Bye Week Blues..

So the Browns have a bye this week, which means I'll have absolutely nothing to do on Sunday, except of course, listen to CBS analysts drool over the Patriots vs. Jets game. But I digress, since the season is a quarter of the way through, I decided to look at where the Browns are and make my assessment.

2-2 is nothing to scream about, and honestly it would look a lot better if the week two win had come against a Peyton Manning led Colts, but a win is a win and you take them however you can get them.

Through four games it look like Heck&Holms hit a home run in last years daft, and pair it with their first draft it looks like not just a solo homer either. In 2010 they took Haden, Ward, Hardesty, and McCoy, all of whom started week 4 for the Browns. This year they weren't flashy but solid in adding Taylor, Sheard, Little, Marecic, Pinkston, and Skrine. Right there is 10 players who we have all seen on the field this year.

As I just stated, the 2011 draft wasn't flashy, we didn't get that big, shiny name everyone thought we would with the 5th overall pick, but we may have made the best trade in Browns history. The trade the brass pulled off with the Atlanta Falcons was what might make the Browns a great football team. Instead of taking Julio Jones we added 4 draft picks, including another 1st round pick in 2012. That should have Browns fans really excited! (I'll get back to this later)

Looking at stats, here's something I found really interesting...
Here's the stat lines for two AFC North quarterbacks:
1) 49%, 973 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT
2) 58%, 984 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT
Quarterback #2 is the starting quarterback for your Cleveland Browns and quarterback #1 is Joe Flacco. Everyone wants to judge McCoy and wonder if he is the franchise quarterback, but it's clear to me, given those stats that he can be. Flacco has many more weapons at his disposal on the outside than McCoy does.

Those stats bring me back to the two first round draft picks point I had earlier. It's easy to see the browns need a wide receiver who can make catches in traffic, win jump balls, and stretch a defense. And it is hard not to like Justin Blackmon out of Oklahoma State University. He is 6'1", 215 pounds and has the best hand in college football. Don't believe me? He won't the Belitnikoff award last year, as a sophomore! I know the front office has said they like the wide outs we currently have, but it would be hard not to like Blackmon lining up with Little on the outsides.

And since I'm on next years draft, and we have two first rounders, if you haven't seen LSU's defense play yet, you need to! I would love to see cornerback #17, Morris Claiborne, lining up opposite Joe Haden for years to come!

Ok, back to this years team..

Browns fans have been all in a tizzy with this Peyton Hillis situation, and the fact that he hasn't been rushing for large amounts of yards. The fact is, and all of us Browns fans will have to get used to this, that the days of grinding out yards for four quarters are gone! Holmgren is a west coast guy, Shurmur is a west coast guy, they throw, a lot! Those short, quick passes are like glorified hand offs.

It is nice to have a guy like Hillis who can drain clock when you have a lead, but those methodical, boring drives we've come to know and love are over! It's almost like we were brainwashed watching the old regimes, and that's what we've come to know. But that is not what Shurmur does, he throws, and throws some more. Luckily for us, Peyton Hillis has better hands than most of our receivers so we can continue to find ways to get him the ball!

With all that said, this team would probably look a lot more fluid offensively had the lockout not hijacked the new coaching staffs training camp work. We are getting to the point now where the coaches would have been by preseason had they been able to work with the players on the playbook over the summer. I feel like coming out of the bye week, the offense, should look much better from here on out. Which is good, because starting week 12 we have to run the gauntlet. We'll find a lot more out about this team in the final 6 game of the season.

No Average Joe

Ok I will admit it, I am a homer. I am for all things Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers. I root for them, and I hold grudges. So I have to admit, while watching the 2010 NFL Draft, I was not all that enthralled with the Browns' selection of Florida cornerback Joe Haden with the #7 overall pick. Never mind all the "experts" analysis: "he's not fast enough, too short, not physical enough...blah blah blah," he went to FLORIDA! The university that whooped up on my Buckeyes in football and twice in basketball. I still do not drink Gatorade to this day because of that football game! And now I have to root for him?

He's only played for the Browns for a year, and only started a little over half of the games, but that is enough for me, I am sold. I am a Joe Haden fan! No matter what school he went to. The man get's it! He understand what it is that we Clevelanders crave! And because of that I can only hope the Browns find 21 more guys just like him.

I am sure you all think that I am going to go straight to his stats and wax poetically about him being a stud corner (even though I could, six picks as a rookie in a division stacked with wide receiver talent is no short feat) but it goes beyond that. Way beyond that. He doesn't just do it on the field, he does it off the field too! He has found a way to become a fan favorite after only a year, and it wasn't because he ran his mouth, nope, just his tweets!

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It was April Fools Day this year when a 12-year old little league team found out their team sponsor was not going to sponsor the team any longer, and the season was in jeopardy. So the coach did what any reasonable person, who was coaching a bunch of 12-year old boys, would do, he tweeted! Actually, he sent a tweet to @JoeHaden23 on a whim asking to sponsor his kids' team. Now, even the coach admitted he thought nothing would come of it. That was, until, Haden tweeted him back! Haden ended up getting in touch with the coach, handed the coach cash to pay the league fees, and supply uniforms, and in the process made a bunch of 12-year old's year!

Haden is quoted in the article by Zac Jackson, that I linked above, saying, "I'm really fortunate to have grown up watching my father help people when he could. And now that I'm in the position to do the same, I'm always looking to do the same." I think I just heard the collective, "ahhhhhhh," as in, breath of fresh air? In today's "look at me, look at me" celebrity world, here's a kid (Haden is only 22) who get's it!

But this story goes a little further than, "Oh here ya go, here's your league fees, have a good season." No, Haden went above and beyond that. The first doubleheader of the year for the team, now named Haden Nation, Haden catches a flight, drives an hour, and makes to the kids game, sits in the dugout with the kids, and watches them win. Seriously?! Is this guy for real? YES! This wasn't scripted, that actually happened. The guy could have easily said, "Man, I just flew in, I'll catch another game." But no, he said he would be there, no matter how long of a drive it was, and he showed up!

Whether or not you are a Brown's fan, or a Haden fan, you should appreciate that, and have a new found respect for this man. But wait, there is more. And here is why he is a Cleveland fan favorite...

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It was probably just a regular Tuesday early afternoon, June 21st, most people at work are looking for a way to kill 30 minutes of their day, and hop on their twitter to find a tweet from @JoeHaden23: #sushirock beachwood at 415! Lunch on me just come over and say you follow me on twitter and ill take your bill! #letgo.

I'm sure you're thinking, funny joke! Well 55 fans fell for the joke, and ended up with a free lunch! 
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But there is more, during a Cavaliers home game, Haden showed up court-side dressed in full uniform with fan favorite Anderson Varejao wig. And was spotted at Progressive Field in an Indians uniform, pants and all!

He is exactly what the fans of Cleveland yearn for, and nothing like the "king" was. I would bet every cent to my name you would never see Haden at an Indians playoff game with a Yankees hat on...hmmmm you'd have to air a one hour special about yourself to do something like that, oh wait...


He is exactly what Cleveland has wanted, exactly what the Browns needed on the field, and the perfect example for all athletes on how to act off of it. But maybe most importantly, he is the perfect way for Cleveland fans to forget about the wounds left by the "lyin king." Here's hoping this Joe keeps his talents in Cleveland for years to come!