(Opening Statement)-
“Good afternoon everybody.If I could for a couple of minutes before we
get started here, I think it’s important that I talk just a little bit
about the plan moving forward. I’ve talked to you about this before and
I’ve mentioned it to some of you individually, also some of you
collectively I think, but I think it’s important to me that it’s
understood that we’re approaching our third season here with the new
group. Philosophically, it was really important to me as the President
and a new president, something I’ve never done before, to come in and
support the coach in any way I could, first of all, and secondly, not
take anything away from his time. As a coach for a long, long time, I
think I told you that anytime the president got involved with football
stuff it used to irritate me a little bit and we had many discussions
about that. If something was going to be said about the football team, I
would like to be the one that says it. I think it’s important to have
one voice, so on and so forth. That was my thinking coming into this job
and this position so I’ve to do that, honestly, for a couple years Not
that I’m hard-headed, but I have started to listen to some people and
some people in this room quite honestly and then also people that I meet
around town and at various things that Kathy and I are involved in,
saying that, “We’d like to hear a little bit more from you about things,
it’s fun,” and whatever they say. This year that’s what I am going to
try and do. Now, exactly how that is going to manifest itself, I
couldn’t really give you the blueprint for that yet. But, I’ve talked to
both Pat (Shurmur) and Tom (Heckert) about this idea and they have to
know and your coach has to know that the president is on your side.
You’ve got to know that and there can’t be any controversies created by
things that I would say and Pat would say and Tom would say. The hard
part about it is that at times there will be a little thing that comes
out where it will be easy to say, ‘Well wait a minute, he said this and
he said this, what does it mean?’ That is kind of the danger of this, a
little bit, but as long as they know that I have their back and we don’t
want that to happen and that we have talked about most things football
before any press conference takes place, either by Pat or Tom or me, but
the bottom line is that I am going to try and be more available. I have
a great young coach and I have a tremendous general manager and my
motives in setting up the things for the first couple of years, I think
were the right ones. I have no regrets about that, but in listening to,
again as I said, a little bit of what people asked me when I am out and
about and again, what some of you have asked me in a private moment or
two, that’s how we are going to try and do that. We’re kind of starting
the ball rolling today. I know Pat had his press conference with you
this week. I’m going to do this today and then when we come back in the
fall I am going to be more available to you. If you ask and it doesn’t
happen please understand that I’m trying to do this a different way, so
that’s how we’re going to do it. It’s going to be a little bit of a
change, but we all have to understand this, this is really important,
that Pay Shurmur is the coach of this football team, he will make
football decisions. Tom Heckert and Pat and I talk about every football
decision, but the head coach has to have that responsibility otherwise
it doesn’t work very well, in my opinion. That’s how it’s going to be
set up. Having said that, now fire away. We have some time here and then
guys are going to go on vacation, the players are cut loose after
tomorrow, the coaches go on vacation, the building kind of shuts down a
little bit over the summer as you know. Then we’ll come back and kind of
tee it up around the time I have my motorcycle ride, which you’re all
invited to participate in if you own motorcycles. Spend a little money,
it’s okay (joking). I would like to see you there actually.”
(On if the team plans to move either Seneca Wallace or Colt McCoy before training camp)-
“Right now the plan is not to. I think that position, heck the first
two years we’ve had to go to the third quarterback because of injury, so
that’s not to say we might change something, but right now, no. Right
now they are all practicing very hard. Our quarterback position is a
strong position, in my opinion and something might happen as we approach
training camp or during the training camp season, but that’s how we’re
looking at it right now.”
