Fairmont vs. Mt. Notre Dame
Miami Valley styles
'Tis the Season Festival
Bentley, Browns part ways
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
BEREA — Call it closure. At least that's the word General Manager Phil Savage chose.
Whatever you call it, offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley is a Cleveland Brown no longer, having requested and been granted his release Wednesday, June 11.
Extras
Events began transpiring in the morning when Bentley skipped minicamp practice and a team meeting, then asked for a sit-down with Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel. A short time later, Bentley was seen getting into his mom's car with a suitcase.
"This is a chapter that finally comes to an end," Savage said, sounding almost relieved. "We've got some closure to it now and we can go our separate ways in a positive manner."
So much for happy endings. So much for Cleveland native Bentley, two years removed from tearing his left patellar tendon, getting to play for the team he grew up cheering.
"LeCharles doesn't want to be an insurance policy," agent Jonathan Feinsod told the Web site Cleveland.com.
As moods go, Wednesday's was in stark contrast to the relative giddiness of Tuesday, when Bentley returned to the practice field for the first time since receiving medical clearance.
On that day, however, Bentley said he saw himself "starting somewhere in '08," knowing full well the Browns could not guarantee him a spot on the team, much less a starting position. "There's no way for us to know whether he can or cannot (play this year)," Savage still was insisting Wednesday.
Bentley, who starred at Ohio State and made the Pro Bowl at center and guard during his first four NFL seasons with the New Orleans Saints, signed with the Browns as a free agent in the spring of 2006. On the second day of training camp, he fell in a heap, untouched.
Four surgeries, a life-threatening staph infection and countless rehab hours later, Bentley finally passed his physical Monday, June 9 — and then a running test administered by the Browns.
"He's got great pride in the kind of player he had been prior to getting here," Savage said. "He's got expectations of trying to reach that level again, but it's going to be somewhere else."
• Also Wednesday, receiver Joe Jurevicius (knee surgery, staph infection) refuted a published report that said he might not be ready for the regular season. Jurevicius said he expects to be good to go for training camp.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2408 or smcclelland@DaytonDailyNews.com.
