Report: Browns to Ask for $5.8 Million from City of Cleveland
January 19, 2012Semih Productive
January 19, 2012I don’t think it is unfair to say that Randy Lerner did very well for himself yesterday. Sure, there will be those among us who will prefer to continue to harp on the lack of winning and disregard anything Randy had to say. As I’ve said before, if wins and losses are all that matters in critiquing and analyzing the Cleveland Browns, we probably shouldn’t even talk about them again until after week one of the regular season next year. I thought it was a great move by Randy to answer his critics. He seemed to be saying that he isn’t just throwing money at this team and hoping. He seemed to be saying that despite what some critics say and what has been purported in the past he is deeply invested and involved in this rebuilding organization in a manner other than the obvious financial one.
There’s no doubt that Randy Lerner chose his interviewer, Mike Trivisonno, for a reason. Triv made no bones about the fact that he considers himself a friend of the Lerner family. What transpired with Randy Lerner was the polar opposite of an interrogation and came off as a very friendly conversation. None of these facts are criticisms by the way. This is entertainment folks, and telling your story how you want to tell it is part of the deal. My biggest problem with Randy Lerner hasn’t been what he says, how he says it or who he says it to. It has been that he doesn’t say anything for the most part. Randy changed that yesterday afternoon, at least for one day.
Randy Lerner knows that this team has been abysmal to watch. Yes, he knows the team hasn’t won yet and that means the jury is still out on Mike Holmgren. Lerner claims to be in the office with Holmgren weekly and made it seem like the communication is so frequent that to characterize it in formal weekly updates would be inappropriate. That’s a good answer for all those who say Randy Lerner is hands-off and doesn’t care. It’s a stark contrast to my thoughts that by hiring Mike Holmgren he had simply outsourced himself as owner of the team. A hands-off outsourcing would be Lerner telling Holmgren to handle it and then scheduling weekly phonecalls for updates. Lerner’s description isn’t remotely close to that.
In terms of it “starting from the top,” as many of Randy Lerner’s critics like to scream as they point to the Rooney family in Pittsburgh, Lerner seemed out to allay fears. He talked about his frustrations, and talked pretty decisively about the quarterback and its importance. When Lerner talked about the QB histories in Pittsburgh and Baltimore running off names like Kordell Stewart, Tommy Maddox and Kyle Boller, he seemed to be speaking directly to an organizational goal and directive. This is exactly what you want to hear from an owner of a team that hasn’t been able to find a quarterback to build around since Bernie Kosar.
It isn’t a good or bad thing for Colt McCoy that he joked about losing his “ability to speak” when asked about the young QB. It’s just a cold, hard fact that the Browns will absolutely need better quarterback play in the future. Colt McCoy can still do that if he comes in and outperforms whoever else is brought in to give it a try. Lerner’s statement makes me feel that McCoy will undoubtedly have competition in camp though. Whether that guy is Matt Flynn, RG III, or even Kevin Kolb, you get the feeling that the Browns will not attempt to re-create Baltimore’s magical Superbowl run with Trent Dilfer and the best defense in the history of the NFL. There is no lock-tight gameplan to finding the quarterback, but simply knowing how much of a priority it is is useful for a fanbase wondering about the abilities of the organization running their favorite football team.
Lerner also spoke pretty decisively that this thing isn’t all about Mike Holmgren. Holmgren is certainly integral to the development of the program, but Lerner says the Browns aren’t a “Mike (Holmgren) get it done equation.” He seemed more interested in maintaining the organizational structure of departments of specialties and responsibilities including Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur. I’ve said all along that I don’t know if Mike Holmgren can get the job done in Cleveland, but I do believe in the structure with a front office and a coaching staff with separation of powers, but all working together.
