TD’s Ten For Tuesday
November 29, 2011While We’re Waiting… Little’s Drops, Kyrie’s Attitude and Science!
November 30, 2011So I guess Mike Polk will have to buy another jersey?
Tony Grossi is reporting that the Browns have confirmed to him that they waived Ryan Pontbriand. I find it pretty shocking, to be honest. I know Pontbriand was “in a slump” of sorts, but we are really only talking about two mistakes. The first one, which helped the Browns lose to the Rams was a deflection off of Alex Mack’s leg. This week he screwed up pretty badly as he rolled the ball back to Brad Maynard on Phil Dawson’s ill-fated 55-yard attempt to help the Browns lose to the Bengals. Still, Pontbriand has been a stable member of the Cleveland Browns for most of nine years here. Assuming Grossi is correct, it is the end of an era.
I know you shouldn’t make a huge deal of a long-snapper on a legitimate football team, but Browns fans have always had to look funny places for quality. Pontbriand was picked in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL draft and that would have been a punchline enough for Butch Davis’ career as power-monger of the Cleveland Browns. But Pontbriand persevered. He kept justifying his roster spot every single year as he helped Phil Dawson, Chris Gardocki, Dave Zastudil and Reggie Hodges do their jobs as punters, kickers and holders pretty well over the years.
Pontbriand was named to the 2008 AFC Pro Bowl roster for goodness sake. End of an era, indeed.
I don’t know what this says to the team from Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert’s offices. I guess once your long-snapper specialist no longer justifies a special roster spot you might as well fill it with a legitimate offensive line prospect who can also snap it back on special teams plays. Does this mean Alex Mack is the guy who will be doing it? You will remember that Alex Mack has been playing left guard next to Pontbriand in field goal formation recently. We’ll have to see.
(Photo by Kevin Terrell/Getty Images)
(Our own Rick gets credit for the Mike Polk reference.)
42 Comments
Seems premature, but it’s also not worth griping about a long snapper getting cut.
Are they using this to send a message to the rest of the roster?
Ryan Pontbriand = Diminished skills?
On a serious note, I feel bad for Pontbriand, and wonder where this leaves our special teams situation.
Even so, does anyone else feel a curious sense of purity after purging the last vestiges of Butch Davis from the organizational system?
Wow, seems extreme. One bad snap or two and that’s all she wrote?
Would think this is something they could have worked through.
Not going to get up in arms about a guy who’s on the field for only a handful of plays, but I do find the move confusing. The guy has played mostly at a Pro Bowl level and he’s cut after a couple of bad weeks? Despite his accepting responsibility for the bad snap in the St. Louis game, that was more on Alex Mack whose foot got in the way rather than Pontbriand. It’ll be interesting to see if he lands somewhere else.
Uh-oh, Greg. The Turk’s on the loose.
Interesting not so much because they waived him but rather when. Obviously it’s debatable as to whether a team can afford the luxury of a long snapper position. But clearly he has been judged as worthy by multiple regimes. I think this was a shot-off-the-bow to the team… i.e. “motivate by fear”. As to whether that’s a good approach, I’m not sure. Thus far this season, I’ve been less concerned with the Browns’ lack of talent and much more concerned with their coaching & play calling.
Nine years is quite a NFL ride for a guy who does one sub-specialty. Not like he ever could play o-line at this level. Just can’t go all Knoblauch if that’s all you do.
Did anyone else see Pontbriand on the sidelines after the botched snap against the Rams, and this past week against the Bengals?
Both times he is standing there alone on the sidelines, facing the field, but his eyes are closed shut….and the camera stayed on him for awhile….and he just stood there, eyes shut.
Don’t even know what the point of this comment is, just found it kind of curious he was doing that both times.
I really think the first on off of Macks leg made him second guess himself on everything he was doing. The one Sunday was clearly a result of that. How long had the guy gone without screwing up? I find it odd that after only one bad snap (of his own doing) got him cut.
Maybe he had been doing this in practice too, that’s the only way I really see it justified
Scapegoated.
I have to disagree with the statement that he has only made 2 mistakes. All year his snaps have been all over the place. The only reason why it may seem like 2 mistakes is because Maynard has been saving his butt every week.
He got bailed out by Maynard on the PAT after Little’s TD. That snap was sailing for the other end zone. I have to trust the Browns know more of what is going on with him than we do.
And bad snaps can kill a drive and suck the life out of a team. Mechanics wise he’s been a snapping machine since college, and since it’s clearly mental and he can’t shake it you can’t expect the organization to flush the remaining games while players are trying to figure out how to win.
It’s the NFL. There are plenty of decent long snappers waiting for an opening.
I’d have to assume this is to make Dawson happy.