(On his impressions of Brandon Weeden and if he is the franchise quarterback)- “Well that term, and Tom (Withers) you know this better than anybody, that term
is
a tough term. Franchise quarterback, are you talking about a Tom Brady,
Peyton Manning, Joe Montana or whoever. He’s a rookie. Does he display
his talent on the field, his ability to throw the ball? I think you’ve
all seen that. He’s gifted that way. There is a maturity level because
of his age, he is a different rookie because of that. I think lastly, if
you pick a player in the first round, you are saying something. You’re
telling everybody something. Now having said that, nothing gets handed
to anybody and that’s essentially what I told him, but if he’s the
player we think he is and can be, I think he has the chance to have a
fine career in this league, but he’s going to have to show us now. We
believe that that can happen, but he has to come in and play. Keep in
mind everything we have done so far is in shorts and t-shirts and so on.
It’s a little easier to play the position when you know you’re not
going to get hit, but right now it’s a healthy competition. It’s going
to be Pat’s decision and at some point moving forward, you have got to
name one. I think he was asked the other day why he didn’t he do it now.
Well we aren’t ready to do it now. Well Washington did it now, I don’t
care. I don’t care what they do. I do know this, you can’t get too close
to the first game and still have it going on because of the reps
involved and how you have to get that guy prepared to play so it becomes
fairly obvious I think as we approach, who’s getting the most time in
practice and that’s going to be the guy that’s the guy.”
(On at what point do you have to name the starting quarterback)-
“I don’t know. It’s a good question, but as you go through this I think
they both have had a lot of chances to throw in our minicamps and our
OTAs. I don’t know and I don’t think anyone could tell you exactly when.
When the time comes you kind of know. There’s a practice, you’re
approaching the preseason games or the regular season and you go to get
whoever it is ready for that first game, we better make the decision and
again that’s the coach’s decision.”
(On if there is any awkwardness to having all three quarterbacks on the roster)-
“I don’t think so. It’s probably fun to write about. You guys kind of
like it, but as far as the individuals involved, but say we have to
deactivate whoever the third quarterback is, there’s a rule where we
might not have to deactivate him, but that guy gets his feathers ruffled
a bit, which is understandable. They are all competitive. They all have
played in games, but that’s the business. They are big boys and that is
how they have to handle it.”
(On if there any
concern over possibly starting a rookie quarterback and a rookie running
back and how you get them through that process)- “It is
somewhat a unique situation, but if you have to do it, these are the two
young men I would do it with. Trent (Richardson) as a runner, I think
the transition for a running back to come into this league as a runner,
is maybe as easy as any position on the team because running is running
and it is kind of instinctual. He got hit a lot in college, he is going
to get hit in professional football. The learning curve there is not so
great. Now, his challenge is as a pass blocker. That’s the big deal.
That’s the big change. But he certainly can handle it and I like our
depth at running back. The quarterback position, to have a rookie
quarterback, even if he’s 28 years old is a challenge because he’s going
to see stuff he hasn’t seen before and it just is. There’s a learning
curve there. What you can do as a coaching staff, you understand that
the runner certainly helps the young quarterback, absolutely helps the
young quarterback. We have a good running game. It did two years ago if
you remember. It helped Colt (McCoy). That’s a positive, but you
certainly can help young players with your play selection, with your
game plan, with the volume that you’re putting in and you can help them
that way and our guys are smart and they will do that.”
(On if he has had a change of heart regarding quarterback competitions)-
“I have not had a change of heart. The situation I came into here, as
you remember, neither one of those guys were rookies. They had played
and done some stuff. It was my impression and it still is my impression,
if you get to see a guy for three or four years, you have to know.
You’re not still going, ‘Well can the guy do it?’ You have to know by
then and be willing to make a decision. In our situation, you have
really young people. Colt hasn’t played very much. Seneca (Wallace) has
played the most or been in the league the longest. (Brandon) Weeden
comes in as a rookie, but an old rookie, so it adds a little something. I
think that will sort itself out and the quote unquote, ‘quarterback
competition,’ will go so far and then a decision will be made and that’s
the way we’ll do it.”
