• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
buckeyeboy said:
That's right. He must be trying to sell himself as a fullback in the NFL. :slappy:
Click to expand...

I dont know what he is thinking.

Bench press reps arent everything, but when Reggie Bush can do 24 at 200 lbs.(and keep in mind hes not an inside runner), and LenDale White can only do 15 at 244 lbs.(while he is supposed to be a power back), something is up. That shows his work ethic isnt that great.

Also in his 4 years at USC, he has NEVER been timed in a 40. Mysteriously every time the football team runs one, hes sick or injured.
 
Upvote 0
16 bench reps didn't stop him from scoring an ass-load of TD's last year including many inside the 5 yard line. If he put up another 5-10 bench reps does that suddenly make him an even better runner? would you rather he had huge arms and skinny legs?
 
Upvote 0
CleveBucks said:
16 bench reps didn't stop him from scoring an ass-load of TD's last year including many inside the 5 yard line. If he put up another 5-10 bench reps does that suddenly make him an even better runner? would you rather he had huge arms and skinny legs?
Click to expand...

The bigger factor is that he weighed in at 244 lbs, which is much higher than his playing weight(most USC fans expected him to weigh in at 230 lbs. max.)

Also the fact that he is scared to run a 40 is really hurting his status.
 
Upvote 0
ABJ

4/4/06

Don't center it all on Bentley

Fullback Smith thinks new lineman might help Browns more at guard

By Tom Reed

Beacon Journal sportswriter

<!-- begin body-content -->BEREA - Browns fullback Terelle Smith supplied the most colorful story of the offseason Monday, one that included a late-night hankering for chicken wings and a chance encounter with LeCharles Bentley.
He also gave those assuming that the Browns will play Bentley at center something to remember: the former Ohio State standout was a Pro Bowl guard, as well.
Smith suggested that Bentley's skills and mentality might make him better suited to play guard for the Browns. He made the comments on the first day of Browns' offseason conditioning.
Considered by many as the jewel of the 2006 free-agent class, Bentley signed a six-year, $36 million deal with the Browns. Bentley, 26, earned Pro Bowl berths with the New Orleans Saints as a center last season and at guard during his rookie year of 2002.
The Browns are weighing their options and have given incumbent center Jeff Faine an opportunity to seek a trade. Browns running back Reuben Droughns said Monday that he hopes the franchise keeps Faine in some capacity and believes that the 2003 first-round pick is a valuable asset.
The Browns' busy offseason has also included signing tackle Kevin Shaffer and veteran utility lineman Bob Hallen (formerly of Kent State).
Most believe that the Browns intend to use Bentley (6-foot-2, 313 pounds) at center in hopes of neutralizing the likes of Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl nose tackle Casey Hampton.
Smith, a teammate of Bentley's for two seasons in New Orleans, said the Cleveland native brought a ``seek and destroy'' mentality to playing guard. He recalled devastating blocks Bentley leveled when he was used as pulling guard.
``I know what LeCharles can do as a guard, and putting him at center can sometimes take away what he can do as a guard,'' Smith said. ``... This guy is a man-eater. Some guards pull to go watch, (Bentley) pulls to go hunt.''
The fullback recalls making a late-night run for chicken wings in January when he noticed a vehicle pull beside him and blare its horn. It was Bentley.
Smith persuaded the Pro Bowler to join him for dinner.
He said he then lobbied for Bentley to join the Browns, and Bentley acknowledged that he was leaning in that direction.
The fullback said Bentley's lifting prowess is legendary.
``He eats four or five weight plates for breakfast,'' Smith said.
No safety first
Cornerback Gary Baxter, who missed most of last season with a pectoral injury, said he's ready to play -- as long as the position isn't safety. He left no doubt Monday that he wants to remain at cornerback.
Some in the media have suggested that Baxter could be moved to safety, a position he played in his second season with the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns traded safety Chris Crocker to the Atlanta Falcons.
``It's not even an option,'' he said. ``I laughed at (the media report) when somebody brought it to me... That's not what I'm doing right now. It's cornerback.''
Brian Russell, Brodney Pool and Sean Jones are expected to compete for the two safety spots. Baxter was asked, hypothetically, what if coach Romeo Crennel wants him to play safety?
``Not an option, not an option, it does not come with that vehicle,'' Baxter said.
He said no one on the coaching staff has broached the subject. For the record, he used the phrase ``not an option'' or ``not even an option'' 10 times in a span of three minutes.
Brownies
Baxter believes that the biggest difference defensively is that players now are comfortable in the 3-4 alignment and will react more instinctively in the second season.... Linebacker Andra Davis conceded that he was naive to suggest a year ago that converting from the 4-3 to the 3-4 would not be a major undertaking.... Davis thinks that the Browns can be in the playoff race this season. He said newly acquired linebacker Willie McGinest plans to take the linebackers to dinner Wednesday.... Neither Droughns nor Smith said they had a preference about who starts at quarterback -- Charlie Frye or Trent Dilfer.
<!-- end body-content --><!-- begin body-end -->
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Canton

