Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks wrote a very enlightening piece on the Cleveland Browns. I say enlightening because, though fans were witnesses to the huge turnaround that was experienced last season, it really took that huge swing to gain this team some respect throughout the league. We endured the Palmer years, the Davis years. And while we were all fans through it all, we can finally take pride in the Savage/Crennel years – ones that come with some actual “W’s.”
Banks took his pen and paper (okay, laptop computer) to Berea, Ohio to witness Browns camp. Peter King comes here every season. But for the Browns to finally be a worthy story, Banks sheds some light on the new found attitude that surrounds camp.
The infamous coin-flip quarterback situation. Brady Quinn’s holdout. Roster spots up in the air. Getting absolutely throttled by the Steelers on opening day…
But that was then, and this is now. Cleveland has Camp Harmony unfolding in northeast Ohio, and as July draws to a close, the Browns are on, by far, the smoothest, quietest preseason ride they’ve ever enjoyed among their 10 seasons back in the NFL.
Banks continues on, with most of the article revolving around a discussion with Pro Bowl wide receiver Braylon Edwards. Coming off of a 16-touchdown season, Edwards is understandably excited about this year. While much of the discussion was about how “good” it feels to be coming off of a 10-win season, the one part that caught my eye was this:
The near-constant calamity that was Cleveland football before last season left Edwards disillusioned and pining for an opportunity to become an ex-Brown. He told me he had basically made up his mind to get out of town the first chance he got, which was after his rookie contract expired following the 2009 season. He was just doing time, waiting for his parole from football purgatory.
“I’d be lying if I said I thought it would happen like it has here in the past year,” Edwards said. “I was on the verge of not wanting to play here any more, dealing with the fans, and not winning, I was like, ‘All right, I’ll get through with my contract and I’ll see what happens.’ But now we’re on the verge of something special. We had a good year last year, and this is definitely a football town, and it’s turning back around. This is a fun place to play when you’re winning.”
Really? I mean, we all know that things didn’t exactly start off well. Especially for Edwards, who had been labeled early on in his career as a troublemaker, locker room cancer. Arguing with coaches behind the scenes, getting in the faces of quarterbacks on the sidelines. We thought that we had the second coming of a Keyshawn Johnson sprinkled with a bit of Terrell Owens. The new age wide receivers who were more Prima Donna, give-me-the-ball types. They’re always open, and if they drop a pass, it was defensive interference. Flag or not.
But to want out? Sure, things weren’t easy here. Trust me, instead of making the millions of dollars, I was paying portions of my paychecks to go watch the train wreck that was a four-win team. But I also know that the fans may have not helped much. I mean, we cheered when Tim Couch was nearly stretchered off of the field. We made a grown man cry. The byproduct of losing seasons that followed off-seasons of hope? You bet. I’m not about to think we as fans aren’t demanding. We sure are. But I think it’s rightfully so.
“But now we’re on the verge of something special. We had a good year last year, and this is definitely a football town, and it’s turning back around. This is a fun place to play when you’re winning.”
I guess that’s a littlebetter. But I won’t lie and tell you that I wouldn’t be understanding if some fans were upset about this. You have guys like Joe Jurevicius and Dave Zastudil that wanted to play here regardless of record. Sure, Braylon is a Michigan guy – but I can support him if he doesn’t want to play for the Lions. It’s almost the lesser of two evils, in that regard.
The SI article has deemed this the “Football Renaissance” in Cleveland. But what if – just what if – this team regresses a bit? Tough schedule. Primetime games. The luck of no major injuries last season. What happens then? Does Edwards decide that he wants out again? Or has he matured through the tough times to realize what this city is all about; what this team is all about?
There will be plenty of eyes watching this team this season. All I know is that I hope it is more of the latter than the former.
(Note: Chris from DawgsByNature has his [albeit brief] thoughts as well)
Camp Harmony [SI.com]
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
you can’t blame the guy for being frustrated by losing seasons. its one thing for Joe and Dave Z to want to play for their hometown team, but Joe was never exactly a big name receiver, and dave well, is a punter. neither of them were ever really told that they should expect to win, or better yet, achieve a hall of fame caliber career. Edwards was told these things though. despite a few character flaws, his raw talent has always been recognized and if that talent is harnessed, he was told he could achieve pro bowl seasons every year. But as a receiver, he is at the mercy of his quarterback, who is dead meat when his offensive line can’t protect him, which for many years, it hasn’t. This isn’t about Braylon dissing cleveland, but rather about Braylon wanting a chance to have the career he and everyone feels he can achieve. at the time, yeah, things looked terrible for him. incompetent coaching and inconsistencies in the offense prevented him from doing any of the things he knew he could. these things also turned a championship starved city into merciless bully who, as you mentioned, made a grown man cry (laughs with a little bit of guilt). how could anyone really blame him for not wanting to be in that situation? its not like he wanted the team to be bad. he wanted his team to win. now they’re winning. so now he’s doing what he knew he was capable of.
It’s more fun to win than lose and until last year, we looked to be perennial losers. Honestly, I don’t really blame him seeing as how he seems to be quite happy.
Oh, I totally agree. I just hope that we can a) keep him happy, and b) it doesn’t turn into a situtation where we have to keep making sure he is happy
i think the only time we need to keep him happy is when he’s ready to sign a new contract. throughout the bad times, he still seemed hustle. most of us just couldn’t see it as our eyes were pinned on the QB being mauled at the other end of the field while Braylon was sprinting towards the end zone 8 strides ahead of his defender. he may not have been happy, but he did his job.
i never understood why disgruntled players who wanted to be traded would slack off during games. if you want to be traded, make yourself valuable. like with manny ramirez. despite what arrogant pain in the neck he is, the guy can still hit. so he’s valuable to anyone willing to deal with his crap. as these leagues are a business, unfortunately they value talent far more than they value character.
I’d bet most of the Browns players were thinking the exact same thing, and rightfully so. This team was a joke since ‘99 for the most part, and Braylon had guys like Chuckie Frye throwing ducks all over the place.
He wasn’t criticizing the city. It was aimed at the disarray this team had been in for so long. It’s only natural that he would want out of that situation.
go play for the Lions then maybe you will be happy back in Michigan- in the meantime how about working on not dropping 5-10 yard gimmies
I think the guy has now shown his commitment to the community (forgetting the football team for a minute) with his various charitable efforts–scholarships for high-achieving kids, donating computers, etc. These things all create pretty strong ties to a city/community.
As for the team, much as being good attracts free agents (see: Donte Stallworth), it’s also big in retaining your own free agents. With the quality of the team, plus the treatment that Braylon received (whether he deserved it or not), who can blame him for thinking about the next uni he’d wear? I’m just glad Savage/Romeo have created an atmosphere that makes these guys feel comfortable, and take a sense of ownership in the team and the associated turnaround.
I think there is no drama in training camp, and WFNY doesn’t know how to cope. So they read into a quote way to deeply and fabricate a potentially hostel situation just to stir the pot.
Yep, boy you nailed it there whipacka. We’re just pot-stirrers. Obviously we should have just read the story and said absolutley nothing about it.
Did we call for a boycott? Did we tell you to burn your #17 jerseys? I could understand IF some fans were upset is what Scott is saying here….
Lighten up…
Precisely. All I said is that I hope that his maturity and experience last season will carry him through any possible regression. I’m not sure about you, but that’s the first time I heard Braylon say such a thing…
To be totally fair to this guy, he was booed mercilessly for a year and a half. Whether or not it’s appropriate to boo your own guy is a debate for another day, but man, we were just nasty to him. So I don’t blame him for a second for dreaming about the day when that would end.