(On Tom Heckert saying he expects Brandon Weeden to win the starting competition)- “Spoken like a true draft selector
right
there (joking). You know what, I am more of the mind to let it play
out. You’ve watched football for a long time, you’ve all covered games
for a long time. Normally speaking, it falls a certain way given a
certain set of circumstances, but let’s let it play out. Tom has
certainly like all of his draft choices to start and I understand that,
but Weeden is our first round pick. As I mentioned earlier, when you
draft a quarterback in the first round, you are drafting him to play.
When he starts to play and when he starts, that’s a little different
thing. Look at Aaron Rodgers, drafted in the first round and it took him
four years to start. That set of circumstances, and you can go to a lot
of teams when they didn’t start, Joe Montana in my experience in San
Francisco. Of course he wasn’t a number one pick, but he didn’t start
right away so every team has to do what they think. Would it be nice if
we all of a sudden knew we have a franchise quarterback and those types
of things? That’s what we’ve been looking for since we got here and
certainly that’s what this franchise has been looking for a long time.
It would be one of the great things if it worked out that way.”
(On how he can avoid a messy situation with the quarterbacks)-
“I think you just make decisions. There’s a way you can prevent that,
in my opinion. First of all, you have to understand the people involved,
the players involved. You have to be very upfront with them, you have
to be making coaching decisions for the right reasons and you should be
able to avoid that, you really should. If you even think that it’s
starting to get a little squirrelly, then you have to make the big
decision. Then that ends that.”
(On how Pat Shurmur is different in his second year as head coach)-
“As we’ve talked about in here before, he went through a lot of things
his first year that a lot of times you don’t even get for three or four
years. I think he emerged scarred but healthy and raring to go. He just
told me today, it’s made such a difference having an offseason program
and having minicamps. He’s much more comfortable in his role. He
understands and knows the players and they know him. We managed to keep
the staff together pretty much, but added some really good coaches. I
think like every good young head coach, you learn every year. He just
had a lot of things to deal with last year that you don’t always have
that many things in the first year. I still believe in him very, very
strongly and he’s going to be fine.”
(On what he sees in Weeden that makes him a potential starter)-
“I think those of you who’ve had a chance to visit with him, first of
all, his skill level is excellent. He passes the ball very well. He does
it easily, good velocity. He has the things necessary, I think, to play
the position that way, which is the most important thing is to be able
to pass the ball and pass it accurately. The second thing is, and you
can’t discount this, he has a maturity about him because of what he’s
been through first of all, and then his age, and the fact that after
baseball he came back to play football. If you’ve talked to him, you
sense that, you get a feel for that, his teammates do. He is as prepared
to come in and start as a rookie as any quarterback I’ve seen in a long
time because of his maturity level and his age. He’s already been
through a whole bunch of competitive situations.”
(On how Weeden is adjusting from the way they did things at college)-
“His big adjustment is taking the snap from center, they didn’t do that
in college, but he seems to be doing fine with that. In our offense,
it’s absolutely necessary that you do that because of the timing factor.
We’ll still run the shotgun. I think in the passing game, there are a
lot of similarities between what he did in college and this passing
attack. The last thing I would say is, he seems to be a fast learner, a
quick learner. He has absorbed the playbook very, very well, which means
he studies. In minicamps, they throw a lot of stuff at him. Sometimes
it looks a little reckless out there, as you know and he’s been handling
it very well.”
(On saying a 5-11 record wasn’t unacceptable then the team going 4-12)-
“I shouldn’t have said that, honestly. Of course it’s not acceptable,
4-12 is even worse, it’s not acceptable. I will say the same thing now.
I’m not going to give you a win-loss record, but I will say what I’ve
told the coaches and what I’ve told the team. I expect us to take a
good healthy jump this year on the field. Of course I’m talking about
the record, and what that is I won’t make the same mistake I made last
year, but that’s what I expect. I know we’re a better football team.
We’re a more talented football team. There’s more continuity on the
coaching staff. We’ve had the offseason program. I believe we are a more
talented football team. We’ve added some things, we’re coming together
nicely. That’s why I said what I said.”