4/4/06

First step toward success: Let’s all just get along
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]SPORTS SPOTLIGHT TODD PORTER[/FONT]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

BEREA - Wind rolled across the old railroad tracks that are a Lou Groza kick from Browns headquarters. The sun peeked its face through the clouds ever so slightly. Inside, two monsters — Terrelle Smith and Reuben Droughns — did their act.

It would have been worth admission, unlike many Browns games last season.

Cleveland took its collective first step toward the 2006 season Monday morning when the team’s offseason lifting and conditioning program started.

It’s one of those mandatory voluntarily programs, where players are paid; some even make six-figure bonus checks for meeting certain requirements.
These are the programs NFL players dread. Lifting. Running. Pain. Loss of breath. Dry mouth.

And no one is there to see it.

The Browns started in earnest with players genuinely growing to like one another.

Smith told a funny story about driving around one night in January looking for chicken wings. He and native son LeCharles Bentley bumped heads. It was before free agency, before Bentley became the poster child of Cleveland’s comeback this offseason.

“He rolled up next to me in his car and said, ‘Hey, T, what’s up?’ ” Smith said. “I said let’s go have a drink and talk. We both took cabs home thanks to Reuben.”

Droughns, seated next to Smith, laughed.

It was a sharp joke at the expense of Droughns, who was charged with driving under the influence last year.

The joke made obvious what players proclaimed Monday: They are closer.

Who can joke about something so embarrassing?

All the Browns took part in the first day, some reporting as early as 7:30 in the morning. Gary Baxter, who missed 11 games last year with injuries, starts his sixth NFL season in 2006. He’s never been fond of offseason workouts.

Until Monday.

“(Last year) guys weren’t excited,” Baxter said. “Today, the first day, guys are excited. They’re shaking hands and talking about winning. The attitude is there. The chemistry is definitely there. ... The kickers were excited, and they don’t play that much.”

Of course, there isn’t a team in the NFL who says things are bad in April.

The Browns have talked before about how good they will be.

This year, though, there could be a grain of truth to it. There could be a reason Smith and Bentley happened to see one another one January night.

A closer team, one where everyone likes everyone in the other corner of the locker room, is the first step toward success.

Daylon McCutcheon and Droughns recently hosted cookouts. Free-agent linebacker Willie McGinest, who will be a team leader, has arranged a Wednesday dinner with the rest of the linebackers.

“The expectations are very high,” Baxter said. “It’s hard for people to understand when you get new coaches, a new system, it’s like walking in the dark with your eyes closed trying to find your way through.

“This is a new season, a new year and the lights are on. Everybody’s eyes are open.”

The one thing not lost on any of the four players who talked Monday was the embarrassment of Christmas Eve 2005. The 41-0 loss to Pittsburgh may be the most embarrassing yuletide memory since Flick stuck his tongue to the flagpole in “A Christmas Story.”

Pittsburgh might’ve knocked the Browns into a rivalry that day, too.
“That 41-to-nothin’ whipping is sitting in the back of my mind,” Droughns said. “It’s why we’re all here.”

