Like many longtime Browns loyalists, I sense that something's
seriously amiss. It's not just the horrendous win/loss records, though that's
certainly a big part of it. It's that the fans, in various ways, are
not treated with respect. The Browns organization regards its fan base as
important, sure, but more as a passionate, irrational horde to be both spoon-fed
and milked.
But especially when it comes to player injuries, the Browns time and again insult their fans by withholding information or just plain lying. I
can understand a little bit of in-season ambiguity for competitive reasons. And
I certainly respect the privacy of players like Ryan Tucker and see no
compelling need to delve into their personal horrors against their will.
Let's face it, though. Fans are encouraged to identify personally
with their local heroes. They are drawn into position-by-position roster
analyses -- premiere players, prospects, possibilities, perils. And yet, the
crucial variable of the player's health status is too often a missing or
misleading part of the information flow.
Remember Kelly Holcomb's "tiny hairline fracture of the
non-weight-bearing fibula" that it was "totally erroneous" to believe would
knock him out of the starting lineup for a month in
2003?
Remember Romeo riding Reuben roughshod late into 2005, even after Lee
Suggs had finally cleared the injury report? Turns out Suggs had a torn meniscus
in his knee that required off-season surgery, which was not disclosed until his
failed physical negated his trade to the Jets.
Remember the timely, complete updates about the 2006 surgeries of
Daylon McCutcheon, the last remaining "new" Browns original draftee? Didn't
think so. The PR machine told you all about how he fulfilled his promise to his
mom to earn his college degree. But as for his health, you probably heard some
depressing details dribbling out months later, wondering all the while
whether he'd be back this year, next year, or ever. You can basically forget it
now. "No news is good news" does not apply to injured
Browns.
And now PatMac -- ironically, a former Browns mouthpiece -- breaks
the news (without saying how he found out) that Wheelie Winslow's reported knee
scope was actually the much dicier microfracture procedure. This directly
contradicts the team's own news release, not to mention Wheelie's own words on
NFL Network:
Jamie Dukes: "Now
there's still I guess some lingering effects. You're gonna have surgery some
time later on this week just to kind of clean up a few
things."
Wheelie:
"Right, just a scope. Nothing, uh,
nothing major."
Uh, right. Just tell me this. Why should we stay
intellectually involved and emotionally invested in an organization that
repeatedly plays us for fools? Seems like the Browns don't just rely on blind loyalty, they work to keep it that way.