(On reports on the Browns being for sale and
if he and Randy Lerner talked about that at all)-
“No, the Browns are not for sale. I talk to Randy (Lerner) all the
time, and I assume he’d tell me. We have a very open, honest
relationship. No, there’s no truth to that.”
(On if he regrets not being more available to the media)-
“Do I regret it? No, I don’t’ think so. I’m not sure I’m doing the
right thing this time to be honest, but I feel like as long as you don’t
involve me in a big controversy with my coach, then that’s how I’d like
to do it. I don’t want you to ask Pat a question the day before I talk
to you then, “Oh, gotcha.” Don’t do that, because then I will go back
into my shell. As a coach, I was very open and very transparent and not
too many things bothered me as far as my relationship with you guys. As
long as I thought it was a fair and reasonable relationship. I really
thought I was doing the right thing, and maybe I still was doing the
right thing, but that’s how I’m going to do it.”
(On if they tabulate dropped passes and if he’s concerned that they are still happening)-
“We do, and I asked that very question on the practice field today,
Tony (Grossi). Yes, they keep track of that stuff, and yes, we had way
too many last year and it hurt us tremendously. We are catching the ball
better this year. Just take Greg Little as an example of one player
that, while he had in my opinion a good rookie year considering all the
stuff that happened prior to him coming here, but he dropped too many
passes and he is better than that. He’s made a marked improvement, he’s
not doing it. It’s a concentration thing as much as anything. The
receivers that you see catch the ball, again you watch practice, and you
see the receivers catch the ball easily. Some guys are easy catchers,
it’s very natural. When you are a kid, playing baseball or catching with
your friend, some guys can do it and some guys struggle. They slap at
it, it’s just how it is. If you see a receiver able to do that and then
all of a sudden he drops one, there’s a reason, and analyzing why he did
that, there’s usually a very good reason why that happened. He took his
eyes off it, he started to run, he didn’t concentrate, there’s a
reason, and the good receivers are willing to listen to you as a coach
and change that. We still drop one and it still happens. There are a
couple young guys out there that struggle a little bit catching it.
They’re not easy catchers, it’s a battle. You can almost see the balls
in the air and you can almost see wheel going, and you know it’s a big
adventure when it gets there. But most of the guys that we have at wide
receiver are good receivers. Now we just have to get them the football.
We have to get them the football and give them chances.”
(On if he thinks Colt McCoy had a fair shack last year with no offseason)-
“I’ve been asked that before. I said it was tough last year.
Essentially, we lost our running game early on, and we had some things
to deal with there. We dropped too many passes, that’s another thing. It
was hard. He got knocked around, he got banged pretty good. But a lot
of times, it’s not fair, it’s not always fair, but what he did get, he
got a chance to play a whole year. You learned how does he deal with
this, and then as a coach or a teacher then you have to take the things
that I just mentioned into consideration, that it was hard maybe harder
than we thought it was going to be, but, how did we handle it. Did we
get better? Did we handle it well? Those types of things are the things
that you have to answer, be very honest about how you feel about that.
That’s how you move forward I think. I like Colt McCoy. I’ve made no
secrets about that. I think he’s a wonderful young man, and a good
football player, and if you are asking me to say was it fair last year?
He had a tough go and he didn’t get as much help as I thought he was
going to get, but heck, that’s football.”
(On how he will measure the improvement for this season)-
“I think the things that we did poorly last year, like dropping passes,
I want to see a big improvement there. I would like to see a vast
improvement in our running game, our productivity of our running game. I
don’t want to see as many sacks from the offensive line. I want to see
more interceptions, all the measurable that you would use to tell you if
your team is doing the right thing. That should equate. If those things
are happening it should equate to a better record, which ultimately is
what you are judged on.”
