The Browns were a rapt audience when the families of Bill Wills and Marion Motley recounted the historical significance of re-integrating African-American players into professional football in 1946. (Cleveland Browns)
Browns once again gloss over Paul Brown in their history lesson
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Browns’ visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame …
The Browns’ Offseason Bonding Tour traveled to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, and a good time was had by all.
Well, all except Myles Garrett, who was granted his wish to be excused from the museum visit because he vows not to enter the Hall of Fame until he’s officially inducted.
Coach Kevin Stefanski set up the day as part team-building and part educational. There was a light, 30-minute workout on Tom Benson Stadium field during a choking heat wave. Players didn’t even don their helmets for the occasion.
The point of the day was to learn about and appreciate the history of a franchise that was a dynasty – believe it or not – long before Jim Brown hopped aboard in 1957.
Paul Brown, founding coach and architect of the 1940s-50s pro football dynasty – 10 championship game appearances and seven pre-Super Bowl league titles in 10 years -- never received proper respect by former owner Art Modell after Modell fired Brown out of jealousy in 1963. That unfortunate tradition continues today, inexplicably.
On the 60-minute bus ride south on I-77, Stefanski had players view NFL Films’ “A Football Life: Jim Brown.” “A Football Life: Paul Brown” would seem more appropriate – let’s start at the very beginning, no? – but there is no Paul Brown statue outside of FirstEnergy Stadium to signify him as the most important man in the history of the franchise.
During the museum visit, the Browns heard a presentation from Keyshawn Johnson and author Bob Glauber on their book, The Forgotten First, which chronicles the lives of four men who re-integrated professional football in 1946.
Two of them – future Hall of Famers Bill Willis and Marion Motley – were signed by Paul Brown to play for the Browns in 1946, a full year before Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball. Family members of Willis and Motley, both deceased, joined the presentation and mingled with players beforehand on the field.
“We have been spending some time as a team learning about [Browns history], what it means to be a Cleveland Brown and really the ethos of that,” Stefanski said. “We have been digging into that. I just think it is such an important franchise, talking about 1946 and 1964 and having [Browns Legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle and place-kicker] Lou Groza spanning both teams and just kind of trying to go to school a little bit with our team and understanding who those statues are outside of our stadium because it is pretty important stuff.”
Without a statue of Paul Brown on the premises, some members of the Browns might think the team was named after Jim Brown.
That’s a shame.
A trip to Canton may be repeated next summer with a different slant.
Browns legendary left tackle Joe Thomas will be eligible for the first time on the Hall of Fame ballot. If Thomas wins election to the Class of 2023, it’s quite possible the Browns would be assigned to play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. They haven’t played in the traditional pre-season lid-lifter since 1999.
Bitonio still has Baker’s back
Left guard Joel Bitonio, who skipped all the voluntary OTAs, made his first appearance in front of media since the seismic shift in the quarterback room.
The longest-tenured Browns player has seen a lot of things since he was made a second-round draft pick by GM Tom Heckert (now deceased) in 2014. But the demise of Baker Mayfield and acquisition of Deshaun Watson has to rank at the top of unforeseen developments in Bitonio’s time.
“Baker was my guy,’’ Bitonio said. “I still remember the Thursday night Jets game when he came into the game and helped lead us to victory and that was honestly one of the more special moments in my career just because it had been so long since we won games.”
Mayfield’s epic win in relief of injured Tyrod Taylor broke a 19-game winless streak for the Browns and unlocked BudLight refrigerators in Northeast Ohio (“Dilly dilly.")
Now Mayfield is being held in exile as the Browns dicker about how much of his $18.858 million guaranteed contract they’re willing to pay to facilitate a trade.
This after giving Watson a record-breaking, fully-guaranteed contract for $230 million and trading three No. 1 draft picks plus three additional picks for Watson, who’s facing 24 civil lawsuits (soon to be 26) for sexual assault and misconduct allegations.
Mayfield has been excused from mandatory minicamp as the Browns continue trade dialogue with the Carolina Panthers – the Browns’ opening week opponent.
“He’s a tough guy and he played his heart out for us and I’ll always respect that,” Bitonio said. “He’s still a friend of mine. We text occasionally and I think like everybody else, he’s kind of waiting it out to see where he’s going, but Baker did a lot for this franchise. He won a lot of games, he was a great player for us and I’ll always be a friend.
“He’s always had that chip on his shoulder and I’m sure it’s continued to get bigger and bigger. A team’s going to give him a chance. I know the contract situation is working itself out but he’ll get a chance to play. Quarterback is such a scarcity in the league that he’ll get a chance to play and perform again.”
Ring that Bell
Rookie third-round pick David Bell had a productive offseason program. He heads into the last of 13 practices of the program Thursday in FirstEnergy Stadium having dropped only one pass – at the first OTA practice with media not present.
“I'm real [hard] on myself,” Bell said. “So when that does happen, it's uncharacteristic of myself to do that. I take it to heart. I try to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Every time I drop a ball, it's always one minor thing that I didn't do, whether looking it in or my hands aren't in the right place. So when I drop a pass, I know why I dropped that pass.”
Bell believes he has benefitted by being assigned the locker next to Watson at Browns headquarters.
“He’s coaching me up a lot, even on the off days,” Bell said. “He’ll shoot me a text and say, ‘This is what I’m looking for on this.’ I’ll make sure to correct that next practice.”
Bell has primarily lined up in the slot in three-receiver sets – an unfamiliar position for the B1G Ten receiver of the year.
Brownie bits
Linebacker Anthony Walker is another player who was surprised at the team’s lack of unity last season. “I will be completely honest, when I was in Indy, I thought that we established that culture there, and when I came here, it was a little different,” he said. “I am starting to feel what I felt in Indy when I was there. Just the brotherhood that we had, all of the guys coming together and the team camaraderie. Last year, it was a little standoff-ish. Again, this is professional football so I get it, but to be a great team, you have got to have that camaraderie and you have got to have that team mindset because when you go through the dark days, sometimes you may lose or the dog days of camp, the dog days of this grind and minicamp and everything like that, you need that team brotherhood, that team bond to keep bringing you together and I am glad that we are building that.” …
Receiver Anthony Schwartz was excused because of illness. Return specialist Jakeem Grant and cornerback Greedy Williams joined right tackle Jack Conklin in not participating in the light workout because of undisclosed injuries.
