While talking to the press after signing his $125 million contract with the Browns, Myles Garrett said:
“I am just going to play the game how I have always played it, and that is not dirty.”
Sound familiar? That’s exactly what Garrett said after being fined $42,000 after the Jets game in Week 2 of the 2019 season:
“…just gonna play the game like it’s supposed to be played.”
And we all know what happened eight games later in the Browns’ first game against the Steelers: Garrett was suspended indefinitely. Garrett’s attitude translates into more penalties, fines, and suspensions. So, Brown’s fans, brace yourselves for another disappointing season.
Even after the second-longest suspension for on-field misconduct in NFL history, Garrett is still unrepentant. How is that even possible? I guess all the therapy and discussions with NFL officials didn’t take. And this all reflects badly on Browns’ new head-coach Kevin Stefanski, and owners, Dee & Jimmy Haslam who have failed to get Garrett to recognize the player-safety goals of the NFL.
Last week, former NFL scout, John Middlekauff said on his podcast that he would never bet on the Browns because of their bad ownership. Browns fans are ecstatic about the upgrades made to the Browns roster, coaching staff, and front office for the 2020 season. But you have to wonder; is there any amount of talent that can overcome bad ownership? Are the Browns doomed to being the most-talented mediocrity in the league?
In any case, the Browns should start thinking about using their #1 draft pick in 2021 for a defensive end; probably not what they are thinking right now. But with Garrett all but promising further suspensions, Browns management needs to be focused on a Plan B. Because last year’s Plan B was a disaster with the Browns going 2-4 in the last six games of the season, which were supposed to be the easy part of their schedule. The Browns defense just fell apart without Garrett.
Garrett is a great player. But depending upon him to be available to play is just bad management.
Imagine two Super Bowl contenders: one team has all COVID-19 virgins on its roster; the other team has nothing but infected players. Which team would you bet on to win the Super Bowl? If you bet on the first team, may I suggest that you are an imbecile? Obviously, the second team has players with antibodies, while the first team’s players are sitting ducks, several of which will likely test positive during the season and have to quarantine for two weeks, at best.
So, antibodies are a hot commodity for the 2020 NFL season. And while it may one day be possible to suck antibodies out of a recovered person, and inject them into an uninfected person to convey immunity, that has yet to be accomplished. So, the only reliable way to get antibodies is to get them the old-fashioned way: by surviving an infection. So, fans should be rooting for their team to get mild infections now, in order to prevent infections during the season.
But, will NFL coaches leave this to chance? Might there be a coach out there who will deliberately infect his players? Let’s see…which coach can be relied upon to cheat at every turn? Hmm. I won’t mention any names, but I will give you a hint: the guy I have in mind is currently missing a third-round draft pick. Let’s keep an eye on him, shall we?
The NFL is striving to keep all things equal between teams when it comes to practicing. But is there anything they can do to make sure that all teams suffer the same from the coronavirus? I don’t think so. The only possible method would be to infect all players now, and that is simply not ethical.
If a coach did deliberately infect his players, he could be brought up on attempted-murder charges. But what if all the players secretly signed consent forms? Or decided amongst themselves to self-infect? If they wanted to recover before the season started, they would have to do it now. And then they would have to explain away the sudden “outbreak” on the team: “Gosh, somebody didn’t wash his hands, and now we’re a hot-spot. I hope we can all recover in time.”
While there is an opportunity to cheat here, the most-likely scenario will be that the coronavirus is simply treated like any other injury. You get it, you miss a few games, and then you come back.
And there are more virus-strategy issues. What if your team doctor, or local medical systems, refuse to treat players with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for political reasons? Or if they do give HCQ, do they first screen the patient for Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD)? That might be a big factor considering how many African-American players there are in the NFL.
This all begs the question? Should the NFL regulate the treatment of COVID-19 infected players?
In case you think I’m crazy for considering these things, imagine the long-suffering Cleveland Browns making it to the AFC Championship game in January, and then Baker Mayfield tests positive, ending his season. Would this not induce a mass-suicide in the Dawg Pound? If Baker could foresee this future, would he self-infect? I don’t know, but I bet he would think about it considering how rabidly competitive he is. And Baker isn’t the only rabidly competitive player in the NFL. This isn’t the NBA after all.
