Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

6/23/06

The consensus from observers after a Browns minicamp was that tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. is not yet gameready. He made some plays and showed some athleticism in passing drills but still looked rusty with his routes and certainly not ready for contact.
Winslow said he was at "90 percent." Browns coach Romeo Crennel seemed to concur but added that even he looks good in shorts. In other words, the true test will come in training camp.

CPD

6/23/06

<H1 class=red>Browns cut five rookies

</H1>

Friday, June 23, 2006



Five Browns rookies left coach Romeo Crennel's minicamp last week without passing grades.
Waived by the club on Thursday were:

Quarterback Dustin Almond, offensive lineman Lance Butler, defensive back Charles Hall, linebacker Ricardo Hurley and defensive back Jeremy Modkins.

Hall of Fame game:

A limited number of tickets to the 2006 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony and AFC-NFC game will be made available for sale today at 11 a.m., the Canton Hall of Fame announced.
Tickets may be purchased online at profootballhof.com or by calling 1-800-913-9788.

The enshrinement on Aug. 5 will honor 2006 inductees Troy Aikman, Harry Carson, John Madden, Warren Moon, Reggie White and Rayfield Wright. The game on Aug. 6 is between Oakland and Philadelphia.

- Tony Grossi

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

6/25/06

NFL INSIDER
Browns position themselves as training camp approaches


Sunday, June 25, 2006

Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter

Recess time in the NFL is fraught with concern about players avoiding trouble and reporting to training camp without incident.

Assuming all stays quiet on that front, issues at every position group will confront the Browns when they report to coach Romeo Crennel's training camp on July 26.

Here's a rundown:

Quarterback
Is Charlie Frye ready to take over the team? He was pleasantly assertive at minicamp with media and teammates. Some young quarterbacks feel abandoned when their assigned mentor suddenly vanishes. Frye appears to be reveling in life after Trent Dilfer.


Dilfer still needs to be adequately replaced. Despite his obvious shortcomings, Dilfer could come off the bench and win a game. Ken Dorsey has not proved that he can. The Browns insist they have not made contact with Vinny Testaverde. They ought to get in touch with him very soon.


Running back
Reuben Droughns' off-the-field incident poses the slim possibility of a league suspension. It also could motivate him to prove, once again, that he is not a problem.


If Droughns is driven to better his production of 2005, the only issue here is whether Lee Suggs stays healthy and beats out rookie Jerome Harrison as the third-down back. Suggs has had great camps before, but coaches wary of his injury history will assure Harrison plenty of work in preseason.


Receiver
The Browns' scheduled bye is for Week 6. Pencil in Braylon Edwards' return for the following weekend, Oct. 22, at home against Denver.


That leaves four preseason and five regular-season games for a replacement to emerge among Frisman Jackson, Brandon Rideau, Joshua Cribbs and rookie Travis Wilson.


Tight end
In Edwards' absence, it's possible the Browns will experiment often with both Kellen Winslow Jr. and Steve Heiden on the field, and then shift Winslow to split end and Dennis Northcutt to the slot. We may see a lot of two-tight end formations in preseason, with Winslow actually playing the role as a wideout.

Offensive line
Continuity and chemistry will be the buzzwords again. Center LeCharles Bentley and left tackle Kevin Shaffer have to mesh with their new linemates. Staying healthy in preseason will be the primary objective for this unit.



Defensive line
It's inconceivable that 365-pound nose tackle Ted Washington, who is 38 and entering his 15th NFL campaign, would be overworked in preseason. Expect to see plenty of Ethan Kelley and rookie Baba Oshinowo at nose in preseason.

The end positions are light on depth, so we may see less of Orpheus Roye in the summer, too. Given the dearth of experience at end, Roye, 33, may be the defense's most indispensable player as the season begins.


Linebacker
That Matt Stewart spent all of minicamp playing both outside positions means one thing -- top draft pick Kamerion Wimbley, while athletically impressive, will need time to make the transition to playing linebacker on every down. Wimbley likely will begin his rookie season as a rush end on passing downs.


