Hoyer could lose $2 million if Manziel starts
December 1, 2014Lessons from the Road for Cleveland State
December 1, 2014Happy Cyber Monday, you guys. We’ll have plenty of stuff to talk about over the coming hours including a Cavaliers winning streak and the Browns lack thereof. If you haven’t been around much due to the holiday, I suggest you give our annual Thanksgiving post a quick read—it’s one of our favorite traditions. If you’ve already read that, well—you’re in the right place. While We’re Waiting…
So the Johnny Manziel era in Cleveland has officially begun. Mike Pettine can talk all he wants about having to “look at the tape.” He can hedge his words all he’d like, mentioning that some of the late game success might have come against a softer defense (even though there was that one all-out blitz on the botched shotgun snap). He can say that the game turned on Terrance West’s fumble and not the fourth-quarter interception by Brian Hoyer. But you can’t give fans (and media) a glimpse of Johnny Manziel leading his team down the field, and scoring an actual touchdown, and then go back to the guy who has struggled for most of the last month and expect to somehow win that battle. You just can’t.
Manziel may have been up against a softer defense. He may have just caught lightning in a bottle against a team that had not game-planned for a more fleet-of-foot quarterback. He may have lucked out a bit on that overturned fumble. But Cleveland fans have watched not-so-idly has Hoyer, week after week, has lofted passes to opposing defensive backs while any and all success has been in the way of field goals. Manziel showed more confidence, more zip, and fought hard for that touchdown. Say what you wish about your quarterback diving into the end zone head first and the dangers that may come with it. I’ll show you a scoreboard that hasn’t increased by a factor of six often enough for the last month.
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And then there’s this whole contract thing. If the Browns feel that Manziel, at this stage provides them the best chance to win football games, and can somehow avoid paying Hoyer an extra $2 million on his contract this year, riding the rest of the way with No. 2 under center would be a safe assumption. Doing so would effectively burn any contract negotiating bridge that the Browns may have yearned to cross this offseason, but if Manziel is in fact the answer going forward, there’s little sense in keeping Hoyer around, unless he’s willing to play the role of back-up quarterback/player-coach.
Either way, this is shaping up to be an interesting (fun?) week, final month of the NFL season, and an even more interesting winter.
I thought about using this piece in this week’s #ActualSportswriting, but it was a bit too meta to bury in a section that I’m convinced gets skipped by the majority of readers. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn digs into how Twitter has changed the way that media, both young and old, have been forced to cover the teams of their respective tasks.
Rosenthal’s near-midnight scoop was not the only reminder of how Twitter, the social media phenomenon in which the currency of information is disseminated in 140-character increments, has changed the process of covering professional sports, particularly baseball. But it was literally the latest reminder that proper coverage now requires close to around-the-clock monitoring. […]
The advent of Twitter is not the only radical change to baseball reporting in recent years, particularly for beat writers who are charged with covering the day-to-day workings of a particular team.
The advent of blogs – and newspapers’ begrudging acceptance of them – meant that there was always room for more. The newspaper had space limitations, sure, which kept the beat writers’ responsibilities to the traditional game story, tweaked once or twice for later editions, and a notebook. But feeding the ever-growing online monster?
I love pieces like this because they describe the impact of social media (vis a vis Twitter) on news, specifically the type of news we cover here on a daily basis. I find it interesting, however, as I’ve read similar pieces from football and basketball writers in the past and it took a few major Hot Stove moves to get it written by a baseball scribe.
I could go on about plenty of the items discussed in the piece, but for the sake of time, I’ll let you read it and then we can discuss what qualifies an “unreasonable workload.” It wasn’t that long ago that newspaper folks could go to a press conference, jot down their notes, and then take their time in putting together a story on the subject matter. Now, it seems they are required to tweet out paraphrased quotes as they’re occurring, tweet a summation of the events and then quickly head to their website’s back end and get a draft ready for an editor to clean up and produce for viewing.
Think it’s bad in-season? Watch as Browns beat type scramble to re-tweet the latest updates from the Adam Schefters of the world once Berea is closed for the year. As someone who loathes play-by-play-type tweeting, especially by multiple reporters—at the same time—I can agree with Finn that the majority of tweets tend to border on minutiae and frivolousness. But if you ask me, that’s the reporter’s choice. When it comes to breaking news, or having items in-game that those at home or in the stands don’t, however, there’s no rest for the wicked.
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A few things I’m thinking…
• If you’re an NFL fan, you probably know this; but if you’re just a Browns fan, you likely have not followed the career of wide receiver Charles Johnson since he was released by the team earlier this year. The incredibly athletic Johnson has latched on to the Minnesota Vikings and, over time, has effectively become their No. 1 receiver. He caught six balls for 87 yards in Week 11, three balls for 52 yards and a score in Week 12 (playing in all but two snaps), and two more balls for 41 yards against the Panthers this past Sunday. I love seeing young, relatively unknown players produce when given the shot. I wish it could’ve happened in Cleveland, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Good for CJ.
