May 18, 2013

Colt McCoy on 49ers: “We want to win, and we want to win now.”

April 14, 2013 by 17 Comments

Former Browns quarterback and current San Francisco 49ers backup QB Colt McCoy said that he would “always be grateful” to the Browns organization, but his tune is a little different lately.

In a NFL.com article by Marc Sessler, it’s communiated that McCoy says things are quite different in San Francisco, who made it to the Super Bowl last year, than Cleveland.

“When I walked in the building in San Francisco, it was the same feel (as at the University of Texas),” McCoy told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Saturday. “It’s a great organization, and their only focus is: We want to win, and we want to win now. That’s obviously different than some of the things that I’ve been part of the last few years. I was really happy about that.”

McCoy played in 24 games (21 starts) for the Browns over three seasons, throwing for 4,388 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions with a career passer rating of 74.8. He was a third round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, but he was replaced by rookie Brandon Weeden last season as the team’s starter. McCoy was traded earlier this month to the Niners along with a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft for fifth and seventh round selections.

Related: Former Brown Ricky Feacher Arrested In Florida

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NFL News: Cleveland Browns trade Colt McCoy to San Francisco 49ers

April 1, 2013 by 36 Comments

Jason LaCanfora reports that the Browns have traded former third-round draft pick Colt McCoy to the San Francisco 49ers.

So there’s the other shoe to drop after the signing of Jason Campbell. The Cleveland Browns have seemingly simplified one potential angle on a quarterback controversy by trading the oft-popular QB from Texas who bemoaned the lack of opportunity to compete last pre-season.

The San Francisco 49ers came into this draft season with a ton of picks–as many as 13 at one point. Details of the Browns’ compensation for McCoy aren’t available yet, but Twitter rumors indicate it might be a sixth rounder. With McCoy’s somewhat modest salary of $2.325 million for 2013 he becomes a pretty economical backup to replace the recently-traded Alex Smith.

Prior to the trade the San Francisco 49ers had:
- One 1st rounder
-  Two 2nds
-  Two 3rds
- Two 4ths
- Two 5ths
- One 6th
- Four 7th rounders in the 2013 draft.

The leader in the clubhouse in the jokes department is easily Zac Jackson, by the way…

[Related: WFNY Podcast – 2013-04-01 – Dennis Manoloff talks charities, Weeden and NFL draft]

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NFL Free Agency Rumor: Ed Reed to the 49ers?

March 11, 2013 by 2 Comments

As the news gets worse for Baltimore Ravens fans, it could continue to get better for Browns fans. Albert Breer reported on Twitter that Ed Reed hired an agent, and now Pro Football Talk is reporting that that agent might help him get to San Francisco.

I could call the 34-year-old Reed a “Browns killer,” except that Reed has been a pain for opposing quarterbacks and receivers in all jerseys in his career. It just hits especially close to home with how careful the Browns quarterbacks have been with Reed in the opposite defensive backfield, even going so far as to name him this season.

Earlier in February Ozzie Newsome said that he and the Ravens wanted Ed Reed back and that they thought Reed wanted to be back too. Even then, Ozzie knew that Reed would have options. That was also before the Ravens got Joe Flacco locked up to a historically high-priced deal.

The Ravens knew they would need some re-tooling after their Super Bowl season because of the aging roster, but it might be an especially rude awakening to have so much turnover in a season where they might hope to defend the title. With departures like Anquan Boldin, a retiring Ray Lewis and now maybe Ed Reed, a title defense could prove that much more difficult.

Meanwhile, the 49ers are looking to avenge their Super Bowl loss at the expense of the Ravens. That’s good for Browns fans. Well, that is unless the Browns miraculously find a way to meet them in the Super Bowl.

[Related: NFL News: Baltimore Ravens trade Anquan Boldin to San Francisco 49ers]

 

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NFL News: Baltimore Ravens trade Anquan Boldin to San Francisco 49ers

March 11, 2013 by 11 Comments

Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reports (by way of PFT for us) that the Baltimore Ravens have traded Anquan Boldin across the country for a sixth-round pick.

While many Browns fans will be upset that the Browns didn’t get this deal, it is a pretty good  bet that they never would have had the option to make a trade like that within the division. Considering the lofty numbers associated with Mike Wallace, Anquan Boldin’s $6 million salary figure looks pretty reasonable right about now.