The inside linebacker spot next to Andra Davis is earmarked for second-round rookie D'Qwell Jackson. The ideal player for the spot would have Jackson's college experience and production and fourth-round pick Leon Williams' size. Alas, that player doesn't exist at this camp.


Secondary
If Brodney Pool or Sean Jones suddenly could transform into the mold of hard-hitting safeties Rodney Harrison and Lawyer Milloy, then Crennel's 3-4 defense would be more complete. It's not going to happen overnight, of course. Pool probably has a slight edge going into camp.


The competition between Daylon McCutcheon and Leigh Bodden for the starting cornerback spot opposite Gary Baxter will be interesting. Bodden is bigger and younger and coming off a breakout 2005 season.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4670

 

[SparkyOSU]

Not everyone hates the Brownies

JERRY SAYS THE BROWNS ARE PATHETIC DRAFTERS. From Jerry Retter of Cleveland: "I give you grief when I disagree, so fair is fair. My only disagreement in your assessment of Cleveland's 2001 draft is that there could possibly have been a worse one. (You rated Chicago last.) It is already legend in C-town that Butch Davis said "we're going defensive line" in the War Room and then surprised the snot out of everyone there by taking Gerard Warren over Richard Seymour. The outgoing coach, Chris Palmer, was said to have favored Tomlinson, but no way would he have done as well with our pathetic offensive line as he has done with the Chargers. By the way, I believe this and the previous drafts (thank you, Dwight Clark) go a long way toward explaining why the Browns 'overpaid' for free agents this year. The natives, Peter, are very restless. We are all tired of the ineptitude that reaches back through the Belichick internship to Bud Carson and Marty 'I'll get you to the doorstep but never through the door' Schottenheimer.''

I agree wholeheartedly. The Clark/Davis drafts still have this team reeling. It's a shame, too, because you Dawg Pounders have been about as loyal as any fan base could ever be, given all the disappointments you've had the last decade. If I had one wish for the NFL in 2006, it would be that the Browns would finally rise up and shock the world. What a great story it would be.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

6/27/06

<H1 class=red>The death of Don Rogers: 20 years later

</H1>

Tuesday, June 27, 2006


Sept. 17, 1962 - June 27, 1986
Height: 6-1. Weight: 206. Position: Free safety.
College highlights: Attended UCLA, where he averaged more than 100 tackles a season during four-year career. . . . Had seven interceptions his senior year, second in the Pac-10. . . . Second-team All-America player by Associated Press. . . . Deemed his defensive territory "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" in college. . . . Named player of the game in UCLA's 1983 Rose Bowl victory over Michigan.

Browns highlights: Drafted by Browns in the first round of 1984 draft. . . . Earned AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors after making 105 tackles, fourth best on team. . . . In second season, led team with 154 tackles and intercepted two passes.
- Jodie Valade

CPD

6/27/06

<H1 class=red>Safety's death cost team chances at Super Bowl

</H1>

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Tony Grossi

Plain Dealer Reporter

The loss of a life at age 23 is devastating to family and friends, no matter the person's job or profession. In the case of Don Rogers, the football player, it can be argued that his death cost the Browns one or more Super Bowl appearances.

After his rookie season in 1984, the hard-hitting safety told then-Browns GM Ernie Accorsi, "I'm taking the secondary over next year." He was a more polished player his second year, and the ascending Browns advanced to the first of five straight playoff berths.

Rogers would have been entering his prime when the Browns met franchise-nemesis John Elway in the AFC Championship Games following the 1986, '87 and '89 seasons. His void in the secondary was never filled.

To this day, former teammates of Rogers insist the Browns would have toppled Elway each time and reached the Super Bowl had Rogers been on the field.

