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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2008 > December > 02 > Entry
Yes, it’s that Lance Moore
If you’re a fan of this team, there’s a whole lot more to be depressed about than a 4-8 record.
How about some of the personnel decisions over the years? And not just drafting Gerard Warren over LaDainian Tomlinson or Richard Seymour in 2001. Or William Green over Ed Reed the next year.
While those decisions likely deprived the team of two future Hall of Famers, and while GM Phil Savage has followed that up by whiffing on some picks of his own, it’s the less obvious missteps that are truly coming back to haunt this team.
Case in point: Lance Moore, wide receiver, New Orleans Saints. He’s their leading receiver, favorite target of prolific quarterback Drew Brees. The Browns had Moore in training camp a few years back but couldn’t find a way to keep him. Now he’s a latter-day Keenan McCardell, who until now had been the poster child for receivers who couldn’t make it in Cleveland but flourished elsewhere.
Sure, there’s no guarantee Moore would have blossomed with the Browns, but he’s every bit as “local” as Brady Quinn, being from Columbus and playing at Toledo. And what hurts most is that the Browns were the ones who gave him his first shot, bringing him in as an undrafted college free agent, and apparently didn’t realize what they had.
What they had, it turns out, was decidedly better than Frisman Jackson, an undrafted college free agent who took up space on the roster for a couple of years while doing very little.
Then there’s Jeff Faine. He’s the Notre Dame center drafted by Butch Davis in the first round in 2003 (ahead of guard Eric Steinbach, who the Browns later acquired in free agency). It was eventually determined that Faine was too small for the position at 6-foot-3, 291 pounds, which led to the signing of LeCharles Bentley in free agency.
Nothing against Bentley. He was perhaps the best center in the game at the time, and who could have envisioned him going down with a knee injury in training camp and never playing again. Just a terrible break.
But Faine, traded to New Orleans on draft day 2006, hasn’t exactly faded away. He’s starting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been a Pro Bowl alternate and was recently lauded by the Pro Football Writers Association as a mid-season all-star. Too small? That’s as ridiculous now as it sounded then.
Then, of course, there’s Shaun O’Hara, another center deemed unworthy. He’s now the center for the Super Bowl-champion New York Giants, anchoring what is widely regarded as the NFL’s best offensive line. And he has a Super Bowl ring.
The lesson here, of course, is this: No matter who the coach is, nothing sinks an organization faster than personnel decisions that don’t work out, and the Browns have made plenty in all aspects of the player-procurement process in recent years.
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Comments
By Anthony
December 3, 2008 2:38 AM | Link to this
Maybe we don’t have the coaching staff to coach these players correctly. Also, if we had Jeff Faine with the line we have now, we would never had traded him in the first place. I was so mad about Keenan McCardell. What can you say? But let’s face it. A lot of drafting is pure luck.By mike
December 3, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this
Not to be an apologist for the front office, but it is too harsh to bash the Faine trade, because everyone believed Bentley would be better. Only after the injury to LCB did the trade look bad. And O’hara was backup center to Faine, who was asked to play out of position @ guard, and couldn’t handle that. Again, hard to fault dropping him, since he would have been the 3rd best C behind LCB and Faine, if all were kept on the roster.By Sean McClelland
December 3, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this
Good comment, Mike. Guess I’m not really bashing the Faine trade, but maybe it was a little premature and obviously he wasn’t incapable or “too small” or whatever other words were thrown around at the time. It’s tough, especially when you’re 4-8, to look around the league and see former Browns being named to all-star teams and things of that nature. You don’t see Steelers or Patriots fumbling away good players. Some leave in free agency, but there’s always someone waiting to replace them who’s just as good, it seems.By Rob
December 4, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this
Sean, good article here.. However with the current state of the Browns being 4-8 i’ve shifted focus to first step of the off-season. First, the firing/hiring of our new coach. We all want to know one thing- will Bill Cowher come to Clevelan? Randy Learner will most definately flash the cash. Cowher says he doesn’t want to coach,but there are about 8 million reasons why that could possibly change. I’d like to see some articles on some possible situations the Browns could be faced with. After Crennel, will Savage go? What type of coach would we hire if he stays? Browns fans heads are filled with questions right now, and as loyal fans we all deserve some answers on why this thing never works for us. Any thoughts?By professor
December 4, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this
Interesting distinction between the coach and the selection of the talent.By gil reis
December 5, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this
Sean, Your analysis of Cleveland’s NFL farm team leads me to believe you’re onto something that rivals the “ex-Cub factor.” The difference being that former Browns go on to contribute throughout the league while ownership continues to twist the shiv that stabs us in the heart every autumn. It’s good to see you’re still writing. Keep up the good work.By Sean McClelland
December 5, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this
That was Gil Reis chiming in, by the way, and what an honor to hear from one of the better high school baseball players in Cleveland at one time. A polished catcher, he was an artist who framed pitches with the best of them and called a heady game for flame-throwers like Bill Lally and junkballers like Nick Edell. A long-suffering Browns fan who I think probably attended “The Drive” and “Red Right 88,” he obviously knows a thing or two about football as well.By gil reis
December 5, 2008 3:58 PM | Link to this
Sean, you have always had a way with prose. Thanks for the kind words.By Nick Edel
December 5, 2008 7:35 PM | Link to this
Sean, good job in highlighting their mistake with O’Hara. That move was espcially painful because they effectively wasted a first round pick by letting him walk in free agency, then drafting Faine in the first round. They should’ve moved O’Hara to center (I thing he played mostly guard here) and used the Faine pick to fix another position. It’s good to see a fellow Rhodes Ram doing what he was always passionate about.By Sean McClelland
December 5, 2008 8:41 PM | Link to this
Nick Edel, another frustrated Browns fan (is there any other kind?) and a fine lefty (I think) pitcher in his day, makes a good point. They never gave O’Hara a fair shot at center. And now he’s winning Super Bowls while becoming the go-to guy for the media in that locker room, as he was with the Browns. If I’m not mistaken, both O’Hara and Faine were recipients of the “Good Guy Award” given out by the Cleveland chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association. Their names are on a plaque hanging in the media room, if I remember correctly (haven’t been there in a while).By sick of it all
December 7, 2008 5:19 AM | Link to this
what does it matter..Romeo can’t coach average players ,absolutely can’t make halftime adjustments.half the team give half effort and besides big brother whio and warner cable team up to forcefeed us the loosed pussycats again so we only see 1/4 of the games again this year …what a total joke..the nfl does not exist in ohio or michiganBy tbill
December 7, 2008 9:22 PM | Link to this
RAC and Marvin got their jobs because of their great skills as defensive Coodinators. Too bad that doesn’t translate into head coaching skills. Ask Dick LeBeau and the Steelers: best to stick to what you know!By sick of it all
December 8, 2008 5:30 AM | Link to this
Romeo proves he needs to go..maybe he is one of the quitters Lewis was talking about..even the announcers said he should challenge the cribbs to edwards 28 yarder but dummeo slept through the play like he has the whole season..new choaches..real draft..big changes neede to wake some people up big time