With luck, this may all be moot by opening day. The CDC just reported:
“Mortality attributed to COVID-19 decreased compared to last week and is currently at the epidemic threshold but will likely increase as additional death certificates are processed.”
In other words, COVID-19 is a stone’s throw away from losing its status as an epidemic.
Note: the CDC link above is for the week ending June 27, 2020. It may change by time you read this.
If you see an NFL player, you should not ask him for a selfie. Instead, you should recoil in horror, and shout at him to get back in his bubble. Or at least, that’s what a little troll by the name of Anthony Fauci might advise you to do.
For some ridiculous reason, the NFL asked Fauci for advice. Predictably, Fauci told them to close up shop:
“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall.”
Fauci acts as if there is no such thing as antibodies. And while the jury is still out on the exact behavior of COVID-19 antibodies, I think it’s safe to say that they do indeed exist. Otherwise, we would have thousands of people suffering from multiple infections; something that has not been observed.
So, I personally wouldn’t be the least bit worried about taking a selfie with Ezekiel Elliott. Here is what he said about his battle with COVID-19:
“I would say I had maybe one or two days when I felt symptoms. Even then, it wasn’t too bad. I had a cough and a little bit of shortness of breath. Now, I feel good. I feel normal.”
Hardly the end of the world, right? After all, this is football we’re talking about – a game that is literally the equivalent of being in a car crash – weekly. Broncos’ superstar Von Miller, who suffers from asthma, had it worse than Elliot, but even he will recover much faster than he did from the torn ACL he suffered in 2013.
So, which would you prefer? To be sacked by Cleveland Browns’ defensive-end Miles Garret, or get infected with COVID-19? Miles would snap my spine in two, so I would take my chances with COVID-19.
President Trump slapped down Fauci right after the bubble comment, so the NFL is safe for now. However, that may not last. First, kneeling players may cause Trump to withdraw his protection. Second, a Biden victory in November might spell the end of football mid-season. Third, the NFL Players Association may pull out the old “abundance of caution” and order its players to surrender. Fourth, the NFL might simply run up the white flag as the COVID-19 hype reaches deafening levels.
Which it will.
Prepare to be terrorized like you have never been terrorized before. Take a look at this official CDC map (click to enlarge):
The whole country is green, and considering the current media hype, green must mean that everybody is dying, right? Wrong. Green means that, statistically, nobody is sick enough to go to the doctor. Here is what the chart looked like back in February 2020:
Now that was a problem. But today? It’s smooth sailing.
Those maps are made from data collected by the U.S. Influenza Surveillance System – one of the fabulous things our hard-working government bureaucrats produce for us. Go to this page and play with the interactive map yourself.
The map probably won’t begin to heat up until around Election Day, when the weather gets cold, and people start staying inside and breathing on each other all day.
There is a lot of pressure on the NFL right now, during the summer when nobody is sick. Imagine how intense the pressure will get when flu season starts, and people get sick for real.
Furthermore, it’s entirely possible that the NFL will save more lives than it takes by playing the 2020 season. Back in May, doctors at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California reported that they had more suicide deaths than COVID-19 deaths during the lockdown. It turns out that being isolated, locked-down, and terrorized by constant media propaganda takes a toll on many people who then look for a way out.
But, if you have the NFL to watch, you will at least be able to enjoy a few hours of your life every week during the inevitable second lockdown. And that will likely save some lives.
In other words, the NFL is likely to be medicinal. It should be provided to the public just like Vitamin D. And while players make more money than Trader Joe’s clerks, they should still be lauded for their service.
They will shut the NFL down if they can, so fans will need to fight for their right to party. Write to your congresspersons, your governor, and your mayor, and make sure that they know that the only way they can get your vote is if you can watch Nick Chubb trample DBs like they were so many bowling pins every Sunday.
In 2019, the Browns’ hype-train pulled out of the rail-yard, and rolled straight into a brick wall. Browns fans were shocked to learn that their oh-so-fabulous team was, in reality, a bunch of clowns, committing 18 penalties for 182 yards, and handing Game One to the Tennessee Titans on a silver platter.