I agree with them.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4670

CPD

6/27/06

Teammates ponder what could have been

Rogers' death 20 years ago stirs echoes of success among Browns players who dealt with the tragedy

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Story by Jodie Valade
Plain Dealer Reporter

Some days, Hanford Dixon still thinks about it. He still wonders what Don Rogers was going to tell him on the drive to Rogers' wedding ceremony.

Two nights before the wedding, sometime during the tame bachelor party, which came sometime before Rogers ingested the 5.2 milligrams of cocaine found in his blood that caused an overdose, Rogers pulled Dixon aside. The two were close friends, and Dixon had come out to celebrate the marriage with his defensive back buddy.

"Ride with me to the wedding," Rogers told Dixon. "I need to talk to you about something."

Was it something as innocent as Rogers expressing his doubts about marriage? Or did he want to tell Dixon about a drug problem?

"I don't know if that was it," Dixon said. "I don't know. I never will know."

Dixon woke the next morning to the sound of pounding on his hotel room door. Rogers' brother, Reggie, a promising defensive lineman at the University of Washington, told Dixon to wake up fast. They needed him.

"Donnie's in the hospital," Reggie told Dixon. "We think he OD'ed."

"Quit playing with me," Dixon mumbled. "I'm tired."

Reggie Rogers, who would play four years with the Detroit Lions before spending a year in jail after being convicted of negligent homicide charges stemming from a car accident that killed three teenagers, grabbed Dixon and shook him. "I'm serious," he said.

They rushed to the house of Rogers' mother, Loretha, where everyone gathered for a hopeful vigil. At 4:31 p.m., the day before he was to marry, Rogers died in a nearby hospital. Loretha Rogers suffered a mild heart attack at the news.

Browns spokesman Kevin Byrne received the call in Cleveland, and tracked down Schottenheimer at his son's baseball game in Strongsville. In the pre-cell phone era, Byrne drove to the field and delivered the news to the coach in person. Schottenheimer, he said, wept.

The funeral was held in Sacramento's Arco Arena, and the Browns held a memorial at a downtown Cleveland church.

Golic delivered one of the eulogies at the Cleveland memorial, and had trouble writing comforting words to tell the crowd.

"When somebody passes and he had this long life, you've got things to say, they had a full life," Golic said. "With Don, I just sat there trying to think, 'What the hell do you say?' Everything was in front of him."

Time passed. Training camp went on as planned, the season started and the Browns even improved to 12-4 in 1986. Games were won and lost, seasons ended and began.

But Dixon and Minnifield wonder now, what might have happened to a team that lost to the Denver Broncos in the conference championship three times from 1987 to 1990 if Rogers had been there. Maybe the Browns would have won. Maybe "The Drive" wouldn't have happened. Maybe, even, there would have been the ultimate celebration in Cleveland.

"There's no doubt in my mind that if Don Rogers was on our football team, there would be a lot of [Browns] winning Super Bowl rings," Minnifield said.
Maybe, too, Dixon thinks, he might have made a difference if he had that talk with Rogers.

"Obviously, 20 years have passed and it hasn't been on my mind lately, but during that time, I kept thinking: You never know whether I could have made a difference or whether I could have helped him," Dixon said.

Donald Rogers Jr.'s memories are snapshots. He remembers playing catch with his dad at his grandmother's house. He remembers going into a locker room after a Browns game. He remembers smiles and laughter.

Rogers Jr. was 4 years old when his father died. He headed to Arco Arena one day 20 years ago expecting to see a basketball game. Only when he saw his dad in a casket did he realize he was at his father's funeral.

"Nobody ever explained to me that my dad had died," Rogers Jr. said from his home in Sacramento.

He didn't learn until he was about 13 that his father had died from a cocaine overdose. Shielded by a family that adored Don Rogers Sr., the young boy's grandmother, Loretha, who died in 2000, always told her grandson that his father died of a heart attack.

Rogers Jr.'s mother, Ajuanta, finally explained the details of his father's death one day. Around the same time, he discovered a book in his school library that dedicated a full page to his father, listing his name as a concrete example of the dangers of drugs.