All the talk of the Ravens wanting Boldin to take a pay cut were crazy, after all. With the market for receivers developing the way it has this off-season, there was no way Boldin would face a pay cut unless he thought the market for his services would have guaranteed him a smaller sum than $6 million. Even if he wanted to continue to play in Baltimore, there’s little doubt that had he been cut, he would have been able to replicate his financial future, if not improve it.

The only bright spot here for Browns fans is that they won’t have to see the former Eric Wright killer twice a year anymore in divisional match-ups.

[Related: Mike Wallace should give the Browns pause]

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The Browns’ dive into analytics will be a subtle revolution

March 4, 2013 by 14 Comments
Scheiner and Morey

Alec Scheiner (left) of the Browns chats with Daryl Morey

This weekend I was at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics (#SSAC13) conference where new Browns president Alec Scheiner was busy observing and participating in discussion panels. Scheiner wasn’t alone either. As many as three other Browns staffers were rumored to be on hand this weekend for the festivities that Bill Simmons dubbed “dorkapalooza.” So the “analytics revolution” has arrived in Berea. But, what exactly does that mean?

One of the biggest themes of the weekend in Boston was not about whether analytics is good or not, but how to make it most useful in sports organizations. The panels were rife with stories by some brilliant people about mistakes committed by the “stats geeks” where they were unable to effectively communicate their message to the more traditional stakeholders in their various sports organizations. We heard stories of ultra complex PowerPoint presentations and other missteps that set back the relationships between departments that sometimes have trouble working together, despite working toward the same goals.

[Read more...]

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San Francisco to send QB Alex Smith to Kansas City per reports

February 27, 2013 by 35 Comments

Last weekend it was reported that an ‘unidentified team’ had a deal in place for San Francisco QB Alex Smith. Today, FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that the team is indeed the Kansas City Chiefs.

https://twitter.com/JayGlazer/status/306809645597605888

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has more details about the deal:

“Chiefs traded second-round pick, the second pick in the second round, to SF. Niners also got another conditional mid-round pick in 2014.”

“SF now owns picks at No. 31, 34, and 61 in a draft with lots of depth but not a lot of surefire stars.”

Those wishing the Browns would make a move for the veteran QB can now focus their attention elsewhere.

[Related: I don't feel like it, but let's talk Browns]

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NFL Rumor: Unknown team has trade in place for Alex Smith

February 24, 2013 by 14 Comments

Combine news was all over Twitter during the daytime on Sunday, but then CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora just recently dropped this quarterback news-bomb on the world:

With Colin Kaepernick fully entrenched as San Francisco’s long-term starter, it’s certainly logical why Alex Smith’s name has been all over the rumor mill thus far this offseason. The former Utah Utes star who turns 29 years old in May was a solid yet unspectacular starter for the 49ers for the vast majority of time since being the No. 1 overall pick in 2005. But he has a lot of NFL experience and many teams might consider him a safer option than utilizing an early draft pick on a QB.

Previously today, we saw the reported rumors from NFL.com that the Kansas City Chiefs were indeed very interested in Smith — along with drafting OT Luke Joeckel with the No. 1 pick in the draft. Ian Rapoport wrote: “But word is starting to leak of their interest in the San Francisco 49ers’ backup quarterback. At this point, based on what I’m hearing, Kansas City has shown more interest than anyone else in dealing for a quarterback who could step in and start from Day 1 while the rest of the franchise is rebuilt.”

Also this week in Smith news, the 49ers publicly declared that they would be unlikely to release the quarterback outright. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said Smith would either be traded or remain with the team throughout the offseason, and only if no suitable trading partner was found, would then he potentially be released.

For now, the Browns are likely in the next tier of possible contenders for Smith’s long-term services. The Chiefs are probably the odds-on favorite for the team that La Canfora was referring to, with the Jaguars and Browns among several teams that also could be on the large overall list of teams with quarterback needs.

Update at 6:30 p.m. Sunday: Jaguars beat writer Ryan O’Halloran, who was just on his way back from Indianapolis and the combine, tweeted out this bit moments ago. He reports the Jags are not the team with this deal in place:

Update at 7:55 p.m. Sunday: Mary Kay Cabot has the latest on the Cleveland side of things. According to her source, the Browns are not this team.

[Related: NFL News: Chudzinski “excited” about Weeden, still needs to see more]

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Parallel Universes: Super Bowl XLVII and the ’87 AFC Championship Game

February 4, 2013 by 57 Comments

Earnest BynerLook on the bright side….Art Modell didn’t make the Hall of Fame and Ray Lewis will never play another football game.

