Thinktanker Gregg Easterbrook has resumed his witty and wordy, literate but lascivious Tuesday Morning Quarterback column, and I’m glad to note that his nickname for the Browns has been upgraded. From his AFC preview:
Cleveland Browns Release 2.1: First there were the Browns of yore, and then no Browns, and then the Browns (Release 2.0). Now, having returned to the postseason, TMQ will dub them the Browns (Release 2.1).
The Browns (Release 2.1) have a quarterback controversy, with many asserting that since Tim Couch will make $6.2 million this season and Kelly Holcomb $825,000, team management must privately plan to hand the job back to Couch. But the Browns will be out the $6.2 million whether Couch is on the field or molders on the bench playing Donkey-Kong on his cell phone. All that matters is who makes the team likely to win, and Holcomb appears to be that gentlemen. Also, though some touts will blast the Browns for blowing the draft’s first pick if Couch fades, by the same token, the Browns deserve credit for finding a gem unknown in Holcomb. All that matters is who makes the team likely to win.
Browns quandary: Two seasons ago, there was the weird “time travel” game where officials went backward on the clock to reverse a prior play, costing the Browns a last-second defeat at home; and one season ago was the weird Dwayne Rudd helmet hurl that cost the Browns a last-second defeat at home. What bizarre thing will happen in the stadium this year? Maybe the lights will fail just as a game-winning pass is sailing toward a Browns player’s hands.
