we have a very competitive league which makes it fun . all you guys ,gals are snipers when it comes to plucking free agents .no good arm or bat goes unnoticed . I like it better myself as the season is longer . you lose a game or two you aren't out of it like in football . it makes baseball more interesting as well . anybody hear from the Goat ? I hope he is doing okay . I will crank the league back up in a couple weeks . I am already in three leagues ..ours will make four ..that's enough . Gooo Tribe....Goooo Reds
The Morning Kickoff ? Angry words: Browns GM Ray Farmer is very good at issuing tough statements. He was at his best on Tuesday evening when the NFL lowered the boom on Josh Gordon and banished the receiver for a minimum of one year. The Browns? Big Man responded with typically stern comments. "As we have conveyed, we are disappointed to once again be at this point with Josh,? Farmer said in the statement. ?Throughout his career we have tried to assist him in getting support like we would with any member of our organization. Unfortunately our efforts have not resonated with him. ?It is evident that Josh needs to make some substantial strides to live up to the positive culture we are trying to build this football team upon. Our hope is that this suspension affords Josh the opportunity to gain some clarity in determining what he wants to accomplish moving forward and if he wants a career in the National Football League. ?We will have no further comment on Josh as he will not be permitted in our facility for the duration of his suspension.? Growing pains: Tough talk has become one of the tenets of the Browns in Farmer?s one year as general manager. Tough action is another story. To be honest, the team for which Farmer is responsible is a raging dumpster fire right now. Gordon, its best player when Farmer took over, is suspended indefinitely. Johnny Manziel, the would-be franchise quarterback in which Farmer invested two high draft choices, checked himself into ?treatment,? presumably for alcohol dependency. Brian Hoyer, the only quarterback with a winning record in 16 seasons of the Browns? expansion era, is on the verge of free agency after getting frozen out by Farmer and others. Jordan Cameron, the franchise?s only Pro Bowl tight end since Kellen Winslow II was in his prime, is on the verge of free agency after the team offered him a one-year contract before the 2014 season. Justin Gilbert, Farmer?s first-ever No. 1 draft choice, finished his horrendous rookie season sequestered in the visitor?s locker room in Baltimore, disciplined for missing an umpteenth team meeting. In the team road hotel! Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan forfeited two years of guaranteed salary to jump off what he considered a sinking ship. On the way out, he laid out a list of 32 complaints to owner Jimmy Haslam, several of which reflected poorly on the rookie GM. On the clock: Like most NFL GMs, Farmer is unavailable during the season as he shuffles into the shadows and allows the head coach to stand alone as the day-to-day team spokesman. The problem with that is that the head coach often is forced to respond to questions raised by decisions made unilaterally by Farmer, who holds the authority on Browns football decisions. Over the course of the past season, I sought to arrange interview time with Farmer. The response was always the same: The head coach is the spokesman during the season. But Mike Pettine wouldn?t be the person to respond to the questions I?ve compiled over the course of the past season. They need to be answered by Farmer. Such as: Did you really text-message coaches in the coaches box during games to complain about play-calls and usage of players, as sources have said? Did you also text-message a team employee on the sideline to deliver your messages to coaches during games, which is a violation of league rules? What role did you play in the decision to start Manziel in Game 14 against Cincinnati with a chance at the playoffs still alive? Speaking of Manziel, did you Google his name before the draft and read the plethora of stories detailing problems he had with drinking going back to his high school days? Was it really worth not attending pro days of the top-rated players in the 2014 draft? Couldn?t you have gleaned one bit of useful information on Gilbert and Manziel by talking to some college coach attending their pro days? Was it so important to be absent solely to disguise your intentions in the draft? Like most GMs, you said you would be ?true to our draft board? when selecting players in the draft. Was Gilbert and Manziel really the highest-rated players on your board when your turn came up at No. 8 and No. 22 in the first round? The former Browns football regime commissioned a $100,000 study that concluded Teddy Bridgewater was the best quarterback of the 2014 draft. Why did you disregard it? Explain again how you could ignore the receiver position in the most receiver-rich draft in history after knowing Gordon would be suspended for most, if not all, of the 2014 season? Given the questionable situation at receiver, why did you cut receiver Charles Johnson after the club invested nine months in rehabilitating him from ACL knee surgery? Why did you ignore the blatant problem at punt returner all season? How did you arrive at Nick McDonald as a suitable replacement for injured center Alex Mack? Ryan Seymour? Why exactly do you not think the team is best served by re-signing Hoyer? When it comes to ?play like a Brown? core values, what was it about Ben Tate that qualified him to receive a contract in free agency? Do you feel a GM should accede to the whims of the owner or is it the GM?s responsibility to stay true to his convictions even if they contradict the owner?s opinion? Could we possibly have answers to these questions? An official tough statement on each would do
