Sitting and Thinking About the Cavs Before Game 6
June 16, 2015Cavalier Film Room: Riffing Off LeBron and Narrow Margins
June 16, 2015In his second year with the Browns, Mike Pettine took his team on another team-building exercise. Last year, he took them to the movies. That probably made sense in the same year that Kevin Costner portrayed a Cleveland Browns executive as Sonny Weaver in the movie Draft Day. The team-building exercise came back this year, but rather than go see Chris Pratt wrangling dinosaurs in Jurassic World or seeing if he could get a critical mass of players to go sing along with Pitch Perfect 2, instead the second year head coach took his team paintballing.
Joel Bitonio, for one, was a fan of the excursion.
“I think it helps the team in a couple of senses,” Bitonio said. “The teamwork aspect of it, I think we’re kind of working together in atmospheres we haven’t been a part of. That kind of helps you put things in perspective. If you can do it out here, maybe we can do it on the football field a little better. Another thing is it kind of shows the team if you work hard and are dedicated, the coach is going to give you some time and throw you a bone and help you out.”
According to the story on the Browns’ official website, guys like Billy Winn and Ryan Seymour were the ringers because they had vast paintball experience. While I’m not in a position to question that assessment, I’m having a tough time believing there was anyone more dangerous with a paintball marker in his hands than Cleveland Browns nose tackle Phil Taylor.
You also have to wonder how heated this paintball excursion might have been in previous iterations of the Cleveland Browns. Imagine the guys lining up to face off against Eric Mangini? What would Colt McCoy have done to Pat Shurmur?
In all seriousness, you can’t help but think this kind of stuff is good, assuming the Browns are filling the roster with guys who are willing to engage in activities like this. While it turned into a bit of a goofy punchline with the Cavaliers and their first-year head coach David Blatt, when he took his team bowling on a Wednesday in Los Angeles back in January. At the same time, his team rattled off 12 straight wins and 14 out of 15 on their way to 53 wins after starting an infamous 19-20.
Anything the Browns want to try and do to continue to build on their seven-win team is good, especially in a year where they face what is commonly thought to be a tougher schedule. Hopefully the Browns were told to pretend the opposing team was wearing black and pee yellow in order to prep for the hated Steelers.