(On Dick Jauron having the players work on tackling in training camp and his philosophy on that)-
“Dick’s a wonderful coach and has been coaching a long time. He has a
real good idea of how to coach defense. I think when you’re teaching
tackling, it’s hard, and you’re a little bit nervous about doing too
much of it in training camp because of the injury factor. So how do you
do it? I think you have to be really smart in what drills you use. You
have to talk technique a lot. In this day in age, it’s
my
feeling, that the technique, often times if you watch a game there’s
not as much wrapping up using the arms as there used to be when I first
came into the league. There’s more of a knock you down type of thing
instead of tackling. That works fine sometimes, but sometimes you miss
and that’s what leads to those numbers. I will say this, for some of the
defensive backs to wrap up, it’s a little more painful. It’s a little
easier to just go for the legs and tackle that way. You just you have to
have guys that are willing to use the technique that you teach. I think
the one thing I’ve noticed in a year is that they listen to Dick, they
listen to Ray Rhodes, we have Timmy Hauck now coaching the secondary as
well. They are great communicators and our defense shows that. Our
defense did a nice job last year. Now we’ve got to figure out how to
score some points.”
(On if there is still a gap in talent between the Browns and the rest of the division)-
“I never have, although I know some people do, you take your division
opponent and you stack up and that always was a scary thing to me. I
knew I always had a really good quarterback and I could be maybe, ‘lose
this one, lose this one, lose this one,’ but I got the big one so that
gave me a lot of points. I think all three teams in our division,
Pittsburgh and Baltimore are the most obvious, and Cincinnati has
improved in my opinion. They have set a pretty good bar in our division.
They are pretty good teams and have been very good. What I was
encouraged by last year and I think, we were very competitive in all of
those games. Now, we fell short, but we were very competitive. Everyone
is trying to get better, but our team compared to those as a very young
team. We’re in different eras of the building process if you will. I saw
it when I came into the league in the NFC North. I saw it when I was a
coach for the 49ers in the NFC West and then when I went to Seattle.
Things change, in Green Bay Reggie White retires. That changed my whole
program. That happens. You get a great player, a couple of great players
retire, a player gets traded, so you can’t worry too much about that.
What you are trying to do is build your core and stay steady and you
keep getting better and then the other guys have to worry about the
other guys.”
(On if the team would be open to listening to a trade for Colt McCoy or Seneca Wallace)-
“With the quarterback situation, right now, I think I said right now,
right now we have three quarterbacks that are going. Between now and the
time we play our first ballgame against the Eagles, I would ask you,
you shouldn’t be surprised by anything, but right now they are all doing
fine. We are going to be talking to teams about a lot of different
things, not just the quarterback situation. That’s what happens and then
as you approach the regular season, when you get to final cut down,
there is a lot of action that takes place. I think you are open to
listen to every phone call, you talk about stuff. If we think it’s a
good thing to make the Cleveland Browns better then we would consider
it.”
(On if there are efforts to reach out to Jim Brown and mend that relationship)-
“It’s an interesting thing. Jim is one of my childhood heroes, I’ve
said that. He was a fabulous player. I think when I came in here, my
very first press conference, he was the first guy that I shook hands
with. How the Browns view Jim Brown hasn’t changed and will never
change. I would love to see Jim Brown walk in right now or come to the
Legends thing, be a part of this. The NFL Network, bless their hearts,
they felt the need to rehash some stuff and because Jim’s role changed
here, I could see where he got a little upset with me, perhaps, but I
think Trent Richardson is going to be pretty good. Did he really say
that? What did he mean? It’s all that kind of stuff. I would like Jim
Brown to come and be a part of this and feel comfortable doing that and I
would welcome him with open arms.”
(On what makes him think the receivers will consistently get open this open)-
“That’s a good question, but you are working on a tremendous assumption
there that last year they weren’t open. Where I would say they were
open probably more than you thought and we just didn’t get them the
ball, but I think you’re right. I am playing with you a little bit here.
