My NFL Pain

I remember watching the NFL Draft this past year. It is always one of my favorite days of the year. It's a great excuse to sit and watch sports all day during a time of year when its not really done too often. I freely admit that there have been many weekends this fall when I haven't walked outside my apartment because I've been so enthralled by both College and NFL Football. I love the thought of a great college player falling through the cracks and someone realizing it in the 5th or 6th round and scooping up a future Hall of Famer (see Terrell Davis, God I hate the Broncos).

But alas, I realize this will never happen as long as Butch Davis is around the Cleveland Browns. Now don't get me wrong, he's taken this team to the next level, up from the cellar Chris Palmer had them in, but they're far from the Penthouse. This is the organization that decided we need to take a quarterback in the 6th round of the 2000 Draft so we took Spergon Wynn from SW Texas St with the 183rd pick. The Patriots took Tom Brady with the 199th pick. Quality.

Butch has come in and run everyone out of town. Hell, the owner even died after he showed up. Great and successful football minds like Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark, gone. I'm Butch Davis, bitch. Its my way or the highway (See Kevin Johnson for proof of this).

Anyways, back to this years draft. I was pretty sad because I ended up having to work that day, but there's a TV in my office, so I got to see most of the first round. Since the Browns have returned to the league, I have dreaded our first round pick. Honestly, I think we'd be better off trading it away every time it's in the top 16. And this year was no different.

The Browns had the 7th pick. Sandwiched in between the Lions at 6 and the Falcons at 8. Everything is going pretty much as planned. Washington takes Sean Taylor at 5. What happens next horrifies me. The Browns trade their 7th pick and their 2nd round pick to Detroit for their pick. In my mind, the Lions were slated to take one of two players, Kellen Winslow or Roy Williams. After we made the trade I knew exactly who we were taking. Straight out of the "U", Kellen Winslow. What, Butch Davis take a player from Miami, never (we are talking about the same man who has insisted on keeping James Jackson and Andre King even though both would struggle to start in NFL Europe).

I had my heart set on us drafting home town boy Ben Roethlisberger from Findlay, OH. Findlay, the small town 20 minutes south of my alma mater. The same alma mater that I saw Big Ben torch once as a freshman (in person) and twice as a junior. When we signed Jeff Garcia I didn't think anything of it. You can't just throw a rookie qb into the fire.

But instead we chose a tight end. The Browns haven't thrown to a tight end since the Oz retired in the early '90s. Our offense isn't set up for it. And did I mention that this guy comes off like a complete ass. God, I don't know how I make it through the football season each year without killing someone.

And now on top of us taking the wrong player (I will not argue this with anyone b/c we could have taken Roy Williams and I would have been happy), he's hurt. Done for the season after 2 games. Awesome, the line of great number one picks continue. Shall I run down the list? Of course...

1999-Tim Couch-I have no problem with this pick. We were new, we needed a face and a qb, Couch fit the
bill. One problem, he never threw a pass longer than 5 yards at KENTUCKY (not exactly football rich).
2000-Courtney Brown-Hated this pick from day one. I am always suspicious of guys who have breakout senior
seasons then are workout wonders and their "Draft Stock" climbs like Google stock. Brown has yet to
make it through an entire season, and when he does play he doesn't play like a #1 pick. But what kills me
most is that LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels went 2 and 3. Both were college studs from day one and
both are in the Pro Bowl every season.
2001-Gerard Warren-Do I need to even elaborate on this debacle. If you are taking a defensive tackle with the
3rd overall pick he should be in the backfield every play. At least in college. But he wasn't. He's a bum.
2002-William Green-The jury is still out on "Willie". The only thing that burns me is we could have taken one of
Butch's Miami guys (Clinton Portis), but this time he held back and went with a guy who had both drug
and discipline problems at BC.
2003-Jeff Faine-Stud. Absolute stud. He'll be the center of our offensive line for at least 10 years (unless we
foolishly let him walk). By the time he's done he could be recognized as one of the best offensive linemen
in Browns history.
2004-Kellen Winslow-While he will be good eventually. He's stitting on the IR now, while Big Ben is winning
games for the Steelers and thinking of how he's going to beat our butts for the next 10 years.

So with this in mind, I guess my only ray of sunshine in this dark winter are the Cleveland Cavs. Did anyone see them come back and beat the Suns last night? That was the best Cavs game I have seen since Price was running the point. And hands down, there is no doubt in my mind that LeBron James will be recognized as the best player in the league within 3 years. He just decided they were going to win last night and he took over and no one could stop him.

Awesome.

At least someone in this town can get one draft right. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. Nice job Jim. And keep on keepin' on, Butch.