Catching up on my blogging for the past few days, here are a few items of interest:
Friday 9/4: News came that wide receiver C.J. Jones, the undrafted rookie who became the star of the preseason, has been working out at cornerback, possibly paving the way for a three-way threat ala Deion Sanders. Butch sure does like versatility, but if we indeed see Jones play on all sides of the ball this year, it will be surprising. It will also be a huge testament to the ex-Hawkeye’s intelligence and motivation. In the opener, Jones was one of the inactive players.
Monday: William Green and Andra Davis both became fathers for the second time. The mothers delivered in the same hospital within an hour of each other. Browns Director of Pro Personnel Jeremy Green and his wife also welcomed their second child the same day.
Wednesday: Ravens cornerback Corey Fuller lashed out at the “injustice” of how he was treated by the Browns, who cut him after he had labored through the first four years of the expansion era and even taken a pay cut before last season. “”You don’t want to build a house, get almost done, get the roof on the house, you’re about to move in, and somebody burns your house down.” I agree the Browns should have found a way to keep Fuller, a popular, veteran leader. It’s a shame that player loyalty is no longer rewarded in football’s commercial scheme. I wouldn’t mind seeing him have a good game today, as long as the Browns win. Of course, I’ll also be watching “Zeus,” another Raven with a grudge, as the tackle continues his comeback from the serious eye injury he suffered from an official’s errant flag in the Browns’ 1999 season.
Thursday: The Browns are reportedly the league’s least experienced team, with an average tenure of 3.4 years, compared to 3.6 for the next greenest roster, that of dreadful Arizona.
Friday: The Browns released behemoth guard Qasim Mitchell from their practice squad in order to sign rookie safety David Young, the Jaguars’ sixth-round pick. Mitchell was an intriguing prospect — the Browns gave him the league’s highest bonus for an undrafted player last year — but apparently didn’t have the versatility nor the polished skills needed to stick. A more patient team will inevitably sign him and give him a few years to develop. In signing Young, the Browns signal that they are trying to stock talent at the safety position, where the current starters, Griffith and Little, are 32 and 30 years old.
Today: As the Browns/Ravens rivalry resumes in Art Modell’s last season, the Lake County News-Herald publishes an interesting but surprisingly sympathetic retrospective on the erstwhile Browns owner, the most hated sports figure in the state. Key phrase: “It was love for his family, and the need as their protector to provide financial security, that forced Modell to move his team from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996. He was nearly bankrupt before Baltimore rescued him.” Hmmmm.