The Super Bowl was a fascinating and superb game last night. I can’t imagine not being able to enjoy that event as a pure football fan. The play on the field was very reminiscent of the 1987 AFC Championship Game between the Cleveland Browns and the Denver Broncos, affectionately known as “The Fumble.”

Just like the Ravens did last night, the Broncos, behind a host of Browns turnovers various lapses in judgement, jumped all over the Browns from the start. On the Browns first possession, Webster Slaughter let a pass go through his hands and off his knee on a crossing route, right into the arms of Denver’s Freddie Gilbert. John Elway hit Ricky Nattiel for a TD pass and in the blink of an eye, the Browns trailed 7-0. On the next series, Kevin Mack, grinding for extra yards, was stripped of the ball with Denver recovering. The Browns thought they had the bleeding stopped, but a defensive holding penalty on third and goal, gave the Broncos first and goal at the one and Steve Sewell scored a touchdown to put the Browns in a 14-0 hole on the road in a hostile Mile High Stadium. [Read more...]

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WFNY Podcast – 2013-01-21 – Craig and Denny talk Lance Armstrong, Te’o, the Internets and leaving them

January 21, 2013 by 2 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoI find myself looking for reasons to have certain people on the podcast and Denny is one of those people. This time we middled around the Lance Armstrong topic for a bit before getting into some more overarching themes about the Internet, culture, media, etc. A great conversation as always even if it ended up someplace completely different than Lance Armstrong.

  • Denny’s NYC Marathon as a part of team Livestrong
  • Doping and cheating… What is cheating?
  • Is Craig a cheater using something like Jack3d from GNC?
  • How culture deals with storylines and the hunger for better ones
  • Manti Te’o and parallels between his deception and Lance Armstrong
  • Destinations vs. the trips it took to arrive at them
  • Time spent online vs. time spent off the grid
  • Appreciating time while you have it and not bemoaning its loss when it’s gone

Listen at Stitcher

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NFL News: Browns ask permission to interview 49ers Tom Gamble

January 3, 2013 by 4 Comments

Albert Breer is reporting that the Browns along with the Jets, Jags and Chargers are pursuing the San Francisco 49ers’ director of player personnel, Tom Gamble.

Gamble has already interviewed with the Jaguars but competition from the Jets might be strongest of all according to NinersNation. According to their information the Jets have put Gamble at the top of their wishlist based on a recommendation from former Colts President Bill Polian.

[Related: Browns’ exhaustive coaching search is refreshing]

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NFL Free Agency: Browns interested in linebacker Manny Lawson

March 20, 2012 by 26 Comments

After signing Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker the Browns might not be finished with its defense in free agency just yet. Scout.com attributes to league sources that the Browns, Colts and Raiders are all interested in the 27-year-old former 49er and Bengal, linebacker Manny Lawson.

Lawson is a former first rounder out of NC State. He is 6’5″ and listed at 240 pounds. Tell me if this sounds familiar. He was drafted by the 49ers as they transitioned from the 4-3 defense to the 3-4 after playing his college career as a defensive end. Unlike Browns experiments with guys like David Veikune, Lawson was able to make the transition pretty well.

We’ll see if anything develops between the Browns and Manny Lawson. He signed with the Bengals last season for 1 year and $3 million. Who knows if the Browns are looking to add some depth, or if they might have concerns about Scott Fujita’s potential discipline from the league due to the Saints’ bounty program.

[Related: Scott Fujita named in Saints bounty investigation]

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Giants Advance Past San Francisco 20-17 in OT

January 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The New York Giants ended San Francisco’s amazing run with new head coach Jim Harbaugh in overtime Sunday setting up a Super Bowl rematch of sorts with the New England Patriots.

Today began with the possibility of 2 Harbaughs coaching in the biggest game of the year, and instead will feature neither of them after New England’s win over Baltimore. Instead, we have Eli Manning going for his second Super Bowl ring (which would be one more than his brother) in Peyton’s home stadium. Safe to say that the local Indianapolis fans will be pulling for the younger Manning to do for a second time what Peyton has had trouble accomplishing- namely beating the Patriots in the post-season.

Browns fans meanwhile will continue to watch with little rooting interest after Brad Seely’s special teams crew made two crucial mistakes in the return game likely costing the 49ers the game.

