I have asked the Arizona Cardinals to change their website’s bio of Maurice Carthon, their running backs coach. An excerpt of my email to them:

In two places, it states that Carthon spent the past two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Browns. In fact, Carthon resigned his position on or about October 23, 2006, after just six of the Browns’ 16 games. Of couse, he was actually forced to resign or be fired. Though I would hardly expect you to publicize the manner of his departure, it is dishonest to allow readers to believe that he actually served the Browns for two years when he left Cleveland well before the midpoint of the second season.

The fact that Carthon’s bio claims that he “helped tutor” Kellen Winslow Jr. and then cites Winslow’s statistics for the full 2006 season makes the misleading impression of Carthon’s length of service all the more flagrant.

Also incorrect is the following sentence: “Carthon joined the Browns in 2005 and led an offensive unit that finished the season ranked 8th in the NFL with 1,601 yards from scrimmage (1,232 rushing and 369 receiving).”

Perhaps the writer confused “an offensive unit” with “Reuben Droughns,” because those are his individual statistics for that year. In fact, the 2005 Browns’ offensive unit led by Carthon finished dead last in points scored and 26th out of 32 teams in yardage. My personal opinion (published at the time and borne out by subsequent events) is that the Browns overused Droughns that year to the longer-term detriment of the team and the player himself. Regardless, the objective facts beg for correction on their own terms.