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September 20, 2013While We’re Waiting… About that GAME this weekend
September 20, 2013Former Cleveland Browns President Mike Holmgren voiced his displeasure of the team’s recent trading of running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2014 first-round draft pick. Making his regular appearance on Sports Radio 950 KJR in Seattle with host Dave “Softy” Mahler, Holmgren pulled no punches when providing his thoughts on the deal.
“When I was told about it, my daughter phoned me, I thought she was kidding around,” Holmgren said of the deal. “I didn’t believe it. I really didn’t. Then I went on my computer and saw it. I had a lot of emotions. Because I really liked the young man. I really think he’s an outstanding football player. He was something that we needed last year and he had a really fine first year, his rookie year, a really good year. Played through pain, injury. So I was startled by that.”
The Browns, under Holmgren and then former general manager Tom Heckert, traded up to the No. 3 spot in the 2012 draft to select Richardson out of Alabama. The consensus best running back in the draft, Richardson drew comparisons to Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson who was selected seventh overall back in 2007. Holmgren not only panned the trading of a first-round pick 15 games into his career, but immediately called out the Browns for quitting on the 2013 season two weeks in.
“I wanted to make sense of it,” said Holmgren. “I’m thinking, ‘What in the world?’ It appears after seeing the press conference that—they’re not coming right out and saying it—they’re kind of preparing for next year, preparing for next year’s draft. Because the coach said we want to be competitive. Who’s gonna be the running back? They don’t even know who’s gonna be the running back this week. How do you make the team better by trading your best player? He’s their best offensive player. He’s a valuable, valuable guy.”
Subsequent to Holmgren’s comments, the Browns named the recently acquired Willis McGahee as the starting running back for the team’s Week 3 contest against the Vikings. He will join third-string quarterback Brian Hoyer in the team’s new starting offense as Brandon Weeden (the Browns’ other first-round pick in 2012, N0. 22 overall) nurses an injured thumb on his throwing hand. Holmgren stated that had he have been in Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski’s position, he would have been forced to walk away.
“Philosophically, if I am the coach and someone came in and did that, said we’re going to do this, then I’d say, ‘OK fire me,’ or I’m gonna quit,” said Holmgren of the team tanking. “We’re both going in to the owner and talk about this and we’ll see who’s still standing.
“I don’t know the coach, but I know people who know him say he’s a great coach, good guy. It’s his first head coaching job. But, boy oh boy, there would be a conversation. I’d shake hands and walk. I would. Because if I disagreed with it vehemently, and I couldn’t buy in … that’s what I would do. You have to be true to yourself in this business.”
[Related: Joe Banner’s Browns have not earned the benefit of the doubt]
67 Comments
So glad he chimed in. The gaul for this clown to profess any opinion on the matter.
Not having a QB in the NFL is akin to constantly being a 6, 7 8 seed in the NBA. I’m glad this FO understood this concept and didn’t mess around. It means they’re competent and know exactly what needs to be done. Note that I said they know what needs to be done and not they will do what needs to be done. But you have to increase and play your odds – by trading Trent, an overdraft of a fungible position, they did just that. They cleaned up the RG3 mess and are betting this time around they’ll get their guy.
Who knows if they will, but you cannot shovel previous incompetence onto the current organization. Love you Scott, but the whole “they haven’t earned our trust” narrative is childish and completely misguided.
Let ask the guy who got all those wins for us and overdrafted a RB what he thinks!
Just because he’s Mike Holgren doesn’t mean his point isn’t valid.
Coaches are measured on wins. After going 2-14 this season and, say, 4-12 next season, Banner will fire Chud in 2015. Good luck to Chud getting his second job.
PS: Lol at all the Browns fans closing ranks behind their tanking front office and lashing out at mean ol’ Big Show. At least he tried to win. Enjoy your 2-14 team this year.
PPS: Note that Banner is trading with Kevin Colbert (2 rings) and Ryan Grigson (Exec of the Year). Good thing Banner is smarter than them.
At least who tried to win? Missing on RG3, Colt McCoy, Weeden instead of Tannehill…not showing up to work…
If Holmgren was trying, then he wasn’t trying very hard or well. I’m as po’d about this Richardson thing as the next Browns fan, but let’s not re-write history.