• The Browns really, really screwed the pooch this past weekend, blowing a huge opportunity with the losses amassed by Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Tres Browns.
• This is weird, no? The Cavs release AJ Price in order to sign Will Cherry. Price plays well in Indiana, gets released for some reason and then the Cavs reverse course?
• Terribly unfortunate news out of Columbus. I won’t pretend to know much about the kid, but you hate to see these types of stories, especially around the holidays.
• I love the look on Santa’s face when my daughter says that all she wants for Christmas is a “Frozen blanket.” Last year, it was “suckers.” I hope she’s this low maintenance for the rest of her life.
• That Serial Season 2 took crowdsourced funding to exist is mind-blowing. It says so, so much about podcast minimization when one of the biggest things to hit the medium took listeners to pay for a sequel. Like web properties, I have no doubt that monitoring quality podcasts will happen in time, but if they’re this far behind, it could be a rough ride for one of the best mediums out there today.
• The Josh Donaldson trade bothers me. An MVP candidate who hits with power and plays third base while being under club control for FOUR MORE YEARS? Seems like a no-brainer, no? More so after I read a piece saying that the Indians could have matched (or topped) the offer. Then again, every team that acquires a star between now and April (while the Indians largely sit idle) will bother me. Such is the life of a Tribe fan.
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No slideshows here. Check out this week’s edition of #ActualSportswriting
“The other side of a miracle” by Thomas Lake (Sports Illustrated): “The first rays of the sun cross the Chattahoochee River at 6:20 a.m., in a forest at the southeastern corner of Alabama. Then a clear, cold morning moves west and north across the state. It reaches Dothan at 6:22, Auburn at 6:25. When the sun rises at 6:28 in Montgomery, Crimson Tide placekicker Cade Foster is asleep in the hotel where his team is sequestered. Last night he turned in at a reasonable hour and lay in the dark, thinking about field goals. Eyes locked on the target. Three steps back, exhale. Two steps over, exhale. Nod to the holder and go. No reason to worry. This season he’s missed only once: 11 games, 11 wins, 11 through the uprights.”1
“DEA Raids and the NFL’s Painkiller Crisis” by Charles P. Pierce (Grantland): “In truth, there is no real distinction to be drawn between the experiences of Ben Johnson and Kirk Gibson and Thomas Hicks with the drugs they were given to enhance their performances. The only differences were how those events were presented to the public, and how the public ginned itself up in response.”2
“A eulogy for RadioShack, the panicked and half-dead retail empire” by Jon Bois (SB Nation): “But as this company has spent the last decade-plus trying to save itself, the happiness of the employees has always been the first to go overboard. Its store managers are worked so hard that they become unhappy, half-awake shadows of themselves. Labor laws have been brazenly ignored. Untold hours of labor haven’t been paid for (when I quit, on good terms and with two weeks’ notice, they withheld my final paychecks for months and wouldn’t tell me why). Lawyers have been sent to shut down websites that have bad things to say about RadioShack. Employees who make a few dimes over minimum wage are pressured, shamed, and yelled at as though they’re brokering million-dollar deals.”3
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And finally, this week’s Brew du Jour: 2XMAS from Southern Tier Brewing Comapny
If it seems like we’ve been talking about Christmas Ales a lot lately, it’s because we have. I try to dive into whatever my weekend provided, and well—it’s been a lot of Christmas Ales as of late. It’ll change soon, I promise. But for now, we talk STC.
In a day in age where seemingly every brewer, especially of the craft mold, is producing a winter warmer and trying their darnedest to replicate the best, Southern Tier comes strong with two, large differentiators: ABV and cloves—lots and lots of cloves.
The maker of Imperial Pumking (hands down the best pumpkin-flavored beer on the market—don’t even try), Southern Tier takes their popular 2X line (double IPA, double stout, etc.) and extrapolates it over to their Christmas Ale where they pack in enough spice that cracks your nose the second you pop open that cap. With an ABV a bit higher than some of the more popular warmers, Souther Tier stocks theirs full of orange peel, figs, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and the aforementioned cloves. Seriously, if you’re not a clove fan, you may as well move along to something else; if you’re down, then this one’s for you.
Like most other warmers, it pours a dark brown with a white head that sticks to the glass the entire way down. I haven’t tried it with a cinnamon rim, but I’m sure it’d add to the experience in the same way that it does with others. I’m not ready to put this one up there with GLBC’s Christmas Ale, Fathead’s Holly Jolly or Thirsty Dog’s 12 Dogs of Christmas, but it’s easily on that next tier (no pun intended) with Breckenridge, Sam Adams’ Old Fezziwig, and Shiner’s Cheer. Sorry Abita; better luck Next Year.