"It doesn't bother me, because I didn't have to go through enjoying him and then losing him," Rogers Jr. said. "To me, it's like I knew nothing about him, so I have no reason to let it depress me."

Rogers Jr. works for a corporate housing company in Sacramento. It's an average job that helps pay for the house he bought three years ago. His calling, he believes, is to one day become a Pentecostal minister. Always a deep believer in faith, he is active in his church, and sings in the choir.

"I want to do whatever God requires of me," Rogers Jr. said. "From my understanding, what I'm supposed to do is preach."

He found his religious path with the guidance of his mother, Ajuanta Meadows. She was an 18-year-old cheerleader when she became pregnant while dating Rogers Sr.

She met Tony Meadows when she was pregnant with Don Jr., and the two married a few years later. Rogers Jr. called Tony Meadows "Dad" from the start. His memories of his biological father are mere snapshots.

Though Rogers Jr. stands 6-3 and is often told how much he looks like his athletic father, he never succeeded in sports and never played football.

"Maybe because it was too much of a reflection of my dad," Rogers Jr. said.

"If this is some type of strange coincidence, I don't want to be a football player and get all famous and have something happen to me. I'd rather just live like a normal person."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4654.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

6/29/06

BROWN'S TOWN
Snap decision: Browns' QBs don't impress


Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Roger Brown
Plain Dealer Columnist

The Browns haven't totally settled on a quarterback corps - they may sign 42-year-old Vinny Testaverde - and some NFL experts think the team's QB unit is a pretty unsettling one, period.

Earlier this week, ESPN NFL analysts Sean Salisbury, Mark Schlereth and Mike Golic were asked as a panel to rank all 32 quarterback units. They ranked the Browns' trio of Charlie Frye (starter), Ken Dorsey (backup) and Derek Anderson (third string) in dead-last 32nd.

Why?

Salisbury, a former quarterback, says while he considers Frye a much better starter than Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers (who ranked 31st), the Browns rank last because 49ers second-stringer Trent Dilfer is a superior backup to Dorsey. Dilfer and Dorsey were swapped for each other in an off-season trade.

"I do think Frye has some special qualities," Salisbury says. "But when you judge the Browns quarterbacks as a whole, they're clearly [32nd]."

Still, Salisbury says, if Cleveland does sign Testaverde, it'll immediately improve its No. 32 spot. "Vinny can still give you some good games," Salisbury says.

Rankings and Browns, part 2:

Salisbury, Schlereth and Golic (a native Clevelander) are ranking the 32 teams in numerous categories, as part of the network's weeklong series. Here's how they rank the Browns in other categories:

Running back, 24th.
Pass catchers, 21st.
Rush defense, 19th.
Pass defense, 23rd.

Word is WOIO Channel 19, the Browns' local TV partner, once again plans to heavily load its daily evening newscasts at 4, 5 and 6 with training-camp coverage next month. Last season, that "heavy saturation" approach sometimes was accompanied by lower ratings for newscasts.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Scout.com (free)

6/29/06

Make or Break Time For Lee Suggs.....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

6/30/06

Braylon Edwards ’ leg injury isn’t a good thing, but it will give Cleveland Browns coaches a chance to show their creativity.

There’s talk the Browns might use Edwards’ absence to experiment with Kellen Winslow Jr. as a wideout. Dennis Northcutt could be moved to slot receiver.
The Browns likely will try some two tight end formations, with Winslow and Steve Heiden, during their preseason games. Edwards’ return, which is not expected until mid-October, also will give the team an opportunity to look at other receivers: rookie Travis Wilson, Frisman Jackson, Joshua Cribbs and Brandon Rideau.