Cleveland Browns and GM Ray Farmer facing possible suspension, fine, loss of draft pick for 'Textgate' The Browns and general manager Ray Farmer could be penalized soon for the Text-gate scandal, in which Farmer may have texted from the press level to the sidelines during a game, which is against the rules. http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/02/cleveland_browns_ray_farmer_su.html
Just heard on my way back from Home Depot that now the Eagles are involved in these talks with the Browns. Everyone and their grandmother knows that the Eagles and Kelly want Mariota. Mariota is projected to go in the top 6 of this draft. The radio said that Kelly doesn't want to trade multiple years picks like Washington did for RG3. That he is willing to trade players for picks and his #20 pick if need be. The host on 92.3 said that the Browns could trade #12 and #19 to #1 and draft Mariota. The Browns then could trade Mariota to the Eagles for #20, Foles and either another player or another pick/picks. The Browns are the only team in the NFL with 2 1st rd draft picks to move up and Kelly wants Mariota. So in short don't be surprised if the Browns do trade those picks for Mariota. Anyway it looks like Johhny drunk is on a very, very hot seat here in Cleveland as Farmer has mentioned he will sign or draft any player to make this team better. That starts at QB! Stay tuned!
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns and general manager Ray Farmer are facing possible sanctions from the NFL for "Textgate," including a multigame suspension for Farmer, and a fine and loss of draft pick for the Browns, league sources told Northeast Ohio Media Group. The investigation -- one of three "integrity of the game" probes currently underway in the NFL -- is expected to be wrapped up soon, as early this week or next week. NEOMG reported on Jan. 6 that a Browns "high-ranking personnel member texted from the press box to the sidelines about playcalls'' during a game, which was one of the reasons former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, now with the Falcons, felt that working for the Browns had become dysfunctional for him. Multiple league sources have told NEOMG that Farmer was the high-ranking personnel member who violated the NFL's electronic use policy by the impermissible texting. Those messages were then apparently relayed to the coaches. The NFL investigated the improper texts, and are prepared to announce sanctions within the next couple of weeks. A resolution could come as early as this week, but probably no later than three weeks. Farmer is facing a multigame suspension -- as many as three or four games -- and the Browns are facing the loss of a draft pick if the probe, conducted by in-house NFL executives, shows that Farmer acted improperly. Farmer, asked by NEOMG at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 21 if he texted from the press level during a game, said "I can't comment on that. The league is investigating.'' A Browns spokesman reiterated Wednesday that the club has done everything the league has asked and is awaiting results of the probe. The Browns have never denied that such texts occurred, and coach Mike Pettine revealed during a press conference on Jan. 22 that investigators had already come to Cleveland to question members of the organization. At the Greater Cleveland Sports Award ceremony later that night, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam stressed that the club was cooperating fully. "I know that Ray and Pett and Sashi Brown, our general counselor, are cooperating fully with the NFL, and if we did anything wrong I'm sure we'll correct it and make whatever amends,'' he said. "I know we've cooperated fully with the NFL." "Textgate'' was the first of three scandals that have erupted over the past month that impact the integrity of the game, and the NFL is taking all three very seriously. The second was "Deflategate,'' the controversy over the Patriots deflating footballs during their AFC Championship Game victory over the Colts. And the third was the Falcons pumping artificial crowd noise into the Georgia Dome over the past two seasons, which owner Arthur Blank admitted to on Tuesday. The NFL is likely to wrap up all three investigations within the next three weeks. "It's not really a fine line," Blank told The Associated Press. "I think what we've done in 2013 and 2014 was wrong. Anything that affects the competitive balance and fairness on the field, we're opposed to, as a league, as a club and as an owner. It's obviously embarrassing but beyond embarrassing it doesn't represent our culture and what we're about." Blank told the AP that he knew enough about the investigation to own up to the allegations. "We've gotten some information from the league but until we read the full report and until they publish their findings, we can't be totally clear. We've talked to a lot of people and we've cooperated and we'll be anxious to read the report." During his Super Bowl press conference last week, Commissioner Roger Goodell stressed the importance of protecting the game's integrity. "This is my job," Goodell said in response to a question about Deflate-gate. "This is my responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. I represent 32 teams. All of us want to make sure that the rules are being followed. And if we have any information where the potential is that those rules were violated, I have to pursue that. And I have to pursue that aggressively. "So this is my job. This is the job of the league office. It is what all 32 clubs expect and I believe our partners and fans expect. We will do it vigorously and it is important for it to be thorough and fair." The Browns' Textgate investigation comes at a difficult time for the club. Their first-round quarterback, Johnny Manziel, checked himself into a rehab facility last Wednesday for a possible dependence on alcohol; and their All-Pro receiver, Josh Gordon, was suspended for a minimum of a year.
