Dear Fellow Browns Fans,
Yesterday I posted a scathing, foul mouthed, insult filled assault on Josh Gordon. Now don't misunderstand I don't think he is the worst human being in the world. I understand the rules aren't fair and what he did isn't nearly as bad as what many others have done. But outside of that he is a young man who has had well more chances than any of us "common folk" would ever be allotted. And he knew the consequences of another screw up, the NFL has been crystal clear on that. My point is that if he wants to party so bad, maybe he should have never signed an NFL contract in the first place. And furthermore how many drug tests does your work allow you to fail? I bet if you fail one you don't get a four week vacation and a stern warning.
But I know I crossed a line, I openly admit that. Jokes about bad play is one thing. Aggressively questioning a person's intelligence is personal. But don't get me wrong I'm not apologizing for it. I meant every word of what I said. To be honest I could have made it ten times longer. What Gordon did to us is personal. I've been a Cleveland Brown longer that Josh Gordon has been alive. So when you come to MY TEAM... no OUR TEAM at least show us some respect.
On Friday morning I hadn't felt as positive about the Cleveland Browns since their return. I watched the YouTube videos of Browns fans going nuts when Johnny Manziel was picked. I saw a guy in an Eric Metcalf jersey dance around like a giddy little school girl. It was almost surreal, and genuinely nice to see. We were singing "Bernie Bernie" the last time I saw something like that. Then came the news at about 5 o'clock. Normally I would just expect the other shoe to drop, that the way this team has been. But are in unprecedented territory. Right not we are in the crosshairs of some real national attention. We have a chance to become legit players in this league. And for our brand to get blindsided and embarrassed by a player while it is as hot as it has ever been is inexcusable.
Thankfully I don't feel I have to apologize for what I said. I expected about three people to read it, and have one love it and one tell me I am a crazy person. Instead the response was staggering. Over 500 people read the thing within an hour. Most were overly supportive, and my biggest negative comment came from a guy who thought I should have been a bit more grown up in my language, and supported my message. That truly stunned me, and for that I thank you guys.
What I do need to apologize for is the fact that I thought maybe we as fans had gotten soft. I understand that many people aren't as passionate about sports as I am. But part of my passion goes beyond just the games. When a city has successful sports teams, the city tends to boom around it. But to me the most important element to sports is the way it can bring a community together. The Browns in the late 80's the Indians in the mid 90's were both great for sports and the community.
So when I saw some genuine passion given back to me by fans I was awestruck. I think the passion is back for this team and we aren't going to let anyone ruin it for us. The true reason I wrote that piece in the first place was I wanted people to read it and realize that there is a very good chance we will never see Josh Gordon in a Browns uniform again. And if he does come back, I didn't like Andre Rison, Braylon Edwards, or Kellen Winslow Jr. either. I know if I had twitter and this site when those guys were here I would have never ran out of material. While I don't want my site becoming a stream of Josh Gordon pot jokes, if that's how the chips fall so be it.
Mike Pettine says "We Will Break off the Rearview Mirror" and I think that is pretty sound advise for a guy who just got here. I think while we can reflect on our history, we do need to realize that we can move forward without the curses of past seasons. Gordon is in my rearview mirror now, there are some guys here that genuinely want to be here and wear our team's colors proudly.
Pettine also says he want guys that eat glass, which I certainly hope he doesn't mean literally. I think he is actually referencing the toughness he wants from the team. But one thing that adds to the toughness of the team is the 70,000+ people that pack into the stadium on Sundays. Imagine if we can get 70,000 glass eaters into that stadium, I think we have a pretty damn good home field advantage. In some countries a rowdy crowd that large is called an army. We could take over a small country with those numbers, but instead we amass and put aside everything for 3 hours, drink beer and exist as one.
I heard a whole bunch of glass eaters voices loud and clear last night. I think I see that not only is the team heading in the right direction, but the fans are getting their passion and fire back. So here we are, we have a clean slate, tons of competition at every position. Lets sit back and enjoy the ride together.
The Cleveland Sports Memes Guy
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