Actually, because he is Mike Holmgren, and his 1st rounders in the 2012 draft class have been taken to pasture, it means his point is beyond invalid and filled with extreme bias.
Explain, in detail, how he tried to win? The only thing he did was collect $50M.
Point taken on Colbert, but Grigson? He drafted Andrew Luck and is dishing out draft picks left and right for mediocre veterans. Luck played out of his mind in the fourth quarter last year and is undoubtedly a great QB, but I don’t give Grigson any credit for that.
Pat Shurmur should have walked when his front office said “Here’s your starting QB, Brandon Weeden”
Thank God the Browns missed.
Rams get Brockers, Jenkins, Pead, Ogletree, Bailey, and next years first round.
Skins get mobile QB with now blown ACL.
Let stop this nonsense about ‘missing’ on RG3. They dodged a bullet.
An argument over how good RG3 might be is fine; but it doesn’t magically make whatever Holmgren and Heckert did during their time here good.
I don’t know, drafting a RB and QB and WR in one off-season in an attempt to bring in ‘playmakers’ and create an offense where there was none. Ain’t that better than signing 3 pass rushers then drafting two more and dumping your best offensive weapon and two draft picks. In one example the GM is trying to do his best to win; in the other the GM is doing everything to lose.
Tell you what… just click this link and you’ll have more than enough detail.
http://jimkanicki.wordpress.com/category/browns/browns-punt-2013/
“Explain, in detail.” Jeez. Browns fans.
I agree that drafting Luck was the easiest decision any GM has had to make in a very long time.
Did I say Holgrn/Heckert were good????
I said “Just because he’s Mike Holgren doesn’t mean his point isn’t valid.” I mean, it’s right up above. Holmgren’s efficacy or lack thereof does not disqualify him from being correct in his reaction to Banner tanking this season and what it does to his head coach.
Thank god? If A does mean mean B comes true – causality is not correlation. Who the hell knows what would have happened to RG3 if he were a Brown – it’s silly to assume he would have gotten injured. By your logic we should be happy that we passed on a plethora of players bc they got injured.
this
2-14 this year? I didn’t peg you for an optimist.
But seriously, leaving Mangini as coach for an extra year didn’t seem like he was trying to win.
I really can’t take the time to work through this with you. Enjoy your 2-14 team and your on-field dee-jay. Maybe you’ll have a new uniform next year. YAY!
No, what you said was,”at least he tried to win.” To which I responded, “not very hard or well.”
If “trying to win” is measured on a sliding scale (this is an insane conversation by the way), then yes, H&H did try harder to win than Banner is trying this year.
But it doesn’t mean that H&H’s level of “trying to win” was acceptable either. It was not.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, kind of deal.
Heckert did an admirable job in drafting guys like Ward, Haden, Taylor, Sheard and (maybe) Schwartz. But you don’t make attempts in this business – it’s do or don’t.
Drafting a RB (sorry – trading 3 picks to move up for a RB) was insane. Doubling down and drafting a 29 year old QB was worse. Gordon is an extreme talent but is 2 hemp necklaces away from being a clerk at Giant Eagle. You can;t 100% control a players actions, and I’m glad he’s on our team, but it was a huge boom or bust draft. They reached bc they were on the clock, and it killed the team.
Mangini won out in 2009 and do we really have to reconstruct the 2010 season where Mangini beat the defending SB champs in their house and beat that year’s AFC Champs in Cleveland —with Colt McCoy at QB mind you— and then lost key players to injuries causing the second half decline?
That DJ is loading the stadium, thank you very much.
Disagree, but not because I didn’t like Mangini – I did and I thought he deserved a shot. Holmgren didn’t, yet he still kept him (he basically admitted this). First of what would be many, many blunders.
I mean, the dude asked a question and you have him a response. That should be the end of that, right?
Pretty cut and dry that Holmgren made moves to get the team better while these turkeys didn’t. Not even sure it’s debatable, and certainly not sure why anyone would try.
as all of us fans should of walked when the front office said, “Heres your head coach, Pat Shurmur”
I was not commenting on Mangini’s quality as a coach.
