Players are Grown-Ups.

First, check out Peter Smith, who seems to have read my last article but really filled it out.  I just love it when that guy gets ticked off and sounds like me!

Peter says that the local media is more embarrassing than the Browns, and he's right.  I just listened to some of the Rizzo show.  Grossi and Kosar called in.

The buzzword, as anticipated, is "culture".  The losing culture in Cleveland is doing "far more damage than people realize".  Oooo, scary!

Bernie is ticked off that the front office guys won't look him in the eyes or otherwise acknowledge him.  Yeah, that would tick me off too, and seems pretty stupid, I might add.  BK's thoughts and insights could be very helpful.

But I'll not make a mountain out of that mole-hill.  When asked about the "lack of leadership", Bernie said that it comes from the top.  He's right--but I just wonder what they're really talking about.

I mean, this is getting mystical again.  I thought Jackson, Reuben, Thomas, etc. were leaders.  I don't get it: Is Chud supposed to stomp up and down grabbing facemasks and shouting?  Or maybe call out individual players?  What--maybe bench somebody for a drop?

What the hell is "leadership" and do these guys have the foggiest idea of what it is?  Oh yeah.  It's this mystical kinda aura-like kinda thing sorta...

How can Weeden be a leader when he sucks?  How can Campbell lead when he's injured and can't play?  How can Hoyer lead?  Who do you suggest?  Do you really think their losing has more to do with a lack of leadership than it does with three interceptions?

Grow up.

Rizzo's whinery kept hammering at quarterback.  They shoulda signed a third guy when Hoyer went down.  The HAD two quarterbacks--why tf do you need to tie up a third roster spot with a QB named Joe when most teams only have two QB's active on game day?

They signed a backup after Campbell got his concussion, and had two active quarterbacks last week.  What's the big deal?  And quit the Tanney-bashing.  He's been working in the NFL through two preseasons and came from a similar offensive system.  There's no reason to expect him to be ready for primetime--OR not!

Rizzo and company seemed to feel that not finishing strong would permanently scar the players' little ids permanently!  I heard something like "People who think the can keep losing this year and come back next year as if nothing happened don't understand--"

Oh, we understand just fine.  It begins with the Coach's good-bye speeches:  "Now you've got a year under your belt in this system.  You'll have the offseason to work on your individual games and study the tapes to see what went wrong and what went right.  You'll come back and play faster, because you won't need to think as much.  You'll be used to eachother.  Next season was the one we built for from the beginning; we'll make our move then, and I pity every team that gets in our way".

Then, they watch the draft: "And the Browns select--"

"Did you see who they took first?  He rocks!!!  And we STILL got Hoyer!"

"We're loaded, man!  Check this guy's tape out!  We got a playa!!!"

"Better do your homework, man--this guy's after your job!"

Same for free agency.  Then for the camps.  New faces.  A familiar routine that now comes naturally and automatically. 

Look around.  See how old Big Ben looks?  Is Polumalu still there?  Dalton--chuh we got Hoyer, X, AND Campbell!  Cameron looks really pissed.  We're stacked, man!  Who's better?

Forget last season.  We've just turned over ten roster spots, but we've kept Hoyer, Gordon, Cameron, and all the rest of the younger core players who are a year more experienced now.  What TF does 2013 have to do with now?  This is a better and deeper team that won't screw up nearly as much.

Bring it on!  Bring it on!

Mysticism drives me nuts.  Leadership.  Culture.  They're legitimate factors-I don't deny that.  But the media has turned these buzzwords into some sort of religeon, and seems to think of the players as despondant teenagers.

"I'm bummed, man.  We're all a buncha of losers, man.  Hoyer won't help.  The new guy will suck because now he's one of us.  Quit bogarting that bong, man."

Ahh, bullcrap!  If you think like that you're too emotionally fragile and immature to play any sport, let alone football.

Public statements aside, Joe Haden, TJ Ward, and the rest all understand exactly what's happening here, and will slog through it with the same eye to 2014 as the other adults in the room.

Anyway, Rizzo (who has now labelled Campbell "fragile" because he's now been injured twice in his career) seems to think that he's done for the season or something, but he's not.

It is possible that poor young Tanney will get baptized into the NFL by none other than DR. Evil in New England, but didn't we all pencil that one in as a loss anyway?

There's an even chance that Campbell will be back for that game, and a pretty good chance he can play out the season after that.  Peter Smith still sees him as Mister up-and-down, but in reality he'll be up when he can throw the ball without pain and think straight.

It's hard to find a win in the last few games (aside from the Squealers, of course), but they should compete in every game that Campbell can start.  Even if they lose, they'll be "in" these games, and the players will know this, and just how close they are to going for all the marbles.

If you score 30 points and lose, it doesn't mean you didn't score 30 points.  It doesn't mean you don't have possibly the best wide reciever in the NFL.  Winning is the ultimate metric, truly, but it doesn't negate all other evidence of progress or quality in any rational mind--including a football player's.

Mystics say that stuff.  Players say it for PR purposes, but it's just a ritual (a religeous rite, of you will--to placate the congregation.  To show adherence to the orthodoxy).

Grossi points out that there's no Andrew Luck in the coming draft, as if to say that therefore it doesn't matter where they draft.  There's more irrationality for you:

Is Bridgewater Luck?  No.  RG3?  Maybe!  Not quite as athletic, but a little bigger and stronger.  Look what Washington gave up for that guy!  Bridgewater is regarded by many as head and shoulders above the rest of this crop.

I have no idea whether or not Norv Turner et al agree with this, but what if they do?  For Tony, it doesn't matter.  They should win as much as possible even if it prevents them from getting into the top 2 or 3, which is what it will take to get this guy.

That's irrational, especially for a guy who, on the same show I listened to, said himself that the players all know that one player; the quarterback, makes the difference between this team as-is winning or losing.  Who always refers to this position as the most important in football.

...Except it's more important to win games that don't count in a lost season.  So, you know, the players can feel good about themselves and have self-esteem and stuff sorta...

ARRRGH!