Maybe April will make a difference. Yes, the wind howled at 76 Lou Groza Blvd. It wasn’t hot air this time.
Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: [email protected]
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Canton

4/4/06

Davis sees ‘D’ potential

Tuesday, April 4, 2006


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Steve Doerschuk REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER[/FONT]


BEREA - Beaming at the official launch of the Browns’ offseason program, Andra Davis said he’s “getting ready to have the best season of my career.”

Who will line up alongside Davis at inside linebacker? That’s the biggest question facing coordinator Todd Grantham’s 3-4 scheme.

Davis led the team in tackles in 2005. The runner-up, fellow inside linebacker Ben Taylor, has departed for Green Bay.

One of last year’s starting outside linebackers, Matt Stewart or Chaun Thompson, could move inside now that outside backer Willie McGinest has been signed.

“Chaun is athletic enough to do a lot of things,” Davis said, “but it’s going to be up to Romeo (Crennel) and Todd.”

The draft is seen as deep in inside linebackers. It’s all but a lock the Browns will pick one within the first four rounds.

The right draft pick, Davis said, could do “a real good job”’ if needed to start as a rookie.

“I’m gonna teach him everything I know about the system,” Davis said. “... I’ve got five or six notebooks full of stuff.”

Nose tackle Ted Washington could make a huge difference.

“He’s like 6-foot-5, 390 .... I’ve never seen a human being that big,” Davis said. “When we first signed him, I was like a little kid jumping up and down.

“He’s gonna demand a double team, probably sometimes a triple team.”
Davis spent a lot of time in 2005 fending off offensive linemen who broke through.

“With Ted,” Davis said, “they’ve got to at least double-team him, which will allow us to run and make plays in the backfield hopefully.”

The front seven has experience everywhere but at the inside linebacker spot opposite Davis.

At safety, youngsters Brodney Pool or Sean Jones, or both, could break through as starters. At corner, Daylon McCutcheon and Gary Baxter are established veterans, and Leigh Bodden played well as an injury replacement for Baxter.

“Leigh Bodden ... (has) just been phenomenal ever since he’s been here,” Davis said. “I definitely have a lot of confidence in his ability.

“It’s gonna make for an interesting training camp.”
Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail: [email protected]


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
CPD

4/4/06

<H1 class=red>BROWNS

</H1>

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Tony Grossi

Plain Dealer Reporter

The fun Browns teams known as the "Kardiac Kids" never would have happened if not for Peter Hadhazy, who died Monday after a brief illness.

The Browns' general manager was the person who convinced former owner Art Modell in 1978 to hire as coach an unknown assistant with the New Orleans Saints named Sam Rutigliano.

"The only person he called for the job was me," Rutigliano recalled Monday in a telephone call from Germany. "Art Modell didn't want to bring Sam Who to Cleveland. Peter got a gavel and stomped on a desk and said hire him."

Rutigliano handed the offense to quarterback Brian Sipe, drafted future Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome and the Browns became one of the NFL's most exciting teams over the 1979 and 1980 seasons.

Hadhazy died unexpectedly after complaining of not feeling well over the weekend. A source said doctors discovered then he had prostate cancer. He was 62.

Hadhazy's hard sell of Rutigliano was typical of his five-year relationship with Modell.

"He was the only guy who wasn't afraid to kick the gorilla in the ankle," Rutigliano said. "He told Art the truth whether he liked it or not. He was really a tough guy."

Hadhazy, who was born in Hungary, came to the Browns in 1976 after working in the NFL office in New York. His first week on the job, he sought to trade Sipe after none of the coaches voiced support for the former 13th-round draft choice. No team wanted him.

Three games into the season, Hadhazy's famous temper got the better of him after an embarrassing loss to Denver. He lambasted Sipe in a postgame tirade, saying, "He has yet to prove he can play in the NFL."

The words inspired Sipe, who blossomed under Rutigliano and was named league Most Valuable Player in 1980.