Rookie linebacker Kamerion Wimbley is confident he’ll be just the second Browns firstround pick since 1999 to make it into training camp on time. Why so confident? His agent, Joe Linta, also represents coach Romeo Crennel, who will be all over the rookie if he arrives late.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

7/4/06

TALKIN' BROWNS

Winslow flashes familiar speed, agility

• Until he starts getting hit in game conditions, no one can be sure about Kellen Winslow's physical condition. But what he's shown in minicamp is that his speed and ability to make sharp cuts while catching passes have returned. ``Unless you knew it, you'd never guess he had (reconstructive) knee surgery,'' General Manager Phil Savage said. ``For my kids' football camp in Alabama, I took tapes of Kellen running patterns this summer to show the tight ends. He's been that good.''

• One theory on why Charlie Frye is throwing better is that his arm isn't tired. Last winter and spring, he threw nearly every day trying to impress scouts in various workouts before the draft. This spring, he took a couple of months off from throwing -- and just worked on strength and conditioning.

He looks a little bigger and stronger.

• Savage on Frye: ``He's throwing more spirals. Where maybe one of five were flutterballs last year, now it's one of 10 and that makes it easier to catch. I'm impressed by Charlie. I think he's the kind of guy who can rise to the occasion if we just give him a little time to throw and give him some players to help him.''

• Frye has a chance to establish himself as a starter because he is mobile and throws well on the run. That can make up for some lack of arm strength. In fact, scouts believe Frye throws better on the move than he does in the pocket. Most fans know that backup Ken Dorsey does not have a strong arm. But more of a problem is that he doesn't move very well.

The Browns will never say it, but they are looking at other options for a backup quarterback.

• Savage was impressed with how top pick Kamerion Wimbley quickly picked up the concepts of the 3-4 defense. He also looked good in drills where he was called upon to cover running backs going out for passes. Wimbley was a defensive end and pass-rushing specialist at Florida State, and the Browns are switching him to outside linebacker.

• Lesser-known rookies who made an impression are Lawrence Vickers, Jerome Harrison and Chris Barclay. Vickers is a fullback from Colorado, and the Browns think he's very close to being able to at least play some of the time right now. They do want to keep veteran fullback Terrelle Smith, at least for another year. Some fans are aware that fifth-rounder Harrison gained 1,900 yards at Washington State, and Savage liked how Harrison used his quickness to get open. Barclay is an undrafted free agent, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year from Wake Forest. A running back who gained 4,032 yards and scored 40 touchdowns in his career, he was passed over because he's only 5-10 and 175 pounds. The Browns think he might be able to help as a third-down back. William Green, Harrison and Barclay give the team depth behind starter Reuben Droughns. It also enables them to move Lee Suggs, if there is a buyer. The Browns just don't know if Suggs will ever stay healthy.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

7/5/06

PRO FOOTBALL

A death still not understood

Browns’ Don Rogers was beacon who died shockingly from cocaine poisoning

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Joe Davidson
SACRAMENTO (CALIF.) BEE

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On a cloudless, warm Friday morning 20 years ago, Donald Rogers collapsed against the wall of the home he bought for his mother.
According to reports at the time, Rogers slammed his fists on the floor and pleaded, "Ma, call for help! "
Rogers rose and slumped onto the bed. He fell unconscious and died within hours.
Cause of death was cocaine poisoning.
He was 23, a football star for the Cleveland Browns. He was to be married the next afternoon in Oakland to Leslie Nelson, his college sweetheart from UCLA.
Until he died, Rogers was the definition of success in Del Paso Heights, the tough Sacramento neighborhood where he was raised and where he attended the nowshuttered Norte Del Rio High School.
With an easy smile, handsome face and winning personality, he capitalized on his athletic abilities to win a scholarship to UCLA, earn cheers from 100,000 football fans in the Rose Bowl and sign a $2.5 million contract with the Browns.
Those accomplishments no longer mattered when the coroner confirmed cocaine killed Rogers.
Authorities investigated a bachelor party thrown for Rogers at the Sacramento Hilton the night before his death. They traced his movements and interviewed friends and witnesses. Police could not track the source of the cocaine. No arrests were made.
"We have always counseled kids around here about the dangers of drugs," said Eugene Washington, a pastor at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Del Paso Heights. Washington gave the eulogy at Rogers’ funeral.
"I knew Donnie since he was a child," Washington continued. "Knew him as well as anyone. I never had that talk about drugs with him — and I should have. That will always bother me."
When the pastor talks to neighborhood kids today, he says he uses Rogers as an example of the tragedy drugs bring.
Twenty years later, the sorrow and healing continue.
"It crushed our world," said Connell Johnson, who grew up with Rogers. "It’s still hard to understand and accept. Your whole life, you try to find people as good as Don Rogers. We had him, then we lost him. And you’ll still find a lot of people around here who can’t let go."
Drugs within reach

