You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Four days on the job and Kevin Stefanski had his first, “Welcome to the Cleveland Browns” moment.
And at the center of it was -- who else? -- Odell Beckham Jr.
The wide receiver had one weird time celebrating LSU’s national championship win over Clemson Monday night in New Orleans.
Beckham’s peculiar behavior included passing out wads of cash to LSU players on the field after the win. Later, while a Superdome security guard admonished LSU players for smoking cigars in the locker room, Beckham slapped the guard on the butt and then appeared to mock him.
The security officer decided to press charges, according to NOLA.com, after he saw video of the incident. By the time the video went viral, New Orleans police issued an arrest warrant for Beckham on a complaint of simple battery.
Beckham, who viewed the game on the sideline at the invitation of his alma mater, may get LSU in some trouble with the NCAA for giving players cash. His butt slap of the security guard is a minor misdemeanor and may result in a fine.
Individually, they are no big deal, right?
But they served notice to Stefanski about what he is stepping into.
On an appearance on 850 ESPN Cleveland prior to the arrest warrant being issued, Stefanski said he spoke to Beckham for the first time after he accepted the Browns’ job on Sunday.
“Obviously, I’ll talk to him again,” Stefanski said. “He understands what’s at stake here. We’ll address all those things with him. He’s no different than all our players. I’m looking forward to spending some time with them and getting to know those guys.”
Trials and tribulations
In December, I tabulated a list of events, distractions and tribulations that created a circus atmosphere in this Browns season. On my initial list of 41, eight involved Beckham. These ranged from skipping OTAs to travel the globe to some rather selfish “look at me” moments that had nothing to do with winning.
Such as:
*Having to remove painted cleats that violated league uniform code during the Denver game.
*Being fined for football pants too high above the knees.
*Being removed for a few plays in the Jets game to change an illegally shaded helmet visor.
*Wearing a designer watch valued at $2 million in pre-game warmups.
In the last month of the season, Beckham added to this list by reportedly telling opposing players and coaches to “come get me,” committing a costly taunting penalty in the Baltimore game, and later yelling at coach Freddie Kitchens in the same game for something said to him by a game official.
And now, the LSU experience.
After news of the arrest warrant came out, the Browns issued a statement saying they had been in touch with Beckham and his representatives, and “they are cooperating with the proper authorities to appropriately address the situation.”
Make it stop
Beckham’s drama is what got him traded by the Giants. Most of it is harmless stuff on the surface. But taken together, these unnecessary and selfish acts contribute to a culture of losing, not winning.
It came out late in the season that Beckham played the whole year through hip and groin injuries that may require sports hernia surgery. In that regard, making it through 16 games and netting 1,035 receiving yards were borderline heroic.
But even he was frustrated by scoring just four touchdowns. And his catch percentage of 55.64 (74 catches on 133 targets) ranked 107th out of 125 offensive players, per NextGen Stats. Those numbers speak to never being on the same page with Baker Mayfield – a combination of missing so much time on the practice field, voluntarily and due to his injuries.
The extra-curriculars were distractions and examples of the team’s general lack of discipline.
“[There’s] a great old Bill Parcells line – if you don’t beat yourself, you go 8-8,” Stefanski said on 850 ESPN Cleveland. “So for us, you’ve got to start there. We’re not going to beat ourselves. You have to have a disciplined football team.”
In an appearance in the Browns media room on Jan. 2 to explain the parting with GM John Dorsey and coach Freddie Kitchens, owner Jimmy Haslam spoke of a talk he had with players and all football operations personnel after the last game.
“The message was, listen, if it does not have to do with one of these three things, you are not doing the right thing,” Haslam related. “The first is winning. The second is improving as an individual. And the third is helping the team. We are going to make sure that whoever we hire as head coach and whoever we hire as GM is all focused on that – about the Browns winning games, about the Browns making the playoffs.”
Stefanski’s job is to get the players focused on that task, too.
Welcome to Cleveland.