A Look Inside the Dysfunction of the Cleveland Browns

[The Human Q-Tip]

Wonder whether Depodesta was one of the sources

Well, considering the "get the fuck out of my office quote" that supposedly happened when Jimmy went to Hue's office, I think it's pretty safe to say that Hue was a major source. Doesn't sound like the kind of story Jimmy would like to have told.

It is in the interests of Hue Jackson to trash the Browns as much as possible, so he can blame the poor performance of the team on "the dysfunction of the Browns" rather than on his own shitty coaching. I'd hardly put it beyond him to embellish/make shit up to advance that goal. He may very well have told Jimmy to "get the fuck out of my office", or just claimed that he did so he comes off like a tough guy, and to limit the Browns' reasons for firing him to "you lost the team".

 

[catfish]

The author clearly is a shit-stirrer, so I'd take that with a huge grain of salt. The reporter can take a quote that is 100% accurate and present it in a manner that is misleading as hell because we don't know the context/tone with which it was said.

"Fucking nerds" could easily be an inside joke that Dorsey would have no problem saying to their face, and they all get a chuckle out of it.

You sound like one of those guys who is always complaining about Grossi because he is so "negative." The guy is not always right but he has been living this nonsense since the Modells botching of the team and he has been fired twice for reporting on it.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

You sound like one of those guys who is always complaining about Grossi because he is so "negative." The guy is not always right but he has been living this nonsense since the Modells botching of the team and he has been fired twice for reporting on it.

I don't think I've ever said a word about Grossi, but....

Have a Blessed Day!

 

[MikeOC33]

I read the article, and to me it's the same as Terry Pluto's book... rehashing the suffering I've already lived through and it's like tearing off a scab that isn't ready to come off yet.

Haslam still needs to get hit in the face with a 2x4 imo. If the team finds success, he'll find it very difficult to stay out of the mix. Al Davis, Jerry Jones, Jimmy Haslam.... they NEED to be involved.

The one thing Haslam KNEW he needed to provide, but didn't, was franchise stability. Time will tell if he has learned that HE is the catalyst of the instability.

It sucks for him, but he needs to just sign the checks and smile in front of the camera. Show him in the owner's box during the game, and shaking hands in the locker room after, and on the sidelines during training camp. And that's it.

 

[Chris]

"Sources"


How much of this is true? My guess is very little.

25% maybe

 

[chrisrich91]

Eh...so what? That's all now in the past. The national media wants to recycle all the old stuff to keep up controversy and clicks.

Jimmy made a mistake common to a lot of sports owners, and thought he knew more than he did. He ended up learning differently.

Even once he'd figured out that he didn't have all the answers, he had a huge problem, which is inherent in owning a sports team. That problem is that you have to identify and hire a true expert without having that expertise yourself. That is enormously difficult to do because you lack the knowledge necessary to evaluate your hire on a technical level. It makes you susceptible to bullshitters and bad information. It's the same reason Lincoln kept hiring shitty generals who kept losing battles until he found Grant. No, I'm not saying Jimmy is Lincoln -- I'm simply pointing out the inherent difficulty in non-experts trying to identify the most qualified, best performing expert.

Fortunately -- and this is the overriding point in all of this -- Jimmy finally found the right guy in Dorsey. He then changed the structure of the organization so that the coach reports to the GM, not to Jimmy. That makes it apparent that he has recognized his lack of expertise, and adjusted his role accordingly.

It does seem that Haslam has finally started to learn from his mistakes. But I will always be cautiously optimistic. The guy has an incredibly volatile track record and only seems consistent in his inconsistency.

If any good can come from this article, it's that Jimmy reads it and becomes even more embarrassed by the public perception of 'meddling owner'...and in turn becomes even more committed to letting Dorsey fix this thing and save him.

 

[AZ_]

You sound like one of those guys who is always complaining about Grossi because he is so "negative." The guy is not always right but he has been living this nonsense since the Modells botching of the team and he has been fired twice for reporting on it.