I think our offense is based on timing and it has to be taught right,
the receivers have to be disciplined, you need right what we’re doing
right now, to get it done right. This is important and I think it hurt
us as much as any team. There were other teams that struggled because
they didn’t have the lockout, we weren’t the only team, but it hurt us
because of the nature of what we were asking the team to do. I just
think getting open isn’t just a matter of being the fastest guy on the
field. I think our receivers have good speed, not a sprinters type
speed, but good speed. When you couple that with the teaching they are
doing right now. They’re
more
familiar with what we are asking them to do. I just think you’ll see a
better group this year. I really do. I like the fact that we have that
little guy from Miami (Travis Benjamin). The speed helps. It always
helps and he has come in and done a nice job and we’re going to try and
figure out ways if he’s with us, which we assume he will be, that he can
get on the field and kind of help us that way.”
(On if he sees a specific receiver who can make a significant jump from last year)-
“I have already said (Mohamed) Massaquoi and I’ve said that all along.
Not today, but I have said that before. I think he’s ready to have a
breakout year. I think he’s healthy for one. Now he denied this as I
would expect him to do, but I think when he got bumped in that situation
with (James) Harrison I think it probably took him a little while to
get back from that. Again, he and I might argue about that, but that’s
my feeling. In talking with him all during this minicamp, having Nolan
Cromwell as a part of the coaching staff who is very, very precise and
on those guys to do the right thing, that a receiver like Mo who has
good size and who catches the ball easy, smart. There is no reason to
think that he shouldn’t be fine. There is nothing there to tell you this
shouldn’t work. Now we have to pass him the ball. I talked to him the
other day and I was at a practice and I charted, we went through the
whole practice, he had one ball thrown to him. One and he ran a thousand
routes, he was out there and he was running and running and running,
but he had one ball thrown to him. So I go to the coaching staff and I
said, ‘Hey,’ and they, ‘Well we’re working on these routes.’ I said ‘I
don’t care, you have got to figure out a way in your scripting, he’s got
to get some touches otherwise no wonder they get ticked off, no wonder
they lose interest, no wonder they drift for a little bit.’ They have
got to feel a part of it so that’s why. I think he’s going to be fine
and then (Joshua) Cribbs, you factor Cribbs in there in specialty
situations as an offensive player. Then his special teams stuff and
we’re counting on him so much for the special team’s stuff that I think
it’s an overload. He can’t do it all.”
(On if he thinks a portion of the Browns fans don’t trust him for reasons such as going on a Seattle radio show)-
“I don’t know, I hope not. The Seattle radio controversy was one of the
more amazing things I’ve been involved with in my whole life as a
football coach or exec or whatever you want to call me right now. That
was just a friend of mine that used to work on the radio station. I had
no idea it would cause the ripple effect it apparently did. Other than
that, if they feel that way, then that’s probably a good reason for me
to be out there a little bit more and let them get to know me a little
bit, if they feel that way.”
(On the perception of the fans that the offense would always go for a short passing patterns especially on third-and-long)-
“You take any pattern, I could put a couple patterns up on the board
for you and part of the pattern is an underneath route of some kind, but
there are other places to go. Sometimes it looks back because it’s
third-and-eight and you throw a four-yard ball. If the defense is doing
their job then sometimes you’re hoping on the four-yard pass that the
guy can break a tackle or do something. At times I felt the same way,
but then I know a little bit more about it so it didn’t bother me quite
as much. It seemed like that was happening a fair amount. Some of it, I
think, had to do with our protection, we had protection issues. If you
hold the ball too long he was going to get hit so you’ve got to deliver
the ball quickly. You count on receiver on those shorter routes to break
a tackle or make somebody miss, which happened, but it didn’t happen
enough. I think there’s a conscious effort going on right now to expand
our passing game to different routes and we’ll see. I understood the
frustration because I would get a little frustrated at times myself.”