For many other professional athletes in the early 1980s, drugs were never far from their world.
The Cleveland Browns had one of the leading anti-drug programs in professional sports during a time many team officials believed cocaine to be commonplace in the NFL.
Drugs also were present in Rogers’ childhood neighborhood. They were familiar among his friends. The dangers were explicit — made even more obvious with the fatal cocaine overdose of Boston Celtics rookie Len Bias, whose death made international headlines eight days before Rogers ingested his fatal drugs.
Rogers called his mother when he learned of Bias’ death. And he wept.
There were more tears to come.
When Loretha Rogers was told her son had died in a Sacramento-area hospital, she raced into the street and screamed, "My son is dead! "
Those who knew Rogers still insist he would never do anything to hurt or disappoint his mother.
At 6 feet 1, Loretha was the family pillar. She reared three children and saw each receive athletic scholarships. She once explained, "It was their only way out of here."
Don Rogers was the firstborn. He was a mentor to his brother, Reggie, who would follow Don’s football path and play professionally. He was a protector to his sister, Jackie, still regarded as one of the area’s best high-school athletes.
When Don Rogers signed with the Browns in 1984, he moved his mother into her home. He bought her a white Cadillac.
He purchased a BMW for his brother and a compact car for Jackie.
One year after her son’s death, Loretha Rogers recalled the child she lost to cocaine in an interview with the Bee.
"I don’t have any regrets of the way I brought him up or the area I brought him up in," she said, "because he turned out to be a wonderful young man. He strived to show a good child could make a name for himself and his community."
Loretha Rogers died in 2000 at age 58 from heart failure. She is buried next to her son.
"She died of a broken heart; I know it, I saw it," said Linda Williams, a lifelong friend of Jackie Rogers.
Sister , brother hit hard

Some people close to the Rogers family say they believe Don’s death made the deepest impact on Jackie. She was home that morning. She made the frantic phone call for help.
Jackie received a scholarship to Oregon State but dropped out and never played basketball again. Today, she lives in Sacramento and says she has "ups and downs."
She works as an in-home care provider.
She said she calls her brother Reggie in Seattle when she wakes up and before she sleeps. She often talks to Don in spirit, she says.
"The only way I can cope with it is to try and believe it must have been his time," she said.
"I don’t think of the bad ending. I remember all of his good. He was my best friend, my bodyguard. When I visit him, I always tell him: ‘I love you, I miss you. You’re in a special place in my heart.’ "
Reggie Rogers grew five inches taller and considerably stronger than his 6-foot-1 older brother. Reggie was a star at the University of Washington and a first-round NFL draft pick.
He admits he can’t get over the loss of his brother. He had a nominal NFL career and was involved in a drunken-driving accident that left three teenagers dead in Michigan. Reggie Rogers lives in Seattle, near his five children.
When contacted by phone, he said he didn’t wish to talk about his brother.
"For me, the way it all transpired, how it happened, it’s hard," Reggie Rogers said.
Beginning and end

