidst yet another organizational rebirth, this time with the Walrus at the helm.  I think (hope) they’re starting to finally get it right.  I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two types of Browns fans- those who want to see a bright future and therefore do, and those who have been irreparably scarred by life as a Browns fan and therefore cannot.  I see little point in being the latter.  Like I said, I choose blind optimism.  I’m excited about the new regime, excited to see if it works, excited to see a well-conceived, well-coached football team executing well-conceived, well-coached plays.  The prevailing wisdom seems to be that the Browns will struggle mightily in 2010.  I’m not convinced.  They finished 8th in rushing and 8th in sacks last year without a semblance of a passing game or secondary.  There are pieces to build on.   Watching Holmgren’s pressers this week, you can see that he’s really enjoying the whole process of building from the ground up.  He looks like we do when we make a sweet fantasy football move, like fleecing your good friend and division rival for Adrian Peterson (and no, I don’t feel the least bit bad about it).  The Big Show is like a kid in a candy store.  It’s fun to watch.  I say it every year:  I can’t wait to see what happens.
GO BROWNS!!
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