- It’s been a while since I’ve read a piece by Lake, and this was worth the wait. No one thinks about the kicker. Ever. [↩]
- Love Pierce, love investigative work, and love when the NFL gets turned on its head. This piece is an all-around win. [↩]
- Not necessarily a sports story, but it’s well-written and is on a sports site. I can’t believe RadioShack has lasted this long. Circuit City went out of business, what, 10 years ago? [↩]
29 Comments
Mandatory Johnny thoughts: There is no way that Johnny knows football as well as Hoyer does yet. But for most of the season, I’ve believed the Browns should play Hoyer until JFF knows the game well enough that his talent can carry the difference between the two.
I think we may have reached that point, especially as it seems Hoyer is starting to hit a wall (it is, after all, his first full season as an every day player).
Johnny’s passes have some great zip on them, and we saw what he can do with a little bit of space. When the running game is struggling, Johnny’s ability to pick up an easy 5 yards and then get down can act as a stopgap. And, frankly, he looked ready. I know he said he was nervous, but in that first series, he looked like he belonged.
No doubt we will see plenty of rookie mistakes. It’s too bad we can’t transplant Hoyer’s brain into Johnny’s body. But since that’s not an option, VIVA LA FOOTBALL!
Good stuff, Scott.
One small correction: per both the PD and Grossi, I believe Hoyer’s $2m bonus already vested by the second quarter of yesterday’s game. So that shouldn’t have anything to do with the decision going forward this season.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2014/11/cleveland_browns_brian_hoyer_o_1.html
Well then. Thanks for passing along.
Now I see Will Gibson looks at the vesting numbers. His headline says “possible” no vesting but his writing says “highly improbable” even if Shanahan’s offensive system morphed mid-season into Philly’s.
RE X-Mas Ales: I had Hoppin’ Frog’s Frosted Frog this weekend. It was the most heavily spiced Christmas ale that I’ve tasted so far. At first it was pretty off-putting, but became enjoyable after the 3rd and 4th sips. I’m not sure where I’d rank it in terms of my favorite Christmas beers (for me, it’s hard to dethrone 12 Dogs), but it was a good effort.
I haven’t tried the Southern Tier 2x, but I’ll keep an eye out for it this weekend.
Man, I feel like such a contrarian, but here goes: Even though I’ve been one of the loudest “let’s see what Johnny has” voices in this WFNY commentariat, I think the Browns have to start Hoyer on Sunday. We got a glimpse of John Football, and in my opinion (and the opinion of lots of others, it seems) the glimpse was really good. Still, Hoyer is the “starting QB.” Manziel looked good for about 90 yards, but I don’t know that it should be enough to replace the starter, at least not right now. They should let Hoyer keep the job – maybe yesterday lit a fire? (But give him a short leash.)
My year-long, wholly unoriginal thought has been that the Browns want to see if Johnny can master the playbook and control the team at the line of scrimmage. He sure looked like he could do the latter, as he really had command of the team while on the field. Not sure about the former, yet, as none of us can possibly know how much of the playbook was thrown out there in the 4th quarter. (Also, as for brain transplants, I just dream of a maturity transplant. As much as I guiltily love it, Football’s got to get rid of that “money sign” thing.)
Picked up a case each of GLBC Christmas Ale, Holly Jolly and 2Xmas for Thanksgiving last week.
GLBC’s tasted much better this year than prior efforts but still resulted in a wicked head-ache after one beer.
Holly Jolly was very much spiced but the result was a smooth melody of complementory flavors with nothing standing out as overpowering.
2Xmas was surprisingly light to drink considering the relatively high ABV%. Smooth poor, mild flavor and unlike the other two above it you could taste the hops. An IPA drinker’s christmas beer I’d say.
Disagree. Hoyer has been a disappointment since the Cincinnati game. The future is now, time to see what Johnny can do.
Yeah, at the end of the day, I’m fine with that, too. It’s just that for this Sunday in particular, against the Colts, with the AFC North being what it is, I think I want the “vet” on the field – at least to start. I don’t think the Browns are a legitimate Playoff team, but they’re still arguably in the mix. Just not sure if going to Football is the answer right now. (If we lose on Sunday, regardless of the QB, there’s absolutely no reason to stick with or go back to Hoyer thereafter.)
I hear what you’re saying, but the “vet” savviness shows up sometimes (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New Orleans) and at others hasn’t seemed to get us much. I’m specifically thinking about the past 3 games, in addition to some of the close calls against Tennessee, Tampa, and Oakland (not to mention Jacksonville… oh Jacksonville…).