Memorial services were held in Arco Arena. Among the speakers were the Rev. Jesse Jackson and UCLA football coach Terry Donahue.
Loretha Rogers could not attend. She had been hospitalized for a heart attack believed caused by the stress of losing her son.
Hanford Dixon grew close to Don Rogers while they played for the Browns. In a matter of days, Dixon went from groomsman to pallbearer.
Dixon remembers Rogers’ hotel bachelor party as relatively uneventful. There were drinks, he said, but no drugs.
"I knew Donnie as well as anyone," said Dixon, now a real estate broker in Cleveland. "That’s the mystery to me. It came out of nowhere. I never saw him use, never had any idea. That’s why it’s still so devastating. He was such a good kid."
Donahue, Rogers’ coach at UCLA, said that’s what made losing Rogers so hard, that he was so well-liked by so many people. If there was any good to come out of such a tragic situation, he said, it was increased drug awareness. "People can take solace in knowing that Donnie’s death brought awareness to a drug issue that was lying dormant," Donahue said. "This was such a national event that people had to pay attention all of a sudden."

 

[Bob Saccamano]

CPD

Couch has surgery on shoulder





Monday, July 03, 2006

Associated Press
Lexington, Ky.- Tim Couch has undergone surgery on his right shoulder, ending his hopes of playing in 2006.

Couch hasn't played in the NFL since 2003, his last year with the Browns, the team that made him the top selection in the 1999 draft.

The former University of Kentucky star recently saw Dr. James Andrews, a Birmingham, Ala.-based orthopedic surgeon who operated on the quarterback's throwing arm and shoulder in February 2005, said Couch's brother, Greg.

<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s3/s3nfl/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="/cgi-bin/donotcount/formatp.cgi/dhtml/jspop/jspop.ata?NAME=PAIDPOP&EXP=1"><table width=420 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr valign=bottom><td width=383> [COLOR=#436442;][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Advertisement[/FONT][/color]

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</td></tr></table>http://ads15.udc.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s3/s3nfl/1523557799/StoryAd/CLEVELANDLIVE/NextHome01a_CL_RoS_Story/blank.html/34356130646533383434613762373130?_RM_EMPTY_&
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"><!--if (parseFloat(navigator.appVersion) == 0) {document.write('<IFRAME WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0 FRAMEBORDER=0 SCROLLING=no BORDERCOLOR="#000000" SRC="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s3/s3nfl/@StoryAd"></IFRAME>');}--></SCRIPT>Andrews told Tim Couch that he had a tear in his rotator cuff, Greg Couch said.

Even though he is an ex-brownie I didn't want to start a new thread on it--

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Scout.com (free)

7/6/06

Heading Into Camp: Browns Offensive Outlook

 

[Bob Saccamano]

CPD

Filling the void

Paul Tagliabue’s nearly 17 years as NFL commissioner are filled with accomplishments, but Cleveland might be where he shined brightest
Thursday, July 06, 2006 Tony Grossi

Plain Dealer reporter
Whoever succeeds Paul Taglia bue as NFL commissioner will inherit the football void in Los Angeles. The nation's No. 2 media market has been without an NFL team since the Rams and Raiders left after the 1994 season.
Cleveland was without the Browns from 1996 through '98. Filling that void was one of Tagliabue's great accomplishments in nearly 17 years on the job.

"I think he did a great job with Cleveland," said Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney. "It definitely could not have gotten done without his leadership."

Some still believe Tagliabue could have prevented Art Modell's end run to Baltimore. Rooney said Tagliabue was powerless to stop Modell because of a federal court ruling that cleared the path for Al Davis to move the Raiders out of Oakland in 1982.

The ruling created what former commissioner Pete Rozelle termed "franchise free agency." A year later, Rozelle watched the Colts leave Baltimore for Indianapolis.

Rozelle clearly was one of the greatest commissioners in the history of professional sports. But he did nothing to get Baltimore another team.
The void in Baltimore festered for 13 years until local and state politicians rallied the public money to build a stadium and use it as bait to catch a big fish. Only the cash-starved Modell swallowed the hook.

Unable to legally stop Modell, Tagliabue did the next best thing. He replaced the old Browns with an expansion team during a period when league owners were vehemently opposed to expansion.

"He certainly treated Cleveland losing a team differently than [Rozelle] treated Baltimore losing a team," said Steve Bisciotti, a Baltimore businessman who ultimately bought the renamed Ravens from Modell.