Grossi is objectively worse at his job than anyone to ever hold a front office position with the Browns.

He knows almost nothing about the sport after covering it for like 30 years.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

The one thing Haslam KNEW he needed to provide, but didn't, was franchise stability. Time will tell if he has learned that HE is the catalyst of the instability.

I don't think instability is really the chief culprit -- hiring the wrong people is. I think Jimmy's excessive concern over instability was likely what led him to retain Hue after going 1-31. And it was him finally agreeing to ditch that "stability" and fire Hue midseason that turned everything around.

It sucks for him, but he needs to just sign the checks and smile in front of the camera. Show him in the owner's box during the game, and shaking hands in the locker room after, and on the sidelines during training camp. And that's it.

I'd agree that now that the right people seem to be in in place, interference from Jimmy would be a huge problem. I'm just willing to wait and see how he acts when he actually has competent people in charge. Dorsey apparently can rub some people the wrong way, but hopefully that won't be an issue here.

 

[catfish]

25% maybe

Again another Browns fan who has never wanted to understand the truth about the sadsack franchise. In the league with a hard cap there is never an excuse for being down for more than 2 years. Article didnt even get into the fact that this cheap outfit never comes close to using all of its cap room. When you have a gas station guy as the head of your team and before that a lightweight and before that and underfinanced know it all you get what you get.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

25% maybe

This reeks of Hue trashing the organization for his own ends. He's got nothing better to do now, doesn't seem to be getting another gig, and is resentful. Some of it is likely true, some of it is true but blown out of proportion/taken out of context, and some is second/third hand shit that isn't true.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Again another Browns fan who has never wanted to understand the truth about the sadsack franchise. In the league with a hard cap there is never an excuse for being down for more than 2 years. Article didnt even get into the fact that this cheap outfit never comes close to using all of its cap room. When you have a gas station guy as the head of your team and before that a lightweight and before that and underfinanced know it all you get what you get.

Well then, since that gas station guy is still the owner, you must be convinced that the Browns won't make the playoffs and will suck forever. Care to place a friendly wager on that?

 

[catfish]

Grossi is objectively worse at his job than anyone to ever hold a front office position with the Browns.

He knows almost nothing about the sport after covering it for like 30 years.

Imagine being dumped for telling the world that the idiot owners were going to dump Bud Carson before they dumped Bud Carson.

 

[AZ_]

Plenty of things can be and are true:

This article seems spot on in terms of the dysfunction which has been reported for years. No issue with it.

Haslam is a meddlesome owner, a terrible owner.

The Browns have a good young core and should contend for the playoffs.

Grossi is among the worst sports journalists in modern history.

 

[catfish]

Well then, since that gas station guy is still the owner, you must be convinced that the Browns won't make the playoffs and will suck forever. Care to place a friendly wager on that?

A blind squirrel can sometimes find a nut. They lucked into Mayfield. If not yes they would have sucked forever. Been folllowing this team since 1973. Havent been to the Bowl too many times in that era-Pretty much forever.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

It does seem that Haslam has finally started to learn from his mistakes. But I will always be cautiously optimistic. The guy has an incredibly volatile track record and only seems consistent in his inconsistency.

If any good can come from this article, it's that Jimmy reads it and becomes even more embarrassed by the public perception of 'meddling owner'...and in turn becomes even more committed to letting Dorsey fix this thing and save him.

Yeah, it's tough to know what's going to happen. But for those who think Jimmy is always wrong...the dude did hire Dorsey. Grabbed him really fast, before the 2017 season was even over. So he did have the ability to spot a good executive, hire the guy, and start listening to him. That is a major positive.

This team has sucked for a very long time, so it's easy to find stuff about which to bitch -- we've been doing that for the past nearly 20 years. The thing is that all the bad GM hires in the past don't matter if we've now finally gotten the right guy. And when you get the right guy, that's when stability and wins should follow. The time to call for Jimmy's head on a pike isn't when he makes bad hires and then fires them -- it's if he fires the good hire he finally made..