CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
The Browns' incredibly disappointing and downright embarrassing loss to the New York Jets could not come as a surprise to readers of this column. I felt that there was a good chance the more-talented Browns had a perfect opportunity to fall to the overtly tanking Jets. Some of my concerns didn't materialize as badly as I thought they would. Still, the team's long-term history of stunning failure and shorter-term struggles on the road manifested in a game that ranks among the top post-expansion-era debacles in Cleveland Browns history. It's a long list.
I wrote that losing to the Jets was the "Browniest possible thing they could ever Browns" or some similar rot.
They succeeded, and tempers snapped all across the Browns fanbase as a result. The OBR, probably the only remaining Browns-focused site with an active community of any size, heard loud and clear the call from upset fans for heads to roll.
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I wrote an article after the game, venting my spleen and pointing the finger at Jimmy Haslam as the source of this mess. What Haslam will do in the upcoming weeks is a mystery known only to him, but he has every excuse he needs to do a complete reboot of the operation. I didn't run the caustic article because I wrote it out of emotion. I was very upset with the team and what their yearly descent into irrelevance meant for me personally. I wanted to sleep on it and make sure I was careful with my words.
But looking at the lack of discipline on the team's vaunted defense, the lack of effectiveness on offense, and the apparent depth of the tailspin, few would blame Haslam if he ran out of patience and decided to go in a new direction.
What's in Haslam's head is unknown, but what isn't is that Haslam either holds himself to blame for the Deshaun Watson trade or refuses to hold those who bear the blame accountable. Either way, this is Haslam's mess, as the giveaway of draft picks, corruption of the salary cap, and failure to rescue the team from freefall as a result is clearly in the responsibility of someone. It's either Haslam or his charges, and in either case, there's been no accountability. Haslam tried to pull accountability to himself, but owners are accountable to no one but their fellow owners, and certainly not you or me.
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Jimmy Haslam and Kevin Stefanski
Jimmy Haslam and Kevin Stefanski (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
To some extent, there is an admirable quality to the Browns' tendency to circle the wagons and not scapegoat any member of their front office or coaching staff. The Browns had all the rationale they needed to fire Special Teams coach Bubba Ventrone after his charges allowed two return touchdowns that decided the game in favor of the Jets. Axing Ventrone probably wouldn't have improved immediate special teams results, but keeping him in place could be symptomatic of confusing stability with an end objective in itself, rather than a desired characteristic of a successful franchise.
But it's wrong. What the team is learning is that there's little in the way of accountability beyond Kevin Stefanski (and Haslam) calling themselves culpable for the team's mistakes and vowing to improve. I don't want to call for anyone to lose their jobs, having personally known how destructive that is, but a standard of excellence is not clearly being communicated.
What is admirable loyalty to one person is organizational dysfunction to another.
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I've been building the OBR as a Browns fan for thirty years and a business owner for twenty-five years. I've dedicated my adult life to building a small business around the Cleveland Browns. Little did I know that we would be headed for only brief glimpses of success for a quarter of a century.
Each year, in my effort to be a responsible business owner, I create projections of our monthly income and expenses for the upcoming year. It's to the point where I assume that interest in the team will decline dramatically between September and December as the team fails to compete. Each year. Every year.
But all the data at my disposal and years of experience didn't prepare me for what happened last Fall and Winter, as Browns fans - once considered the most loyal in any sport - dialed out of the Browns mess, turned off by the awful play, lack of competitiveness, and disgust at the entire Watson affair.
It's happening again this year, and it's hard to blame it on Watson in 2025. It's clearly an uninspired effort and a quick descent into irrelevance that is sending all but the most dedicated fans away.
Outlets like the OBR will try to survive the decline in interest. Some will play to the fans in a race to see who can be most extreme in demanding that heads roll or that something change to revive interest in the franchise. Shedeur Sanders was a prominent topic in headlines this morning. It all smacks of desperation in a challenging environment of declining interest.