(On his response to people saying he isn’t committed to the organization)-
“I’ve heard that. You can get really mad at me for just about anything
and I don’t usually react too much. I do read you on occasion, but not
all time. You have to have thick skin in this business. When I heard
that, I was sensitive to that. It bothered me because if anything I
think I care probably too much. I’m committed, I made promises to our
owner, and he’s kept his promises to me. Everyone’s well aware of my
contract situation and all of that. There was that thing, in fact a
couple of you asked me at one point if I was going to CBS or something,
and for the life of me I don’t know where that came from. No, I’m
committed here. Kathy and I, we love the community. The people here have
been great to us. We like it here. Now, the other reality is that
again, my birthday is tomorrow, I’ll be 64 by the way, so I have some
kicking to do still, but this is my last
job.
It’s my hope and what I really want to do is make sure this thing is
turned around and going in the right direction. So I can come in here
and we can talk about those things before I ever think about retiring. I
am sorry that that came up. Maybe a little bit of what I’m going to try
to do is in reaction to that, because I felt bad about that. People
that know me, and people in the building, I think they know how much I
care and how much I’m trying to get this thing to go in the right
direction.”
(On if he has second thoughts about putting Pat Shurmur in the head coach position with too many responsibilities)-
“Pat had been a coordinator. I think if we had kind of a normal year,
by normal I mean without the couple of unusual things that happened. I
think you might not even be asking me the question. I think looking back
on it, which you do about everything, you look back on your season and
you correct. You start with yourself and you correct everything you
think you could have done better, then you move forward. I think when
Pat looks at it, there was a lot on his plate. There was a lot on his
plate. He was in essence, his own coordinator. We wanted to get the
right guy. We wanted to hire the right coach. It’s a very, very
important position. Every coach I’ve ever met believes he can do
everything all the time, whenever. Pat was a very effective coordinator
for the Rams, he was, with a young quarterback, so that’s what we did.
Now, we hired Brad Childress and that will make Pat’s life a lot better.
It will free him up time wise to really dive into things that head
coaches dive into. That should work out well. Should we have hired a
coordinator a year ago? Maybe, but we didn’t have the ability to hire
the guy we wanted. To look back, you make the corrections then you move
forward. Pat is a smart guy, and he can handle a lot of stuff, but I
think sometimes you ask the impossible of some people.”
(On what else he has learned about Trent Richardson)-
“Other than his football ability, which I think we saw and I believe
he’s the player that we saw on film. I’ve gotten to know him a little
bit and talk to him. I enjoy him as a person a lot. I think his story is
one of those great stories, and I don’t think there’s any way you can
go through the things he went through as a young man, he’s still a young
man but a young young man, and emerge the way he’s emerged without
being profoundly affected and have it make up who you are. They talked
about us moving up in the draft and was it too expensive? Heck, I think
it’s going to be a bargain. When all is said and done, I think we’ll
look back and it’ll be one of the great bargains we ever did.”
(On if he feels a special allegiance to Seneca Wallace when going through the decision making process)-
“The decision making process, the coaches will make that decision, but
Seneca, I know him very well. He played for me, he did some wonderful
things for me, and so as a person, I’ve seen him grow up. When it comes
time to making a decision for the football team, those types of
feelings, you have to put them on the back burner, and you just have to
do what you think is right for the Cleveland Browns. He knows that so
we’ll make those decisions like we make all the decisions upstairs after
a lot of thought and talking to each other about it.”
(On the factors he considers for the backup quarterback)-
"The number two quarterback has to be able to prepare himself and get
ready to play a game without much practice. Whatever that is that allows
a player to do that, whether it's intelligence, whether it's just
athletic ability or whatever. He has to get the game plan, be prepared
to go in the game without any practice time. Not everyone can do that.
Second, I've always felt that it helps to have a quarterback who can
maneuver and get a first down running and put some pressure on the
defense that way if he hasn't been able to practice as much of the game
plan as your starter. Thirdly, I think the backup position, he is
usually one of the more popular guys on the team. The guys like him, he
has a pretty good sense of humor typically, the guys I’ve had, goof
balls, but good players. You have to trust them. It's not a scientific
thing, a lot of it is gut feeling and reaction. Physically, he has to be
able to do that without much practice time."