Were the refs punishing the Browns? Maybe, but why? Could it be that the league was not enamored of coach Freddie Kitchens’ plan to make the Browns a more “physical” team? Did they take note of the Browns beating up the Colts during their preseason practice session? Did the NFL want to nip that thuggish coaching in the bud as they strive to make the game less dangerous?
Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. But what I really want to know is what coach Stefanski is doing to undo Kitchens’ bad coaching. I don’t recall him making any statements on the subject, or the Browns press discussing it. So, that’s why it is our 4th red flag.
And it is indeed a pressing matter. While there have been many changes made throughout the organization, the Browns still come up as #4 when you pull up a list of the most-penalized teams in the NFL. So coach Stefanski, how are you addressing this enormous problem?
The o-line and the DBs sometimes have to commit penalties to protect the QB, and prevent touchdowns, respectively. But what about receivers? Surely a receiver’s job is to receive (ha, ha) penalties by running his routes so well that the opposing DB has to grab him. But Odell Beckham Jr. committed 5 penalties, and was a bit of a troublemaker. OBJ was a big supporter of coach Kitchens’ policy. Here he is fighting with Marlon Humphrey during the Browns’ victory over the Baltimore Ravens:
That penalty moved the Browns from the Ravens’ 30 yard line, all the way back to the 48. The Browns were up by a touchdown and trying to widen their lead in the third quarter when OBJ just had to fight Humphrey. True, Humphrey was roughing-up Odell, but it seems to me that Odell should be complaining to the refs and trying to get them to watch Humphrey more-closely and draw a penalty rather than indulge his ego by fighting Humphrey.
Browns fans also seem to be assuming that Myles Garrett will be able to avoid getting suspended again this year. But will he? With all the hoopla over the Mason Rudolph incident, you may have forgotten that Myles was fined $42,000 after the game against the Jets in week 2. Here’s what Myles said afterward:
“It’s been like this for awhile, and I feel like they [QBs] have been getting added protection as the years go on. And they sell the tickets of quarterbacks scoring touchdowns, but it’s our job to get after them and I’m not going to stop that, just gonna play the game like it’s supposed to be played. Nothing post- or pre-snap.”
So, here you have Myles thinking that he has the authority to change NFL policy. Do you think the NFL took notice? I do. I think they were just itching for Myles to screw up so that they could put the hammer down on him. That’s why his punishment later in the year seemed so draconian. Did Freddie Kitchens do anything to try and change Garrett’s attitude after the Jets game? Apparently not.
Was it Kitchens who taught the “gentle poet” how to rip off a helmet and bash people with it? Did they drill that in practice? I don’t know, and I don’t know if Myles is “cured” or not. However, if I were coach Stefanski I would not assume that he was. Freddie Kitchens did a lot of damage to the Browns, and it may require quite a lot of work to undo it all.
Contrary to what Myles said, the job of a defensive-end is no longer to sack the quarterback; the job is to sack the quarterback just so. And that’s not easy. It’s something that requires self-control and finesse. Does Myles have that? Well, he didn’t during the Pittsburgh game, and we haven’t seen him play since then, so who knows?
After the Jets game, I cringed every time Myles rushed the quarterback. I was terrified that he would snap somebody’s spine or cause some other disaster. And indeed, the fight with Mason Rudolph (though tame by NHL or UFC standards) was catastrophic for the Browns’ playoff chances. If the 2020 season were to start today, I would still be cringing because I don’t have any reassurance that this issue is being addressed.
We Browns fans are excited about what appears to be a huge coaching upgrade for 2020. But, we have to keep in mind that Kevin Stefanski is a rookie as head coach, and he has some gigantic egos to deal with. Does he know how to manage such players? I certainly hope so.