One thing that the loudest critics and I agree on is that ultimately wins better materialize on the football field. Ultimately, that is all anyone is judged on in the long run. It just seems to me that this is the first time in a long time where patience truly is warranted because they’re building an organization that is different than what they’ve tried the last few times going back to Butch Davis. And whatever it is they’re building, it includes Randy Lerner being in his office in Berea right next to his President with apparent frequency. Again, it won’t matter until they start winning on the field, but if you take Lerner at his word, he is at least trying to influence this thing from the top down.
67 Comments
FWIW:
Answer:
4-12
5-11
7-9
2-14
6-10
8-8
8-8
9-7
6-10
Question:
What were the Houston Texans’ records by season before making the playoffs in 2011?
Before everyone bites my head off and/or jumps down my throat, I’m not saying anything definitive about the Browns’ current regime, players, staff, fans, stadium, owner, etc. All I’m saying is that Houston gave Kubiak and Co. FIVE years of 6-games-under-.500 football to build something, and this season that something sure looked worth the wait.
randy’s fucking up the villa and the browns
go hard or go home
I loved the unalloyed 140 character blast from Grossi. It channeled the angst towards Lerner we’ve been feeling since 2003. I’ve been disappointed by the forced PD retraction; why exactly does the free press have to kowtow to a powerful and ineffectual billionaire?
Welcome to Cleveland, soulman. We’re a lot like you guys in England with regards to the World Cup: our long-suffering town hasn’t won a championship since ’64.
Lerner is mostly a shadowy figure in the organization – I honestly can’t remember the last time we heard from him publicly. Sorry he’s inflicting his pathologies on your franchise as well.
Wait, I just went over to see where Villa is in the table. 13th! 10th in goal differential and they don’t look to really be in danger of relegation. They just had a 3-1 win away at Chelsea on December 31. Why are all the Villa supporters crying bloody murder?
understand where you’re coming from… but i’ll take the four sniffs of competitiveness that the texans provided prior to this year’s playoff bid. we’ve been relevant nationally once in ten years.
Now’s the part of the season whereas the teams that normally struggle in the prem league are used to the pressure and start pulling results out of the bag. I worry we won’t have the guts for the fight, especially the way we’ve dropped points against local rivals we normally beat especially at home. The players look clueless with no motivation and lack of tactics, it’s the manager and his coaching staff causing that but ultimately Lerner employed them, he needs to see the error he’s made and rectify it!
“some NFL franchise” ??? we take this game just as seriously in Ohio as you take it in England. don’t think your version of football is better just because you’ve been around longer
by hiring mike holmgren randy lerner got what he wants; a free pass
let’s forget about the 10 years of him running this thing like a hobby and praise him for doing an interview.
I don’t care if he is quiet or loud but you have to be good at what you do to run billion dollar franchises.
If randy lerner was employed to run the browns he woulda shoulda been fired after his 1st or 2nd year.
We need to run things like the packers do and have the community own the team.
That is the only way to get accountability of the higher ups.
Yeah, my post wasn’t really a direct reply to yours in so much as it was to the collective that wants to shove everyone out the door if we’re not all wearing gold-plated diapers after one season.
Haven’t seen someone this hated by both Americans and Brits since the Axis.
Hey, maybe we should all collectively refer to the man as “Lend/Lease”? Get it?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Disagree on “source of shame.” “Punchline”, maybe, but the Crunch dominated the ’90s (7 championship appearances in 10 years!) and gave Cleveland our most recent championship in ’99. Although, I would argue it only seems like a “punchline” because we have other “real” sports to compare indoor soccer to.
Most Americans (and I assume British) supported the Lend/Lease Act. Based on comments, that does not seem to be the case here.
What do Americans and British both think are weak and ineffectual (besides the French)?
Your history is good. I was thinking more of the fact that he’s transitory between the two, without either ever having actual possession (or, apparently, wanting it). It was admittedly a very, very bad joke.
Anyone keen to organise a joint protest. Get all the Brown fans in Villa colours and the Villa fans in Clevland tops? Don’t forget our clubs randy!
Sounds good, but first we have to agree on whether to spell “organize” with an ‘s’ or a ‘z’. This could get ugly
Or was it the best joke of all time?