Like many longtime Browns loyalists, I sense that something’s seriously amiss. It’s not just the horrendous win/loss records, though that’s certainly a big part of it. It’s that the fans, in various ways, are not treated with respect. The Browns organization regards its fan base as important, sure, but more as a passionate, irrational horde to be both spoon-fed and milked.
But especially when it comes to player injuries, the Browns time and again insult their fans by withholding information or just plain lying. I can understand a little bit of in-season ambiguity for competitive reasons. And I certainly respect the privacy of players like Ryan Tucker and see no compelling need to delve into their personal horrors against their will.
Let’s face it, though. Fans are encouraged to identify personally with their local heroes. They are drawn into position-by-position roster analyses — premiere players, prospects, possibilities, perils. And yet, the crucial variable of the player’s health status is too often a missing or misleading part of the information flow.
Remember Kelly Holcomb’s “tiny hairline fracture of the non-weight-bearing fibula” that it was “totally erroneous” to believe would knock him out of the starting lineup for a month in 2003?
Remember Romeo riding Reuben roughshod late into 2005, even after Lee Suggs had finally cleared the injury report? Turns out Suggs had a torn meniscus in his knee that required off-season surgery, which was not disclosed until his failed physical negated his trade to the Jets.
Remember the timely, complete updates about the 2006 surgeries of Daylon McCutcheon, the last remaining “new” Browns original draftee? Didn’t think so. The PR machine told you all about how he fulfilled his promise to his mom to earn his college degree. But as for his health, you probably heard some depressing details dribbling out months later, wondering all the while whether he’d be back this year, next year, or ever. You can basically forget it now. “No news is good news” does not apply to injured Browns.
And now PatMac — ironically, a former Browns mouthpiece — breaks the news (without saying how he found out) that Wheelie Winslow’s reported knee scope was actually the much dicier microfracture procedure. This directly contradicts the team’s own news release, not to mention Wheelie’s own words on NFL Network:
Jamie Dukes: “Now there’s still I guess some lingering effects. You’re gonna have surgery some time later on this week just to kind of clean up a few things.”Wheelie: “Right, just a scope. Nothing, uh, nothing major.”
Uh, right. Just tell me this. Why should we stay intellectually involved and emotionally invested in an organization that repeatedly plays us for fools? Seems like the Browns don’t just rely on blind loyalty, they work to keep it that way.
