Browns teams of recent years have featured certain repeated stock characters. These include the Illusory Rookie Rushing Phenom (Hill, Prentice, Gay, Green, Barclay, Thomas), the Receiver Who Used To Be A Quarterback (KJ, Frisman, Alston, Cribbs), the Special Teams “Demon” Who Lacked At Linebacker (Lenoy Jones, Brant Boyer, Mason Unck, Kris Griffin) and the Thirty-Something Fill-In Cornerback.
Playing the part in the latter category — following in the lost footsteps of Antonio Langham, Ray Mickens, Ralph Brown, Kenny Wright, and Terry Cousin — will be Hank Poteat, formerly seen as the foremost victim of Kelly Holcomb’s 429-yard aerial effort in the Browns’ sole playoff game of the decade.
The significance of this signing? On a roster without a single Bill, James, Tom, Dan, or Mark, (or Ty, for that matter) your 2009 Cleveland Browns will sport a spiffy pair of Hanks, born just three weeks apart.
I’m being patient, but I can’t help hankering for something more.