"Every time Brian Sipe broke another one of Otto Graham's records, either Art Modell or [public relations chief] Nate Wallack would say, 'You were really right about Sipe,' " Hadhazy recalled with a laugh in an interview in 2003.

Hadhazy left the Browns in 1981 to return to the NFL office in 1981. He was NFL director of game operations at the time of his death.

Hadhazy is survived by wife Rita, daughters Andrea and Deana, and son James.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4670
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
While there won't be any meetings on the practice field throughout the Browns' offseason conditioning program, the workouts will be the first chance for players and coaches to begin getting comfortable with the team's new additions.

The club's offense, in its second season under coordinator Maurice Carthon, is no exception. With several new acquisitions, including two-time Pro Bowl selection LeCharles Bentley, left tackle Kevin Shaffer and receiver Joe Jurevicius, the group is anxious to get started.

The biggest changes will be along the offensive line, where the team will begin installing two new players on the starting lineup in the coming months.

Arguably one of the top free agent signings in the NFL this offseason, Bentley was surrounded by new teammates and team strength and conditioning coach John Lott in Berea Monday when conditioning officially kicked off. But it was by no means his first visit to the team's weight room since signing with the team on March 11.

"He wakes up early in the morning just to get here and lift weights - and this is the offseason," fullback Terrelle Smith said. "Waking up early and coming in and trying to do all the things he does early in the morning, it's like eating a 45-pound plate for breakfast."

The other new link on the offensive line will be Shaffer, formerly of the Falcons, who will replace L.J. Shelton at left tackle. In many ways, Shaffer's arrival has been overshadowed not only by the signing of Bentley, but by defensive additions like Willie McGinest and Ted Washington.

Shaffer's signing, however, was just a much of a focus in free agency as any of the other players. The position of left tackle is second-to-none in terms of importance on a football team and general manager Phil Savage clearly believes in his new acquisition. The team inked him to a 7-year contract.

"I don't want to leave Kevin Shaffer out of all of this," running back Reuben Droughns said. "I don't know him too well but I do know (Falcons consultant and former offensive line coach) Alex Gibbs and the type of offense he ran out in Atlanta. If Kevin knows (their system) he'll have a little more of an understanding of the types of zone plays we run here in Cleveland."

Jurevicius, meanwhile, provides a veteran presence among the team's young receiving corps. He and Dennis Northcutt are the only players in the group with more than four years of NFL experience. Together, they'll help tutor up-and-coming stars on the unit in Braylon Edwards, Joshua Cribbs and Brandon Rideau.

With two new players starting along the offensive line, possibly a new receiver starting in Jurevicius, and perhaps Kellen Winslow and Edwards returning from injury, the team could realistically start the season with as many as six new starters on offense in respect to last year's opener.

One important thing the players will have staying the same, however, is the team's scheme under Carthon. Several players were open in admitting the unit hadn't fully adapted to the new system last season, but now said they're far more accustomed to it and ready to run it properly.

It took time to get used to not only the system, but to Carthon as well.

"Maurice is a great coach," Droughns said. "I dealt with him in Detroit when he was my running backs coach. A lot of guys weren't used to his style of coaching.

"This year, we've gotten to know him a little better and we're used to the offense. We weren't really comfortable with the offense last year. But this year, we have a year under our belt."

Still uncertain is who will quarterback the new-look offense. Early indications suggest veteran Trent Dilfer and second-year QB Charlie Frye will battle for the spot with project Derek Anderson getting reps in between.

Dilfer and Frye posted similar numbers last season. The players acknowledge Dilfer's veteran experience, but also recognize Frye's potential.

"We're counting on a tough battle," Droughns said. "I've had success with both of them at the helm. I feel comfortable with both of them. With Trent, there's more experience and veteran leadership. But Charlie has grown a lot. During the offseason he has been here working out, getting bigger and watching a lot of film. His maturity level has really grown.

"Romeo (Crennel) is a good coach. He will have all of us in the right places at the right times to make the right decisions for this Cleveland football team."
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top