Additionally, Browns players will be enjoying the game from home, or the local establishment of their choice. Like center Alex Mack-

Might as well go ahead and make your plans for next post-season too Alex.

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NFL Free Agency News: Former Buckeye Troy Smith Signs With the Steelers

January 20, 2012 by 7 Comments

It might not be the best news for Steelers backup QBs Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon, but Troy Smith has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers according to Ed Bouchette’s Twitter feed.  Smith, as you all probably know, is a Clevelander having played at St. Ed’s and Ted Ginn Sr.’s program in Glenville.

This will be Troy Smith’s second stint with a Cleveland Browns rival after spending 2007-09 with the Baltimore Ravens.  Smith had a chance to be starter in Baltimore during the transition from Kyle Boller to Joe Flacco, but Smith became ill before he was due to start the third pre-season game of the 2008 season.  Big Joe Flacco started that game and the rest is history.

Troy Smith has also spent time with the San Francisco 49ers and the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks.  Now, the Cleveland native who many Ohio State fans grew to love so much during his Heisman-winning season in 2006 will be suited up on Sundays in those horrendous black and pee yellow uniforms.

You have to think Smith will make the team next year as Dennis Dixon is a free agent and Charlie Batch is only a few years away from getting a free cup of coffee at Denny’s and also a free agent.

[Also read: When the Browns Miss the Playoffs, They Really Miss the Playoffs]

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The Illusion of Overnight NFL Success

October 31, 2011 by 45 Comments

Everyone wants to point to won/loss records in the NFL and say that a team was an overnight success.  It is true that Jim Harbaugh has provided something to this 49ers team in the way of leadership and organization that was lacking a year ago, but let’s not pretend this was an overnight process.  The San Francisco 49ers have a lot of players who have been with the team awhile.  Frank Gore and Alex Smith have been in San Francisco since 2005.    Vernon Davis is in his sixth season.  This is linebacker Patrick Willis’ fifth year.  Nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga is playing in his eighth season for the 49ers.  There are plenty more.

So let’s go back to 2005.  The 49ers won four games.  They won seven in 2006.  Five in 2007.  Seven in 2008.  Eight in 2009.  Six in 2010.  Remember though.  Most predicted the 49ers to win their division and make the playoffs in 2010.  And now in 2011 they are 6-1 after handling the Browns on Sunday.

So, yeah it looks like an overnight turnaround for the 49ers, I guess.  But when a team was supposed to be playoff caliber and failed to live up to it and then changes coaches and proves to be better, is that really over night?  Do you think it feels like that to the 49ers fanbase?  I am sure they are elated that Jim Harbaugh was able to come in and give order to this team and turn them into winners, but they were supposed to challenge for the playoffs last year.  Let’s compare it with the Browns a little bit. [Read more...]

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Time For Some Browns Fan and Media Self-Reflection

October 31, 2011 by 121 Comments

I am left wondering a great many things after the Browns game yesterday.  But I’m thinking maybe I don’t have as much wonderment about the Browns as about some of the fans and critics in the media.  I don’t know what a lot of them were expecting from this team going into San Francisco as ten point underdogs.  More importantly, I can’t figure out what anyone gets out of sarcastically ripping the team for four straight hours without so much as a hint of constructive criticism.  Just because you can type bad punchlines about a struggling team for an entire game, doesn’t make you any more right about the progress (or lack thereof) of the team.  It certainly doesn’t add anything of value to the universe either.  I can honestly stand a banged up, under-performing, developmental team more than I can stand some of the people who critique them anymore.

I am not defending the Browns play or them losing.  This is not a “In Holmgren We Trust” diatribe.  I have plenty of critiques of my own for Pat Shurmur, Tom Heckert and Mike Holmgren.  They made their (increasingly uncomfortable) beds with regard to wide receiver and right tackle.  At the same time, to sit there and read them the riot act about an offense not producing consistently after being down to a single running back, that wasn’t even on the roster more than two weeks ago is positively goofy.  Remember Brandon Jackson and Peyton Hillis?  They were supposed to be available to play this season as your starters.  Montario Hardesty went down in the first quarter with a calf injury and he was an unknown prospect coming into the year.  The Browns weren’t trying to be this thin at running back and everyone should know it.

When facts are dressed up as excuses for Halloween are they not still facts? [Read more...]

