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December 22, 2008While We’re Waiting…
December 23, 2008
More on the rumor turned ongoing saga:
BEREA — Browns tight end Darnell Dinkins confirmed on the WQAL 104-FM this morning that an altercation occurred between Browns quarterback Brady Quinn and defensive lineman Shaun Smith last week and that Quinn had a mark on his face.
Dinkins also said on the show that coach Romeo Crennel was very upset about the incident and took care of it. Dinkins said he did not see the incident take place, according to CBS Radio Senior Vice President Chris Maduri. He also said Dinkins was asked if a weight was thrown at Quinn and Dinkins said he didn’t know.
Moral of the story: When you can’t get answers from the head coach, interview the third-string tight end. And apparently “Romeo took care of it” means “Smith was inactive for the shutout loss to a two-win Bengals team.”
I’m sure that there will be more about this as the week rolls on – it’s not like we have a football game to prepare for or anything. While I’d love to know what words exactly transpired, this definitely doesn’t bode well for the ongoing sentiments that Crennel has zero control over this team. Whether it’s iPods during team meetings or running drills without shoes.
And something that wouldn’t surprise me: Dinkins gets reprimanded for the interview. All of the nonsense that has gone on this season, and those that speak up get punished. Why not add DD to the list?
Cleveland Browns TE Dinkins says Quinn and Smith did have an altercation [Cleveland.com]
17 Comments
Well that’s funny. From the picture posted at the top, it looks to me like Smith is just trying to give Quinn a hug.
I don’t see how you can blame all this on Crennel. Once again, the lack of professionalism in this organization starts at the very top – Randy Lerner and Phil Savage.
The franchise would be far better if we could somehow get new ownership. I know that’s unlikely but Lerner has no business running a professional football team. He should stick to English football and get out of NE Ohio.
Steve Smith sucker punched a teammate at the beginning of this year. The Panthers season has turned out ok. Maybe Shaun is getting a head start for next year…
This team continues to be a freaking joke. I’d rather root for the Lions than this group of idiots.
We are all upset. Still, the idea that a fight in the locker room is something that “starts at the top” and could be solved by an argument that Randy Lerner should concentrate on English football makes my head steam.
Romeo Crennel is in charge of football operations. Phil Savage has his own deficiencies, but a weight-room brawl is certainly beyond the scope of his responsibilities.
You can be mad at anybody you want for all the right reasons in the case of the Cleveland Browns. Don’t start mismatching them all over the place though. Savage = personnel + email communications. Lerner = extensions for Savage and Crennel and whether or not he fires one or both this off-season. Romeo = LOSING ON THE FIELD AND MISUSE OF EXISTING TALENT INCLUDING LACK OF DISCIPLINE ON AND OFF THE FIELD INCLUDING LOCKER ROOM BRAWLS.
Again, they are all in line for your anger, but don’t start blaming locker room brawls on Randy Lerner. It isn’t a sound argument.
What Craig said. Is every owner supposed to be like Jerry Jones now? Hands off owners are a good thing, provided that they don’t completely ignore the team and make changes when they are necessary. We are going to see this offseason that Lerner is going to make the necessary changes
Fact is that Crennel does not hold his players accountable for their actions on and off the field and he doesn’t command respect from his players. They say they like him and stand by him only because he lets them do whatever he wants.
Dude a fight isn’t that big a deal, I do remember a certain #23 punching Steve Kerr in the mouth. Guys, especially athletes, have big ego’s, a lot of testosterone and fights happen in the pro’s/college/high school. Not a big deal. WHAT IS A BIG DEAL is the fact that our future starting QB has an injured hand and that fat f*** Smith is throwing weights at him.
I agree that we tend to over-sublimate our anger at Lerner when the team is losing, but I’m not sure why you guys so strenuously defend him. A leader of an organization creates a culture and shapes the boundaries of acceptable conduct for all members of that organization. A vacuum of leadership at the top enables these cascades of misconduct to occur — I don’t see how you can divorce Lerner from the on-the-ground failures of professionalism at all levels of the organization.
Am maybe not the most objective about this…have been living in England and people over there raze me about the Lerner-Aston Villa-Browns connection all the time.
Sorry, but I don’t buy that. Tell me the last time a Bill Cowher-coached team or a Bill Belichek-coached team has guys punching each other, running drills without shoes, etc.etc.etc.
Attitude DOES reflect leadership. But, the players have the most interaction with the head coach. Period. My guess is the only see Randy Lerner when they sign their contracts. How that makes him responsible for two dudes jawing and fighting it out is beyond me.
Sure, but look at the owners above Cowher and Belichek: Rooney and Kraft. Both have selected coaches who reflect the competence, integrity, and professionalism they themselves set as the standard for the organization. The buck stops at the owner, even for something as mundane as a silly scrap between players (which reflects larger issues). I’m not a Weatherhead Org Behavior grad student or anything, but I intuitively feel like you have to see an organization in holistic terms rather than compartmentalizing blame.
Ultimately, this exercise in assigning blame is pretty fruitless – we can all agree that things need to change in the organization and that Lerner is going to have to get it right this time around.
do i really HAVE to be a browns fan?
@humboldt: Hindsight is a great thing. The whole point of Lerner hiring Crennel was that he was supposed to bring that exact same Belichick competence, integrity, and professionalism. That was the NUMBER ONE reason RAC was considered a top candidate. As it turns out, RAC is no Bill Belichick. And now Lerner is about to get rid of him.
I love the fact this was confirmed by WQAL. That’s where I will now turn for all my hard-hitting sports breaks…. Hilarious.
While I am probably the biggest Randolph Lerner hater out there, I don’t think his gross incompetence or Romeo’s sheer hack-job of a coach mean much here.
You put a bunch of testosterone-laden smack-talking dudes together for a year and these things happen. This is a non-story to me.
Well, it would be a non-story if the Browns were a winning team this year. But with this huge disappointment of a season this is further proof for Randy Lerner that Romeo’s 10-win season was the aberration and not the other way around.
I might have to eat my hateful words on Mike Brown because he learned and finally let someone coordinate the offense, but I won’t have to do the same with Romeo.
You all make good points. Two things come to mind:
– As Paul Brown said to the lost team bus driver as he was trying to apologize: “I don’t blame you. I blame the person who hired you.”
– How far have we sunk that we are tuning into this type of petty crap? It’s like we’re desperate to read anything – anything – that might give us a clue as to what is essentially wrong with this pathetic organization. Sports should be a pleasant diversion from important life issues. This is a stupidity wrapped inside irrelevance nestled within a diversion. Please, no more about Pretty Brady and Fat Butt Smith. Can we now go to our “happy place” and talk about who next saviour and coach wil be?
the only thing I hope is that he de-prettied Brady a little bit. i don’t want our QB showing up on Skip Bayless’ doorstep in a corset.
I agree with the comments about defending Lerner in this. How is this the owner’s fault? I doubt most owners are involved in day to day activities or even near the players during the week. This is a coaching and discipline issue, and we have neither of those. Why wait till Monday to fire RAC? It is pathetic we have hear of these things. If we had any real leaders on the team, this kind of crap wouldn’t happen. Remember what a prick Corey Dillon and Randy Moss were supposed to be? They go to the Pats, and you don’t hear much. Brady and the Hoodie wouldn’t allow it. Same when Rodman went to the Bulls, Jordan made it clear how much he was willing to tolerate. Where is the leadership, the accountability, the caring on this team?