I was commenting that Holmgren should not have delayed his planned rebuild by a year if he knew he was getting rid of Mangini either way.
When I think about how this interview went down, I imagine Mike Holmgren kicking back with a lei around his neck while sipping from a mai tai with a pink parasol sticking out of it. I wish he had waited to start his retirement until after his time with the Browns.
I agree with this too… when RG3 was drafted I said it was only going to be a matter of time before his body breaks down. He’s a slight guy for a QB, particularly for one whose game involves running around outside of the pocket. He’s been nowhere near as effective this year as Shannahan has tried to protect him by keeping him in the pocket.
Trading 3 picks to move up for a RB…with the team that has Adrian Peterson (spare me everything about the idea that somebody else was moving up to get a RB when the next RB taken went 31).
I think it is awfully early to be writing the book on RGIII. yes, he ripped up his knee. but, it seems to be the rush back from injury is what is limiting him thus far. we’ll see as his career unfolds.
(though yes, you have to account for a lost season or two if you get a smaller running QB. it’s just the hope that the non-lost seasons make up for it. and, that’s not always just those guys. look at Eli. he’s started off a lost season already with more INTs than Weeden had in his first 2 games last year)
I’m writing off RG3 based on my original prediction. If he ends up having a stellar career with only a lost season or two, then I’ll be the first one to come out and eat crow, but all I’m saying now is what I personally expect to happen with him.
If this happened, Holmgren wouldn’t have had to quit, because he’d have been fired.
Now I see why you weren’t around yesterday to help me “teach” these people a thing or two! J/K But while they are at it, like I mentioned yesterday, change the uniforms and slap a logo on the helmet.
I never wanted RG3 I was glad they lost out my problem was I truly believe the entire interest/offer/debacle was a charade. I to this day don’t think the football team was that interested in him which is why they came to that trade party so late and with what turned out to be a lesser offer.
Still based on what has happened since like I said originally I’m happy they didn’t get him. Not because of his injury but because of this team.
I don’t want Manziel either.
Jeez, dumb bloggers
The Heckert convo obfuscates this matter.
Chud will be fired by Banner in 2015 if his record is 6-26. In that case, Banner will have directly impacted Chud’s record. Holmgren’s point on this is right on the mark.
Actually, it’s highly debatable. We can and are debating whether getting rid of Richardson was smart or stupid – but with ten draft picks, to say these turkeys “didn’t” try to make the Browns better is idiocy. That’s exactly what they are TRYING to do. Whether they will SUCCEED is a totally different question, but please ask the right question if you can.
No offense but they $&%t the bed with the QB. In fact that whole draft was a debacle if you ask me. Trading up one spot from 4 to 3 then taking Weeden with your second first round pick then selecting Schwartz at the top of round two was horrible. I waited over a year with those stockpiled picks to watch that which is why I’m not excited to see them doing the same thing now.
I just said above having a ton of picks doesn’t mean a thing the past is proof. We’ll see what they do until then all they’ve done is trade weakening the team now in order to get more draft picks. That’s not much of a strategy in my book.
Heckert’s performance is highly overrated IMO which could be why almost everything he did has been undone. The only guy you mentioned that is worth anything is Haden and he was a top 10 pick and that’s a given, well for most every other team.
^5
LOL @ this guy pulling out his personal blog posts and citing them as facts
guy commanded me to explain in detail, i did. can’t win with some people.
PROTIP: you’d do better to read my posts before you take shots at it.
Mike – if you would’ve landed RG3 or drafted Russel Wilson we probably wouldn’t be in this mess!
Perhaps misguided but not childish 1 playoff appearance and 2 winning in 14 seasons = every bit of distrust and distaste people can muster.
Why was there no mention of Holmgren offering Grigson the entire 2012 draft in exchange for the #1 pick to draft Luck?
Maybe don’t forget the owner at the time.
At this point I wish he had offered the entire 2012 draft I don’t think they went that far though but I could be wrong I’m trying to forget that draft now.
I was not on board with the RG3 thing either. That said, after drafting Weeden and watching him for 17 games, the move the Browns ended up making was far worse.
no not really, sorry should I be keeping up with kanicki.wordpress more thoroughly? looks like some real professional work going on over there.
ask around man.