The longer-term concern is the fumbling of the Cleveland Browns' legacy that has occurred over the past 25 years. The Browns organization has been a boiling pot of change over the years, spitting out and bringing in coaches, GMs, players, and the like to try to find instant success.
The only thing that hasn't really changed much is ownership. That's the through line as the Browns are completing the transition from the heralded and almost-forgotten era of unprecedented success of the early Browns to this unfunny joke that remaining Browns fans endure.
The untouchable, botched. The successful brought low. An elite history forever tainted.
That's where we are right now.
Newswire Bloviation Archive
CLEVELAND BROWNS CONTENT TO ENDURE
Cleveland Browns Videos
The OBR Postgame Show-It's getting hard to see how this regime stays - (youtube.com)
Off The Leash: Episode 16: Browns' find new rock bottom - (cleveland19.com)
Cleveland Browns Articles
Critical Mistakes Gaffes Doom Cleveland Browns in Loss to New York Jets - Pete
Takeaways from Browns Undisciplined Embarrassing Loss to Jets Kevin Stefanski Names Next Weeks Starting QB - Fred
Cleveland Browns Snap Counts vs New York Jets Quick Takeaways - Jack
Browns Three Key Players that were Questionable are Active and Expected to Start - Fred
Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 11/9: Battle for the Bottom - Barry
Cleveland Browns Message Board Posts
ASK THE INSIDERS (VIP)
Question for lane- any firing coming?
FU to Pete "contrived"
Where do we go from here?
Ventrone
Zero Accountability
Follow up on Jimmy
Head Coach and Starting QB
Atrocious game
Haslams thoughts on the team?
Taking sack at halftime
Head Coaching candidate list
Where do we go from here?
Taking sack at halftime
Was today the last straw
Lane #12 follow up
QB Theory
Coaches blame
Pete again
FU to Pete
Zack Zinter not active again?
Talk on radio about Stefanski
Lane #12 follow up
INSIDER CENTRAL (VIP)
Following the Game
Am told….
For now…
INSIDER DISCUSSION (VIP)
Pete ….
Hope in 26 follow up 3
LA comments after Jets game
THE WATERCOOLER
We focus on the starters, but backup attitude is a huge issue
Reflections on a DARK day
Rookie watch
OT: RIP Lenny Wilkins
Browns Jets MELT THREAD
Until I moved to SoCal, The Browns were #1 and there was no #2
OT: Guardians Clase and Ortiz Indicted by Feds
Stephanski to Start Dillion Against Ravens Next Week
Bye Stefanski - MERGED
AFC North: The Weakest Division in Football?
Gabriel and the act of the throwing the football
What a glorious Sunday!
Cleveland Browns Snap Counts vs New York Jets & Quick Takeaways
Davis Mills is Holcombing CJ Stroud. Any interest in Stroud?
Update on my Tankathon thread
Thoughts On The Game. 11925
Game balls and Goats!
Jimmy Post Game conference
Predict the Stefanski quotes
Banana Ball
Paul Tagliabue passes at 84
MetLife Browns tailgate
OT: Landman
Pick two running backs in my touchdown only fantasy league.
Josh Cribbs apparently wants Bill O'Brien
Inactives v the Jets
LiveWire Thread for 119 - Gameday vs Jets
This is the OFFICIAL Browns vs. Jets Cooler Thread!
THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
Prostate Cancer Patients Offered Fresh Hope by Promising New Drug Combination - (goodnewsnetwork.org)
Prostate cancer took my father, and it's something I'm constantly on the alert for to make sure I'm tested for yearly. If I inherited it, I'll have a better chance to survive it than my Dad did, thanks to a promising new drug combination that delays the progression of the disease. This is good, as my desired demise is an overdose of happiness in my bed at about 100 years of age. That would give me 36 more years to do this, which is hopefully enough to get the Browns to a Super Bowl, although I may need to survive longer at their current rate of progress.
WRAPPING UP
When not cupping his face in his hands, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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