I would basically leave this decision up to him.
My favorite Brown………gone.
its pretty interesting as to how a few bad snaps this year and the guys is a ghost.
does this mean we can expect Little to be cut tomorrow after his few drops this past sunday as well?
#FIREEVERYONEINBEREABECAUSEORIBIASISAIDSO
This is a good move. It would be inaccuate to say this guy only made 2 mistakes this year. He only made 2 mistakes that cost us points – and potential victories. He has been snapping high, low and pretty much all around this season. For a guy who only plays 2-5 plays per game – he wasn’t cutting it. Sure, he’s been a brown and orange staple for many years and did make 2 pro bowl appearances. But, the fact is he wasn’t doing his job…The cut makes it clear to the rest of this roster that no one is above poor performance.
@ christopher: I think your little #rant qualifies as bating me…but don’t fret, I’m sure you won’t get in trouble for it.
Quick thought: Shurmur has made more mistakes this season than Pontibrand has during his entire 9 year career…will be let himself go?
@ oribiasi, isn’t the roster Heckert’s decision ?
@ gren: I think any serious professional NFL team confers with all three players when cuts are made, drafts are set, etc. Holmgren, Shurmur and Heckert I am sure all had a hand in this. Likely Heckert more so, of course.
Forgive me for sounding callous but nobody should feel too bad for the guy. He did manage to hang around the NFL for 9 seasons as a long snapper. I mean whats the average career span for long snappers? On a long snappers salary I doubt he was spending his money on custom Bentleys like Tim Couch. He should be ok.
@ori
Not bating, just a dig. Lighten up 🙂
Maynard has most certainly saved his bacon a couple of times, and whoever mentioned his snaps in practice is probably right on the money. His confidence is probably blown, and he adds nothing else of value to the field. Someone else can be an average long snapper on this team, I’m quite certain.
Scapegoat.
While I certainly don’t feel bad for most anybody losing their job who made the amount of money he did, for what he did, for how long he did it…..
I do find it humorous that with all the glaring holes talent-wise on this team our big mid-season move was to “waive the long snapper”
OIC
I’m just here to point out that our team is sad enough that our long snapper being waived was the lead item on the afternoon commute on the sports talk station, and has recieved 26 comments at the time i started writing this, making it one of the most discussed news items of the day.
Here we go Brownies, here we go!
27 comments on long snapper being cut, sick.
are 27 comments okay if it was another one of our pro-bowl players who got cut?
@Ghost – Money aside, I think it’s pretty normal to feel sympathy for someone who fails in the public spotlight and loses their job. For Pontbriand, this could be a career-ender given his apparent diminished skills/psyche. His forlorn look on the sidelines after the rolled snap was quite pitiable – it seemed like he knew what was coming.
I’m not going to go package up canned goods this holiday season and deliver them to the Pontbriand residence, but I still feel a bit sorry for how things unfolded for him this season.
I hear what you’re saying Humboldt, Im just saying that everything comes to an end and this guy has had a pretty good run. Not a whole lotta guys are employed by an NFL team just to long snap and very few last 9 years doing it. Its a shame that his Browns career had to end this way, but such is life in the NFL.
Wow, have they seen McCoy’s passes!? At least Pontbriand has an excuse – he’s upside down! 🙂
Not a scapegoat. Not premature. Not comparable to any other position in the NFL except for Kicker and Punter. You can’t have 2 long snappers on the roster. (The Shurmur/Little/McCoy comparisons are cute though.)
Personally, I feel bad for the guy. I feel like he probably has something going on behind the scenes. He’ll be fine long term, but he’s got to get his house in order.
I’m sure Mike Polk’s video had something to do with this… aqnd aliens.
If you’re highly responsible for blowing two potential wins in a 16 game season can you say it’s premature for being released 11 games into that season? I realize it’s only two plays, but they were two really big plays.
The thing that just kind of shocks me is the decisiveness of the move. Just like, BOOM! You’re gone! While other guys suit-up and ride the pine week in and week out, and others don’t produce at all, but they stick around. This was a guy with an actual recurring and active role… a couple bad plays, you’re gone.
Just a matter of taking-up a spot that could be used somewhere else?
Maybe they’ll trade down to draft another guy
It’s a good thing we have that extra first round pick…
Nothing to see here. A long snapper, much like a punter, only makes the pro bowl because the rules state they have to. Sorry but this is on par with waiving a kicker like Vanderjagt for going mental and missing kicks. I feel bad for the guy but it is a very replaceable position.
@32 Maybe McCoy needs Maynard as a wideout? Just a thought…..
I think it was a search for a scapegoat. If this is the best Holmgren can do I say “GO BACK TO SEATTLE!”.
🙁