On the helmet incident, I believe Myles when he says that Rudolph called him the n-word. But Myles did start the fight, dragging down Rudolph long after he released the ball. However, Rudolph escalated the fight by pulling Myles’ helmet halfway off. I also think that there was further racism with the black player (Myles) being called “barbaric” by the white announcer, and the white player (Rudolph) being given the benefit of the doubt by Troy Aikman who said:
“I couldn’t tell if Mason Rudolph’s left hand was caught in the helmet somehow of Myles Garrett, and that’s why he was trying to go to the headgear the way that he was…”
Absurd. As if it’s impossible for a white player to be a bully and a dirty player. (That comment can be heard at the 5:16 mark of this video.)
Clearly, if Rudolph had succeeded in getting Myles’ helmet off, he would have hit him with it and we would have had a totally different outcome. If you look up “bully” in the dictionary, there is a picture of Mason Rudolph. Does he not look like the prototypical bully? How many smaller kids did he stuff into lockers in high school? I bet it was a lot. He knew about the helmet-move and didn’t even have a dirty coach like Freddie Kitchens to teach it to him.
In his rookie debut in 2018, Baker Mayfield was a fantastic quarterback. In 2019, he sucked. Kind of mysterious, no? Most analysts attribute Baker’s regression to the loss of OG Kevin Zeitler, and a consequently degraded o-line.
But I blame Myles Garrett.
How is that possible? How could a defensive player like Myles effect Baker’s game when he isn’t even on the field at the same time as Baker?
Answer: Myles was on the field at the same time as Baker during practice. And no, Myles did not whack Baker in the head with his helmet. However, many people have remarked that Myles “ruined” practice by being way better than the Browns’ o-line that he was practicing against.
So, the ones are on the field practicing, and on just about every pass play, there’s Myles wrapping-up Baker before he can get the ball off. He doesn’t injure Baker of course, however, subconsciously Baker learns that he is not safe, and that he needs to flee the pocket – even when he is not being pressured.
This is the reddest of red flags because everybody is thinking that the addition of Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin to the Browns’ o-line is going to restore Baker to his former glory. But, if I am right, it will not, and Baker will continue to see ghosts, have another terrible year, and maybe lose his starting-QB job to Case Keenum.
Speaking of which… Maybe one of Keenum’s jobs as backup-QB should be to take snaps when Myles is on the practice field. I’m not saying that Baker should be coddled, however his subconscious mind does need to be reconditioned into trusting his revamped o-line, which by all accounts will be far superior to the 2019 edition.
This brings to mind a story about MMA fighter Georges St. Pierre as told by his coach, Firas Zahabi, on the Joe Rogan show. As GSP was training for his fight with Dan Hardy in 2010, he got knocked down during a sparring session. In order to rebuild GSP’s confidence, and unbeknownst to GSP, Zahabi instructed the sparring partner to not throw any punches at GSP in the final round, and he did not; he just took a beating. And it worked; GSP was elated after the round and very pleased with his comeback performance. And he went on to defeat Hardy, even though he was probably concussed going in.
The important part of this story is that even the GOAT, GSP, needed to have his confidence restored.
Of course, Baker might catch on if Myles is never on the field at the same time, and that might ruin the therapy. But if so, another treatment will need to be found. An intellectual recognition that he has a better o-line this year probably won’t be enough. He needs to be conditioned to know in his bones that he is safe enough to stand in the pocket and wait for his receivers to complete their routes.
The top priority of the Browns is fixing Baker Mayfield. However, the little adjustment to Baker’s footwork made by coach Van Pelt isn’t going to get the job done by itself. This a job for a sports psychologist. And Baker could start right now with perhaps some visualization exercises, hypnosis, etc.
If this isn’t done, then the Browns will need to change their offensive scheme to match Baker’s disability. Otherwise, we will be watching a rerun of the 2019 season, which nobody wants.
In early 2019 when people were remarking that the Browns had no first-round draft pick, coach Freddie Kitchens responded: “Yeah, but we have Odell Beckham, Jr.”
Wrong again Freddie. OBJ did not help the Browns win more games during the 2019 season. In fact, the Browns slipped from 7-8-1 in 2018 to 6-10 in 2019. Turns out, having 14 million Instagram followers doesn’t make you a great player.
