CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Happy Thanksgiving, Cleveland Browns fans! It's been a few days since I woke up early to compose this Massive Morning Missive, and I hope that you are all being treated well by life.
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
I admit that I'm mostly here to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving on one of my favorite days of the year. Since it's based around football, eating, and drinking, I guess it would have to be, since I'm pretty fond of all those things. Oh, and family and/or friends, too. I guess they count.
As long as I'm here, though, let's catch up on various items of Cleveland Browns-related weirdness.
High among those elements of weirdness in 2025 have been the various conspiracy theories surrounding the fifth-round draft pick and current Browns starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The story started strangely with Sanders plummeting from the top of the draft to the fifth round, and elements of it have just gotten more bizarre from there.
One of the most bizarre theories to emerge from the past seven months is surely that the Browns organization (for reasons never clearly explained) was attempting to sabotage Sanders' career, after bundling picks and trading up in the draft to get him. In this skewed view of the world, the Browns' management wasn't happy to be stuck with the guy they drafted and wanted to slow down his progress.
Thanksgiving
Food is good. Football is good. Beer is good. I love Thanksgiving. (Photo: Unsplash.com)
It never made sense from the jump, but there are still those out there who blame the Browns for how 31 other teams handled his availability in the draft. Sanders was asked about this yesterday and offered various kind words about head coach Kevin Stefanski and distanced himself from the illogical talking point, saying, "What people do outside the building isn't really in my control. It's not in my power."
Stefanski was asked about the self-destructive theory last August and quickly dismissed it.
None of this has been good enough for Sanders' staunchest advocates, who continue to poke and prod at every possible sign of potential disrespect shown to the quarterback by the team's management, the latest being the lack of a game ball given to Sanders by Stefanski following the victory of the Raiders.
Stefanski, by all indications, doesn't hand out game balls like lollipops at a pediatrician's office. He distributed only one following the team's very good performance against the Raiders, which went to All-Universe edge rusher Myles Garrett. As with a number of other players, Shedeur got a shout-out from his head coach for his performance, however.
Those looking for disses of the Colorado product in the coach's behavior had to awkwardly turn to the phrasing he used in a post-game video speech. I'm not sure what's next - an expectation that Stefanski will wear a 12 jersey on the sideline? Needing to praise everything that Sanders does? We're getting a tad unreasonable here, I think.
Some other highlights in the news:
Even Pro Football Talk is now saying that Carson Schwesinger is the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. (Clearly part of the anti-Shedeur conspiracy). If he and Myles Garrett are not awarded at the end of the year, you know the fix is in. Garrett did win an award this week, though, which he can put alongside all the others.
Jim Schwartz would be somewhat crazy to leave the incredible situation he has in Cleveland for another head coaching opportunity, in my opinion. He's at the top of his game here in Cleveland and has basically been given everything he's asked for to create one of the league's top defenses. I think it's unlikely an offer will come, but he's in a cozy position in Cleveland.
Mel Kiper took a premature victory lap on Shedeur Sanders, which he claimed was not a victory lap. Just saying you're not taking a victory lap is a victory lap.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
Newswire Bloviation Archive
OBR BROWNS GOODIES
BROWNS VIDEOS
Cleveland Browns Two-Minute Practice Check-In: 11/26/25 - (youtube.com)
GARAGE BEERS PODAST - Episode 291 - Thankful for football wins! - (youtube.com)
BROWNS ARTICLES
Breaking Down The Alex Wright Cleveland Browns Extension - Jack
Cleveland Browns 2026 Edge Defender Prediction - Jack
Week 13 College Quarterback Recap - Joe
UPDATED Browns Myles Garrett Keeps Piling Up Honors Alex Wright Getting Close Denzel Ward Misses More - Fred
BROWNS MESSAGE BOARD POSTS
ASK THE INSIDERS (VIP)
LB Winston Reid - Return from IR ?
Hows Barry?
FU On Wildcat and Judkins
Invoking the Wildcat
Tommy Rees and UCLA
THE WATERCOOLER
Your Next Head CoachGM
Glory Days!
Nice breakdown of Shedeurs game vs. Raiders
It HBO Max
Thanksgiving food mock draft, rank em
OT - Where do you buy tickets?
The Massive Morning Missive
LiveWire Thread for 1126 - Twitter, Articles, Videos
THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
Best sci-fi action movies of all time, ranked - (space.com)
Today's lift is just fun - a highly debatable list of the top sci-fi action movies of all time. I have my quibbles with the list. First and foremost is the lack of the inclusion of Blade Runner, which would probably be at the top of my list, even over my beloved Alien series. Perhaps it's considered too cerebral to be considered an action movie, but it has action elements and absolutely belongs on this list. If you're going to include Inception, Blade Runner needs to be there.
WRAPPING UP
When not preparing for a Tryptophan overdose, 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.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
CONTACT Barry to sponsor the OBR. We have plans for nearly any budget!
OBR Across the Internet
OBR on BlueSky
OBR on Twitter
OBR on Threads
OBR on LinkedIN
OBR on Youtube
OBR on Twitch
Handy Links
Sign up for our newsletter
Sign up for breaking news text alerts
OBR Unpublished RSS Feed
If you have made it this far, you must subscribe to the OBR. Them's the rules.