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

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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:

tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670

[SparkyOSU]

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

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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

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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:

tgrossi@plaind.com, 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:

jvalade@plaind.com, 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.....