And no, OBJ is not the best wide receiver in the NFL. He’s not even the best receiver on the Browns. That title belongs to Jarvis Landry who had 1,174 yards in 2019; the 10th best in the league. Beckham barely squeaked over one thousand, finishing in 26th place with 1,035 yards. Yes, OBJ was not at 100%, but neither was Landry, and both players had surgery right after the season ended.
What I find truly absurd about OBJ is his off-the-charts level of narcissism. OBJ went over 1,000 yards during the last game of the season against the Bengals (early in the 4th quarter). When he achieved this oh-so-fabulous milestone, he took himself out of the game, sat down on the bench, and put a towel over his head. He was all verklempt, and had to shield his eyes from the beam of pure, white-hot light pouring down upon his glorious personage. But his team was losing, and if he has such a high opinion of himself, why did he stop trying to win the game?
Answer, because OBJ doesn’t give a shit about the Browns.
Odell sat out for a play or two, and then came back in the game, but the drama show was ridiculously unprofessional.
And nothing has changed since then. In early May of 2020, Beckham released a video updating fans on his recovery from surgery, and was roundly criticized for his narcissistic attitude. Nowhere in the video does Beckham say the words “team” or “Browns.” Just the opposite; Beckham declares:
“This is my time. That’s all.”
See for yourself:
Is OBJ telling coach Stefanski and Baker Mayfield: “throw me the ball, or I will demand to be traded?” Because if that’s what he means, I say just trade him now. If Stefanski and Mayfield capitulate to OBJ, then the Browns will have yet another disappointing season.
Beckham’s declaration is an insult to the entire Browns receiving corps – including his best friend Jarvis Landry. And I don’t even think Beckham will make it through the season without yet another injury. In fact, the only way he will make it into the season is to skip practice and the preseason because Beckham is made of tissue paper.
While Beckham is the same size as Jarvis Landry, Beckham gets rag-dolled a lot when being tackled. It’s like watching the Broncos 5’8″ Phillip Lindsay – you brace yourself for him getting smashed by a lineman twice his size. But even Lindsay is more durable than Beckham.
While Beckham and Landry are virtually twins, Beckham’s yards-after-catch (YAC) were a paltry 331 in 2019, #44 in the league. By contrast, Landry’s YAC was #18 in the league at 440. Landry had a few more catches than Odell, but his average YAC is still higher at 5.25 vs Beckham’s 4.40.
And of course, Landry is the Browns’ team leader, while OBJ is the exact opposite of that; whatever you might call it.
In May 2020, while the Browns facility was on coronavirus lockdown, Baker Mayfield hosted some of his receivers and tight-ends in his hometown of Austin, Texas. Rashard Higgins, Damion Ratley, Austin Hooper, and David Njoku were there. Meanwhile, Beckham was frolicking in a fountain. Literally. Frolicking. (Click photo to enlarge.)
In all fairness, Jarvis wasn’t there either, but at least he was mentoring Browns rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones in Deerfield, Florida where both players were training.
And of course, wide receivers are known to be narcissists; but I think OBJ is a narcissist among narcissists. Imagine if he were to show up at training camp with a Nick Chubb style attitude. That would be incredible, but I’m not holding my breath.
If the NFL had a Harlem Globetrotters type of team, Odell would be perfect for it, doing his one-handed circus catches and whatnot. But short of that, I am not a fan, and would like to see him traded ASAP. The Browns could use a linebacker, and I hear that Joe Schobert guy in Jacksonville is pretty good. Or maybe the Browns could trade him back to the Giants straight-up for Jabrill Peppers or Kevin Zeitler. Just kidding; the Giants would never go for either trade. What the Browns need to find is an unsuspecting, linebacker-rich wide-out poor team to dump OBJ on.
Note to Odell: the first rule of football is DON’T RUN BACKWARDS:
That’s the way a narcissist returns a punt: he thinks he can juke the entire coverage team. Remember when Jabrill Peppers returned punts for the Browns? Those were the days…until the Browns sent him to New York for OBJ.
So, that’s our second red flag for the 2020 season. OBJ needs to be reigned in, or traded. He is a walking red-flag.