NEOMG reported on Jan. 6 that a Browns "high-ranking personnel member texted from the press box to the sidelines about playcalls'' during a game, which was one of the reasons former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, now with the Falcons, felt that working for the Browns had become dysfunctional for him. Multiple league sources have told NEOMG that Farmer was the high-ranking personnel member who violated the NFL's electronic use policy by the impermissible texting. Those messages were then apparently relayed to the coaches. STUPID MEDDLESOME NON DRAFTING SOB !!!
Unless, of course, your good buddy Kraft owns the team that is accused of deflating balls and then proceeds to win the Super Bowl. Pppphhhhhtttt!!!!!!! Integrity my azz!!!
CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reports Browns first-round CB Justin Gilbert was seen "more as a nuisance than an asset" by the end of this past season. "He was routinely late, was a chronic knucklehead and rubbed teammates and coaches the wrong way," writes La Canfora, who has an excellent writeup on the new lows of the Browns at the link below. Gilbert, the No. 8 pick in last year's draft, was reportedly often late to games. He played just 373 snaps as a rookie and tumbled behind UDFA K'Waun Williams and fourth-rounder Pierre Desir. Much like teammate Johnny Manziel, Gilbert has the early makings of a bust.
CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reports impending free agent Jordan Cameron is "not interested" in re-signing with the Browns. Who would choose to remain in that mess of an organization? We can't blame Cameron. Although he's proven to be extremely prone to concussions, Cameron is a major threat when on the field. The former college basketball player is a seam-stretching tight end who averaged 17.7 YPR this past season. He's going to be one of the more interesting free-agent cases to follow in March
I also think that the so called " insider " from the site we all came from ..cBS has a axe to grind with the Browns .. since they shit canned his butt buddy Lombtard . I wonder if the Browns can sue him ? we are not as screwed up as he makes us sound . yes there is dysfunction that is evident but not as bad as La whatever the hell his name is makes it out to be .
that's a pretty inflammatory article on CBS that Jason La whatever the hell or whoever the hell he is wrote .I do believe some of it . Haslam is waaaay to meddlesome and Farmer may be in over his head as a GM . his first draft kind of proved that . he blew the first two picks and totally ignored the WR position .
Man this team is dysfunctional at it's best! it is being reported everywhere that it was Farmer that was texting from the press box. That it was Haslam that drafted Manziel and is still in trouble for ripping off Teamsters, that Shanahan actually wanted out of here because he said I quote" This team is DYSFUNCTIONAL FROM TOP TO BOTTOM!" And had a portfolio as to why he wanted out of here, that Farmer could get suspended and lose draft picks because of TEXTGATE! Throw in there they could of traded Gordon 2 years ago and didn't. Word is that If Pettine doesn't win this year that Haslam is going to blow this thing up yet again! Throw in there that Cameron said this team is a dysfunctional and wants to leave. This sorry ass excuse for an NFL franchise is actually getting worse as time goes on. Are all of you happy as CHIT they are back? BULL on the BULL AND Fox show said the same thing that I have been screaming. This is the worst franchise in the NFL, hands down! Your owner is under investigation, your GM is under investigation and you give Potheads and Drunks free clearance to your team. You have No QB, NO WR's, NO D-LINE, NO OLB and NO TE! Are you guy's sure this is an NFL franchise? The only thing the Browns do well is BLOW 1ST RD PICKS! THEY DO IT BETTER THAN ANY TEAM IN THE NFL. At least next year they are getting new uniforms. They have disgraced the old one enough already! PLEASE! HASLAM LET THE UNIFORMS REST IN PEACE!