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Open Thread: Browns vs. 49ers

October 30, 2011 by 123 Comments


The Browns are wearing mustaches, approaching today’s game as a business trip, and fresh off a three point win at home over the Seattle Seahawks heading into today’s tilt with the 49ers.  Even with all those things pointing to an inevitable Browns win today though, they still most certainly have their hands full.  Frank Gore is a load, and Jim Harbaugh has these Niners playing like they think they can beat anybody. [Read more...]

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Browns Have Mustaches Packed For Business Trip In San Francisco

October 29, 2011 by 8 Comments

The Browns are approaching tomorrow’s game in San Francisco against the 49ers as a business trip. In the spirit of that, they are emphasizing the handshake in celebration of a big play, and growing mustaches to maintain their focus both on and off the football field.

As you can see from the picture above, it is definitely working so far.  Count me as a person who is extremely intimidated by all five of these football playing gentleman, especially Tony Pashos in the middle.  I feel like apologizing to him for no reason just to be safe.

From left to right in the picture above, if you didn’t recognize them in their facial hair, you have Cleveland Browns LB D’Qwell Jackson, OT Joe Thomas, OT Tony Pashos, LB Chris Gocong and LB Scott Fujita.  Fujita is apparently the organizer of the mustache thing, or at least appears to be based on his tweet yesterday. [Read more...]

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Week 8: The Browns Will Win If…

October 28, 2011 by 25 Comments

The Browns are 3-3. How is that possible? After a game against Seattle that set offensive football (and I do mean offensive! [rim shot]) back 40 years, the Browns will find their task much tougher this week as they travel to the left coast to play the red hot 49ers. Maybe Jim Harbaugh will cause Pat Shurmur to finally snap and go Jim Schwartz stark raving mad afterward.

browns49ers

The Browns’ offense has become a liability. The Browns’ special teams have become a liability. Awesome, because the 49ers are second-best in the league on defense in terms of points-allowed per game, and have one of the best ST coordinators (Brad Seely, remember him?) in the game. The 49ers’ offense actually is worse than the Browns’ in terms of yards per game, but they are strong running the ball (131.5 yards per game, which is 6th in the NFL). The Browns’ defense is coming off of a great performance in shutting down the Seahawks dreadful attack. It will not be so easy this week.

Oh, and that guy Braylon Edwards… remember him? He’s on this 49ers team. Without further ado…

The Browns Will Win If…

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All Eyes on TJ Ward as the Browns Head to San Francisco

October 27, 2011 by 2 Comments

Browns strong safety TJ Ward has been making his presence felt as of late, but could have his gloved hands very full this Sunday when the team travels to San Francisco to take on the 49ers.  Tasked with the dual-hat duty of run support while occasionally dropping back in pass coverage, Ward will have the opportunity to not only help contain running back Frank Gore but also two of the Niners’ biggest receiving weapons in tight ends Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker.

Gore is averaging 5.0 yards per carry and has reached pay dirt four times, though fumbling just as many times, in six contests. Of the eight touchdowns achieved through the air by the 5-1 49ers, six have landed in the hands of one of their tight ends. The perfect recipe for play-action passes, Cleveland’s Ward will be handed the not-so-easy job of ensuring that he doesn’t bite on the fake handoffs, leaving the rest of his defensive backs to pick up the slack with a pair of streaking receiving options. [Read more...]

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On the Browns and Taylor Mays

August 15, 2011 by 23 Comments

I’m not even sure, exactly why I am talking about Taylor Mays.  I guess mostly for a couple of reasons.  Last year before the Browns drafted Joe Haden and T.J. Ward, Taylor Mays was one of the many draft options in the forefront of many Browns fans’ minds.  There were questions about his maturity, attitude and his size being a bit too big to play NFL safety in coverage.  Those questions ended up causing him to drop into the second round where Mike Singletary and the 49ers snatched him up with the 49th overall pick.  Fast forward and Mike Singletary is out and ESPN reported that the 49ers sent an email blast letting everyone know that Mays was available.

Again, why am I even talking about this?  The Browns don’t have a spot for Taylor Mays with T.J. Ward at the strong safety and Usama Young and Mike Adams at the free safety.  Plus, free safety seems like a pretty bad fit for Mays as the question marks around him are related to his ball skills and inability to play in space.  Even still, I can’t help but wonder if this is the kind of project that the new Browns’ regime would be interested in entertaining.  Why?  Check it out. [Read more...]

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