(On balancing listening to fans criticisms and doing what is right for the team)-
"The sensitivity came from the question of, ‘Am I leaving?’ or ‘Is this
short term?’ or ‘I don't care,’ and those kind of things. As far as
making decisions for the Browns on players, on coaches, I don't listen
to too many people on that. We are going to do what we do, the way we
think we need to do it, to be consistently good at some point for a long
time. That's my message. Either in the draft, the character issues with
players, how you formulate the team, how you do free agency, how you
practice, all those things. We have great fans, I've learned that
in
a very short period of time. The team has been struggling for a long
time, yet they come to the games and they care. They care a lot. In my
dealings at the supermarket where a guy would come up and go, ‘You know,
why didn't you do this?’ I'll talk to them and I'll say this is why I
didn't do that. Or I'll ask them, ‘What do you think I should have
done?’ I'll say, ‘I appreciate that you are a fan, where do you sit in
the stadium,’ and we talk. I said, ‘Understand and trust me that I'm
doing what I think is best for the team.’ I'm not asking you to agree
with me necessarily because there are a lot of opinions out there. I
believe we know how to do this and even though I speak and I ask for
patience and the people say, ‘I've heard that before please don't go
there.’ The fact of the matter is we are building it a certain way and
that's how we are going to do it. Like I said, I expect to have a good
jump this year."
(On who he discussed his decision to me more available with)-
"The first one is Kathy. If I didn't say that and she read about it,
man (joking). We've been friends a long time, we've been married 41
years, she knows me. I'm not going to give you any names Tony (Grossi),
but there are a couple of men in the league that I respect greatly who
have been through the mill a little bit. Then, quite honestly, there are
a couple of journalists that I respect greatly and knowing that
everyone comes at it from a little different angle. Everyone sees it
through a different lens. Lastly, I would say I just had a feeling. The
question about not caring or leaving, I heard that one at some point and
I said well, if I don't fix anything, that one I have to fix. Some of
you have talked to me about this and I want it to help. I want it to
help. I do not want it to be a burden on our coach or our general
manager. If I can help and open things up and make things a little
clearer for our fans, that's my goal. That is my only goal."
(On how he knows at this point that Brandon Weeden is going to be successful)-
"You don't know for sure. You are not going to go and bet the ranch on
it. You base it on experience, you base it on guys you’ve coached, you
base it on instincts, you base it on physical ability. The other thing
that has to happen is that the supporting cast around the quarterback
have to play and protect him. You have to do those things. If you look
at the Browns history, the number one draft picks, where you swear, and
you look back and it didn't work for whatever reason. You can do that
for every team, draft picks that didn't work. You go how did that not
work? I just think this young man has a great upside. It's a feeling.
It's an experience."
(On if the Brown uniforms will return this season)-
"Yes, they are. We have this group in the building that monitors all
that. I watch for dropped passes and they monitor fashion trends
(joking). We really do listen to our fans and the people about that.
There are certain things they don't like and then there are certain
things they are okay with and certain things they love. The all-white is
a historical thing and people like that, but then they missed the brown
jerseys. Our owner has a say in this too. What we are doing is at home,
where you can make your choice, we are going to have brown and white.
The main factor behind that is weather. That's the main factor. Early on
when it's hot and teams do that around the league. Unless you have a
philosophy that you are going to wear dark at home and light on the
road. That was probably the main consideration so at home games we are
probably going to split it."
Courtesy of: WEWS TV
By
now the Cleveland fans are seeing the Browns solution to the problems
the team faced last season may not all be solved. Pat Shumur looked very
upset when the team played the Eagles, sure this is preseason and sure
the game doesn't count. For Pat Shurmur he can see the writing on the
wall as to what will happen to his Browns when they face teams with
great defenses. Shurmur didn't like the fact Brandon Weedden turned the
ball over a couple of times, he knows turnovers cost you wins in the
NFL. Pat Shurmur has no right to be upset with Brandon Weeden because of
what took place in the Eagles game.
