Owner’s meeting with fans backfires on Browns

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By Sean McClelland, Staff Writer 12:31 AM Saturday, November 7, 2009

So Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner met this week with “Dawg Pound Mike” and his buddy, no doubt hoping to get the two fans to call off the kickoff protest planned for Monday night, Nov. 16, when the Baltimore Ravens visit Cleveland Browns Stadium.

And here’s the Browns’ luck: Lerner chats with these guys for about two hours and, after all that blabbing, “Dawg Pound Mike” announces he’s still going through with this demonstration that figures to embarrass the organization even more than some of its draft picks.

Oh, how Lerner probably wishes he had those two hours back, especially after “Dawg Pound Mike” — who used to come to games dressed as a french fry — kept turning up in national platforms throughout the day describing what happened.

The big scoop “Dawg Pound Mike” came away with is that Lerner seemed sincere in saying he actually wants to win (he saw it in his eyes) and that the Browns do not take a back seat to the billionaire’s Premier League soccer team, as some have surmised.

Sure, meet with these guys, one of his many advisers probably told Lerner. It can’t hurt to appear responsive.

And, of course, it all kind of backfired, not unlike when Butch Davis passed on Ben Roethlisberger in the 2004 draft or when Phil Savage eschewed Adrian Peterson in 2007 (sure, left tackle is important, but who would you rather have, Jim Brown or Doug Dieken?).

At least the “Monday Night Football” gang will have something to talk about when the Browns next take the field. Hey, it’s something.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2408 or smcclelland@coxohio.com.

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