Jim Brown should attend Ring of Honor not for Browns, but for the fans Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/23/2010 @ 1:50 pm) We can only speculate why Jim Brown has decided not to attend the Browns’ inaugural Ring of Honor ceremony, which will be held at the team’s home opener on September 19. Maybe he had other commitments or more important things to do. Or maybe he decided to snub the team after Mike Holmgren removed him from his senior management position (which cost Brown his standing with the front office, along with a six-figured salary) earlier this year. But whatever the reason, he needs to realize that the only people that he hurts by not attending the ceremony is the many fans that still appreciate what he did for the NFL and the Browns organization. I don’t know the details of what happened between him and the Browns and therefore, I can only base my opinion off what I’ve heard and read. As fans, that’s all we can go on in these situations – what others provide us. But as an outsider, it appears as though Brown is just miffed that the organization took away his fancy title and high-paying salary, so he has decided to give the team the middle finger now that they want him to be there for their event. Read the rest of this entry » Jerome Harrison is better than Jim Brown Posted by Anthony Stalter (12/20/2009 @ 5:58 pm) 
Really? No, not really. In fact, Cleveland fans might have me shot for even remotely joking about something like that. But Harrison did prove on Sunday that he’s even more dangerous than the Dos Equis Guy. Harrison rushed for a franchise record 286 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries, while adding two receptions for 12 yards in Cleveland’s 41-34 win. He scored the game-winning touchdown with under a minute to play to give Cleveland back to back winning weeks for the first time this season. Harrison now holds Cleveland’s all-time record for rushing yards in a game, surpassing the great Jim Brown. Harrison was so good that he managed to overshadow Josh Cribbs, which was hard to do on a day like this. Cribbs tied an NFL record with two kick returns for touchdowns, both of which came from over 100 yards out. He is now the all-time record holder for kickoff return touchdowns, with eight in his career. Regardless of whether or not Mike Holmgren takes over in Cleveland, the Browns have to do everything in their power to make Cribbs happy in the offseason. He threatened to hold out this past summer if the Browns didn’t re-do his contract, which they didn’t. He never held out and has been the Browns best player this season, so the team’s first mission in the offseason should resolve his contract dispute. Speaking of the Browns’ offseason, what should they do with Eric Mangini? He was an easy fire a couple of months ago when the Browns were hapless, hopeless and completely lost, but they’ve played well of late. Should he keep his job or should the Browns start over if/when Holmgren comes to town? Usually head coaches are fired when the team is heading backwards, but Cleveland is actually moving forward. Jim Brown calls out Michael Crabtree Posted by Anthony Stalter (10/02/2009 @ 10:00 am) 
In a recent interview with Sirius XM radio, former NFL legend Jim Brown had some advice for Michael Crabtree, the 49ers rookie who is holding out for a bigger contract offer. From the San Jose Mercury News: Jim Brown, who made $85,000 in the final season of his Hall of Fame career, has a message for the 49ers’ first-round draft pick: “Mr. Crabtree, get your butt in camp,’’ he said. In an interview with Sirius XM radio, Brown told host Joe Madison that Michael Crabtree’s current stance is “totally ridiculous” and said that an athlete’s career is measured by the way he plays, not the contract he signs. “You don’t realize that your legacy will be based upon how you perform, not how much money you made?” Brown said on the show. Brown visited 49ers training camp in August. Crabtree was absent because of a contract stalemate that shows no sign of a breakthrough three games into the regular-season. Reports peg the 49ers offer as a five-year deal that includes $16 million in guarantees.
It’s painstakingly clear that Crabtree is only about the money. If he truly cared about football he would have already accepted the 49ers’ original offer (which was for fair, market value by the way) and would be contributing on the field right now. If it’s not killing Crabtree that his team is currently atop the NFC West standings at 2-1 and he can’t contribute in some way, then the 49ers should cut their losses and move on because the kid doesn’t have the fire to play. And that’s just not going to fly on a team coached by Mike Singletary. Syracuse fires head coach Greg Robinson Posted by Anthony Stalter (11/17/2008 @ 11:30 am) The University of Syracuse has canned head coach Greg Robinson after yet another disastrous season for the Orange football program. The Orange have been outscored 300-169 in 2008.
Under Robinson, though, the Orange got worse. Robinson’s first team went 1-10, the first time since Syracuse began playing football in 1889 that it lost 10 games. There have been few, if any signs, of improvement since. The team’s poor performance under Robinson, who has had three offensive coordinators in his four seasons, also has hurt financially. In 21 homes games over Robinson’s first three seasons, more than 260,000 seats were not sold. In April, the school newspaper, The Daily Orange, reported that the football team lost money in 2006 for the first time since 1995, when athletic departments were first required to report their finances to the government. Average attendance fell to a 21-year low in 2007, and attendance numbers are again abysmal this season. Only 27,549 turned out for Pittsburgh in September, the smallest Carrier Dome crowd in 22 years.
Somebody has to turn that program around because Syracuse has got too much great history to be one of the laughingstocks in college football. The problem is that they’re losing the recruiting battle because no player wants to play for Syracuse anymore. Too bad Jim Brown didn’t have any coaching experience because at least he would whip some players into shape. The ‘Cuse players would win out of fear of getting their ass kicked by Jim Brown. Best all-time franchise players for all 32 NFL teams Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/18/2008 @ 4:39 pm) ESPN.com did a cool feature recently when they asked SportsNation to select an all-time player for each NFL team. Some players were obvious choices for teams, including Brett Favre for the Packers and Barry Sanders for the Lions, but there were some question picks, as well.
The site added links to video of each player, as well as a chance to debate each choice. Here were some of the more obvious selections: 49ers: Joe Montana, QB Packers: Brett Favre, QB Lions: Barry Sanders, RB Browns: Jim Brown, RB Dolphins: Dan Marino, QB Patriots: Tom Brady, QB Broncos: John Elway, QB Chargers: LaDainian Tomlinson, RB Colts: Peyton Manning, QB
And some of the more questionable choices: Ravens: Matt Stover, K Saints: Bobby Hebert, QB
As a colleague pointed out, it’s hard to argue with any of these picks because they were chosen by fans. But Matt Stover over Ray Lewis? Bobby Hebert over Archie Manning? Lewis has been the face of Baltimore’s franchise for almost a decade and Stover is a kicker (albeit a very good kicker) for Jonathan Ogden’s sake. And I know Hebert was a fan favorite that led the team to the playoffs in 1988, but if Manning had a better team around him, he might have led the Saints to their first ever Super Bowl. I thought Pat Swilling would have gotten more love, too. (Swilling only got 2.4% of votes.) Cool feature, though. Posted in: General Sports, NFL Tags: Archie Manning, Baltimore Ravens, Barry Sanders, Bobby Hebert, Brett Favre, Cleveland Browns, Dan Marino, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, franchise NFL players, Green Bay Packers, Jim Brown, Joe Montana, John Elway, LaDainian Tomlinson, Matt Stover, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Pat Swilling, Ray Lewis, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Tom Brady
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