"If Paul would have desired to stop a team going to Cleveland, I'm sure he could've done that. I liked what he did in Cleveland. And obviously I wish he had done the same in Baltimore. And if he had, I wouldn't have been the owner."

If Baltimore's team had been replaced, Modell would have had nowhere to run -- except to bankruptcy court.

Cleveland lawyer Fred Nance, who was Mayor Michael White's point man on the Browns issue, said he is convinced Tagliabue was as blindsided as anyone by Modell's abrupt decision to move to Baltimore in November 1995.
Nance and White were in Tagliabue's New York office the night before Modell made the official announcement in a parking lot behind Camden Yards in Baltimore.

"[Tagliabue] was visibly shaken by what had happened," Nance recalled. "He was sincere in saying to us, I don't know how this is going to turn out, there'll be some rough spots, but we'll figure out a way to do right by you guys.'

"What Mike White said to me was, Fred, I am going to trust this guy unless he gives us reason not to. Let's make book with him.' And that's what we did."

One of the key motivators for Tagliabue to make Cleveland whole was the court injunction Nance obtained to hold Modell to a Cleveland Municipal Stadium lease for three more seasons.

As sponsors bailed out on Modell, the last games in Cleveland were played under a pall of black sheets covering stadium advertisements. The funereal mood extended to NFL headquarters in New York.

"It was like a civil insurrection," Nance said. "The notion that they were going to have to do that for three more years, to play out the lease in that environment, I think that opened the door for them to say we need to work something out with Cleveland."

Rooney said there was another reason Tagliabue got it done.
"Because it was the right thing to do," Rooney said.

At NFL meetings in Orlando, Fla., in April, Tagliabue said that in hindsight he views the period as "very traumatic for Browns fans, for the franchise, for the league."

"Hopefully the solution that was reached, which was novel, is going to be a real good one for the long term," he said.

Nance said Cleveland might still be without the NFL if not for Tagliabue.
"We would have fought the war differently. I don't know how it would have turned out, but fortunately that didn't happen," Nance said.

Another person Nance credited was Roger Goodell, Tagliabue's point man who worked closely with Nance to repair the damage done by Modell's move. Goodell schooled Nance on the economic realities of the new NFL, which Modell failed to foresee. Goodell explained the need for a new stadium with revenue items such as luxury suites, club seats and seat licenses.
Goodell, now the NFL's chief operating officer, is the front-runner to succeed Tagliabue as commissioner.

 

[JCOSU86]

An absolute crock, Tagliabue was an empty suit who did nothing but extort Cleveland for existing franchises so they can strong-arm their local governments to foot the bill for their new stadiums (stadia?). He let Cleveland hanging in the "move franchise/expansion" issue until the last moment, leaving the Browns to scramble to put a team on the field. They have yet to recover.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

7/7/06

​

Arraignment date set for Droughns

<!-- begin body-content -->Browns running back Reuben Droughns will be arraigned Aug. 21 in Arapahoe County (Colo.) District Court on charges of assault and harassment.
A hearing was held Thursday on the case, and the arraignment date was set. Droughns and the Browns had hinted that they hoped charges might be dropped at the hearing.
Droughns was arrested and charged after an incident with his wife, Kellie, May 12 at their home in suburban Denver.
The mother of Kellie Droughns called police after speaking to her daughter. Droughns said at the team's minicamp that the police report exaggerated what happened.

-- PATRICK
MCMANAMON​

​

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

7/9/06

Browns sign CB Thompson, waived by Bears

<TABLE class=byln cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=428 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD class=byln width=328>7/7/2006, 5:28 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

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BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Cornerback Chris Thompson, waived last week by the Chicago Bears, has signed with the Browns, the team said on Friday.

Terms were not disclosed.

The 6-foot, 187-pound Thompson was taken in the fifth round by Jacksonville in 2004. He played in 12 games for the Bears last year, recording 10 tackles.