It’s seeming more and more like teams have been able to gameplan around Hoyer’s strengths as the season goes on and he’s been far less effective, even in some of the games we’ve won. If that’s the case, I’m at a point where I’m more interested to see what John Football can do.
As much as I agree about the money sign thing, I don’t see it going anywhere, sadly. BRANDING!
So you’re saying there’s no such thing as a maturity transplant?
Devil’s Advocate Position: With the Colt’s likely representing the hardest remaining game on the Brown’s schedule, if you spring Johnny on them on Wednesday, you can try to catch them with their pants down.
The book on Hoyer is out. Stop the run to stop the QB. (not that Indy is very good stopping the run). There’s not much tape on Johnny, and he certainly looked different than he did in the preseason. Perhaps the Browns can use that to their advantage.
My only problem with going back to Hoyer is how much leash do you give him? We all know the boo-birds are going to be out and ready, a couple 3 and outs, or another pick and its going to get ugly sounding.
if you go to Manzeeel after the crowd starts booing it gives the appearance that you caved. What if the Atlanta situation occurs again where he isn’t playing well but we are scoring points, if he throws a couple stupid picks while we are within a score of Indy should he get yanked? Like I tell my kids, yank the Band-Aid off, it hurts less than dragging it out.
Also I want the money thing to expand. I want him to get a special solo intro each game and come out to the Million Dollar Man’s “Money, Money, Money” song while Virgil tosses my newly invented “Dawg Bucks” (redeemable at the Team Shop!) into the crowd. Maybe even go full heel and bring Hoyers wife down and give her a mink coat. Sorry football bores the hell out of me, I need to find ways to try and liven it up.
Let’s flip this coin over. What happens if Football goes out there on Sunday and gets poleaxed? Now you’ve got yourself a real dilemma. Do you go right back to Hoyer with Football’s confidence wriggling on the sideline like a run-over snake on the highway? At this point, it’s much easier to yank Hoyer than it is to yank Football. As for the leash, though, I’d say its length is somewhere between a 10 and 14 point differential, on a sliding scale with a with a starting basis of 7 offensive points by halftime. (That may only make sense in my mind, but I’m too lazy to try to spell it out. Just trust me that it makes complete sense in my concussion-addled, bourbon-seasoned mind.)
I giggle like a little kid every time I stop to think that Johnny Football is on the Cleveland Browns. That giggling little kid really wants the Football persona to expand as well, but the stupid grown-up in my knows it can’t last.
It’s never advisable to take the Devil as a client, but your argument is sound.
Counterpoint: As I just posed this question to porck below, what happens if Football goes out and gets shellacked? How do you yank the rookie in favor of Hoyer. It’s much easier to put a leash on Hoyer than it is to put one on the 1st round draft pick icon in the next/last game that may really matter.
If I were the Colts, I would much rather game plan for Hoyer than Manziel.
Think about DQ trying to tackle Manziel in the open field
the Colts are not the toughest defense though, so you get the added bonus of giving Manziel a game where if he does surprise will get a defense that we may be able to handle
http://wrestlersbioa.weebly.com/uploads/8/6/8/1/8681413/3908287_orig.gif
Sorry, the coin looks like this one on both sides:
https://0.s3.envato.com/files/28809277/signD.jpg
You know how coaches don’t like to tip their hands so that other teams have to game plan for all outcomes? Just by playing Manziel against Buffalo he has ensured that Indy needs to game plan for Johnny, whether he plays or not. So I think the Browns can have a small tactical advantage regardless of who starts.
I agree with G.O. in that Hoyer should play. In fact, I think Hoyer should play until the Browns are eliminated or until he stinks up the joint (again).
There was a small voice in my head that considered this possibility. Then another voice just started screaming “JOOOOOOHHHHHNNNNNYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!” Really loud. Then things got fuzzy. Waht were we talking about?
Bourbon.
In my last (attempted) dealing with RadioShack a few weeks ago, I was offered a 64gb flash drive for $110 plus tax. I looked at the sales rep wide eyed and half laughing, and he said “I know man, I know.” I then drove over to MicroCenter and got a 128gb flash drive for $50. RadioShack is the absolute worst.
Scott, just in case you are correct in that many bypass your real journalism links, here is the anvil from the great Pierce article:
We no longer are talking about healing, even in the sense of using a steroid to get over an injury, but about taking a drug to ignore the injury, to mask symptoms, and to deaden the body’s most essential warning system — pain — so as to allow an athlete to endanger himself further
Beautiful.
My GLBC Christmas Ale care package arrived this weekend.
My brother also included Market Garden Festivus Ale, that he says is better. Blasphemer.