Odell Beckham Jr. wasn’t trying to break the Browns, of course. And there were plenty of other problems during the 2019 season. But the OBJ trade in March of 2019 sealed the team’s fate.
When I first heard about the trade, I was baffled. “They traded Peppers, of all people? WTF?” That was the defensive equivalent of trading Nick Chubb. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The Browns also traded OG Kevin Zeitler, one of the guys who pass-blocked for Baker Mayfield as the rookie QB rose to super-star status in 2018.
It was a large six-player trade. The Browns got Beckham and DE Olivier Vernon in exchange for OG Kevin Zeitler, SS Jabrill Peppers, and the Browns’ #17 & #95 picks in the 2019 draft. Those picks turned into the highly-regarded DE Dexter Lawrence, and LB Oshane Ximines. Here’s the spreadsheet:
Browns Got
Giants Got
Odell Beckham Jr.
Kevin Zeitler
Olivier Vernon
Jabrill Peppers
Dexter Lawrence
Oshane Ximines
Ironically, this trade hobbled OBJ himself by blowing a giant hole in one of the finest o-lines in the NFL. The Browns never came close to filling Zietler’s shoes in 2019, and Baker Mayfield spent most of the season running for his life. Consequently, OBJ put up mediocre numbers.
OBJ was hurt for most of the season, and said that he could not hit top gear. Olivier Vernon also had an injury-riddled lackluster season. So, in hindsight of course, it looks like the Browns acquired two over-the-hill players in exchange for four, count ’em!, FOUR! solid players. So, as of this writing, the OBJ trade is looking like one of the very worst in NFL history.
And it gets worse. Shorty after the trade, Bucky Brooks, in a prescient article, took OBJ to task for not participating in the Browns’ off-season “organized team activities” (OTAs). OBJ had a new offense to learn, but didn’t bother to show up for practice.
So, it was a multifaceted disaster: 1) The Browns made a terrible trade for OBJ. 2) OBJ’s celebrity presence amplified the reality distortion field around the Browns to a lethal level. 3) The Browns’ passing game was not broken, but they fixed it anyway. They fixed the hell out of it. 4) OBJ didn’t practice enough to develop a chemistry with his new quarterback.
But wait! There’s more! OBJ will be the subject of my next “red-flag” series for the 2020 season.
Note: the Browns later said that there were two trades, with one being a straight-up swap of Zeitler for Vernon. I don’t know why the Browns wanted to rewrite history, but here I went with the trade as originally announced and reported.
Watch Zeitler (#70) opening the hole for Nick Chubb’s franchise-record 92-yard touchdown run against the Falcons in November of 2018:
That’s what the Browns gave up for OBJ. But this wasn’t just any old 92-yard touchdown run. At the time, the Browns were 2-6-1, and suffering yet another abysmal season. But then went 5-2 to finish the season at 7-8-1. You could make a case that the hole Zeitler opened was the very beginning of that seven-game “Golden Age” of 2018. Not only did it establish Nick Chubb as truly something special, but it also demonstrated that the Browns’ o-line could spring him loose. No doubt that it gave the Browns a new-found confidence.
Early in the 2019 season, retired OG Geoff Schwartz wrote an article about how Baker Mayfield was making life difficult for his o-line. One of the things Schwartz pointed out was that Baker was not stepping up into the pocket.
With the problem publicly identified by a credible observer, I was expecting Baker to fix it. But he did not. And he finished the season as one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.
While it’s true that the Browns haven’t set foot on the practice field yet, I am worried that this problem is not being addressed. I have not heard Baker, coach Stefanski or OC Van Pelt even mention this issue. Even worse, I have not heard anybody in the sport media discussing this glaring flaw in Baker’s game.
I’m excited to watch first-round draft-pick Jedrick Wills Jr. pass-block for Baker, but I wonder if Wills knows that he has a QB who won’t be stepping up into the pocket? Can he adjust for such a thing? Because everybody is expecting Wills to make a meaningful contribution to Baker having a great season. Everybody is acting like it’s a done deal, but I don’t think it is.
So, that’s our first red flag. Somebody needs to teach Baker how to play his position, and there is no sign of that happening yet.
