Why I Like Eric Mangini

I feel like I'm in the minority in saying I am a Browns fan and I like Mangini.

He didn't throw Quinn under the bus when Quinn was abysmal.

He didn't specifically call out Brandon Mcdonald when he made a couple terrible plays on defense.

Mangini also took Edwards to task for that ridiculous personal foul. I don't think Romeo would have done that.

He's imposing fines that actually make a difference. How many times do you hear about a fine and just laugh at it, because its a lunch bill for an NFL player. It's not like he's pocketing the money people. The Browns have been a country club for years, they need to dot the I's. This year is the foundation year. The players have to know there is no tolerance for not being on board with the program.

Mangini absolutely nailed Michael Crabtree as a diva.

He's not forcing guys he drafted into the lineup, but making them earn a spot.

22 year olds riding on a bus may moan and complain, but those are the kind of things that bond young men. Any normal group of 22 year olds would have that experience, but big time college football and the NFL rob them of that by sticking a silver spoon a tea service in front of them. Young American Life is not about chartered planes and suites at the Westin. Moreover, a team needs a bond, and no one has to love their coach until they are 37 and retired and realize what he meant in their lives. I challenge anyone to try and manage hypercompetitive, wealthy, popular and entitled men in their 20's who also happen to be some of the physically strongest men in the world. Good luck with that.

Mangini himself is hypercompetitive. Does hiding your starting QB make sense? No, but it sends the message that every single possible advantage you could have needs to be pressed in the NFL. The Browns were one bounced football off a facemask from strangling out the Bengals yesterday. One little play made an enormous difference. It also sends a message to the team that the coach is doing everything he can to win, even accepting ridicule from the entire nation.

Mangini obviously cares about winning and his players success. He was genuinely happy when he though Massaquoi caught his first touchdown. He gave Anderson a nice congratulatory pat after his td as well, and he was smiling. Easy to read on that note. When his players perform, he's happy. When they don't, he's dour. I'm totally fine with that.

Most importantly, Mangini has done it in the NFL. He's made some enemies of some pretty powerful agents and alot of the New York media doesn't like him. I give zero sh**s about the opinions of either of those two groups of people. I like my local media guys and I'm sorry they are put off by his standoffishness, but guys (and Ms Cabot) you get paid to write and opine about football. Suck it up.

Mangini HAD to go with Quinn to start the season or the fans would have burned down the stadium. It's not his fault Clevelanders bought into the bill of goods. Anderson has major flaws, but he's obviously got alot more upside than Quinn. But Mangini pulled the plug on the high priced, local golden boy in the face of one of the more plugged in Madison Avenue players in the league. For an owner who actually cares alot about that sort of things. That takes stones.

The guys is almost everything I want in a coach. Sure, I'd like to see him take an actual risk or two, but teams have to earn the right to take risks. You can't just go with the F it, lets hook and lateral in week 4 when you haven't scored but one touchdown. You can do it when your team has come up with some manly defensive stops and ground out a few 3rd and 2's. But he's direct, organized, competitive, challenging and he clearly spends all his time thinking about his job. Are you going to get sweet Bill Parcels quotes out of him? Probably not, but who wants to hear a wind coming from a bag without any titles.

Comparing him to Rob Ryan's histrionics: Rob is fun to watch, but I don't need to see that from my head coach. I want my top guy to be thinking four plays down the line as much as possible.

The last thing I want is for my beloved Brownstain to be 0-4, but that was the best game I've seen since 2007.

I'll Give You THREE of My Dollar Bills for ONE of Your Fives

The players listed secondarily in italics are players later-drafted at the same position as the player drafted by the Browns. Where trades were made, the actual player sacrificed is also compared to the potential player still available.

2000

1 Courtney Brown

- Corey Simon
- John Abraham

2 Dennis Northcutt

- Laveraneus Coles

2001

1 Gerard Warren

- Richard Seymour
~~~ LaDanian Tomlinson (I'm going w/ players at the same position drafted later, but this deserves a special mention b/c Butch said "This is the next Walter Payton, but we are taking G. Warr.)

2 Quincy Morgan

- Ochocinco
- Chris Chambers

2002

1 Steamin' Willie Green

- TJ Ducket
- Clinton Portis

2 Andre Davis

- Antwaan Randal El

2003

1 Jeff Faine

- Exchanged for LeCharles Bentley

2 Chaun Thompson

- Lance Briggs

2004

1 K2

- Not necessarily a better tight end available, but the Browns flip-flopped with Detroit who took Roy Williams. Detroit likely would have taken Williams anyway, leaving K2 on the board. Considering the Browns sacrificed their 2004 2nd Rd #5 (Ted Lehman - nice job Lions!), the Browns could have chosen:
- Bob Sanders 2nd Round
- Chris Cooley 3rd Round

Without the Trade for Winslow, and assuming Detroit took Winslow, the Browns could have taken any combination of:

Roy Williams / Jonathan Vilma / Stephen Jackson / Vince Willfork / Roethlisberger and;
Chris Cooley without making any moves - while still taking Bob Sanders (see below) with their sacrficed 2nd round pick.

If the Lions DIDN'T take Winslow the Browns could have had Winslow, Sanders, and Nathan Vasher

2 Sean Jones

- Still decent, plays for eagles, but Browns traded indianapolis to move up to get him while Bob Sanders would have been available in the browns initial, non-winsolw trade position.
- Nathan Vasher

2005

1 Braydrops

- Roddy White (in Braydrops defense, this was a terrible draft. He should send Alex Smith a fruit basket.

2 Brodney Pool

- Nick Collins
- Justin Miller

*either of these players could have been passed on for Frank Gore or Marion Barber. Running Back was a clear need on this years team. Considering both Sanders and Vasher could have been on the team if not for the Winslow panic, its not unfair to consider RB as an option in this draft.

2006

1 Kamerion Wimbley

- The Browns pulled their own flip-flop, passing on Haloti Ngata to take Kam Wimbley. The Browns added Babatunde Oshinowo after the flop.

- DeMeco Ryans

2 D'Quell Jackson

Top 3 player on current defense

2007

1 Joe Thomas

- Best pick of the decade. In an excellent draft, only Adrian Peterson and maybe Patrick Willis have played to Tomas' level.

1 BQ

- Dallas got the Browns 2007 2nd round Pick (36 overall), eventually used to select Kevin Kolb

- Dallas got the Browns 2008 First Round Pick Felix Jones.
Essentially, the browns could have Quinn or both Kolb and Jones: Without even doing any hypothesizing! Those are the EXACT MOVES made in exchange for Brady "People Need to Start Using His Middle Name To Capture The Essence of Being an Epithet" Quinn.

2 Eric Wright

- To move back up to get Wright, after losing the natural chance in the Quinn trade, the Browns traded their 3rd round pick, 67 overall (Which could have been used on Michael Bush);
their 4th round pick, 103 overall( Wich could have been used on LeRon Maclain);
their 6th round pick, 178 overall ( Actually used on Nick Folk).

To Summarize: Bush, MaClain, Folk for eric wright and the 195th pick (who the browns traded BACK to dallas in order to move to get mellila purcell.) This trade was ONLY MADE because the Browns had given up their #2 to get Quinn.

So, if the Browns could have resisted the siren song of Quinn, the Browns could have had a 2007 Draft of Thomas and Wright, Bush, MacClain, Folk and then Felix Jones in 2008.

Even if the Browns considerd QB a need (as they did, trading for Quinn, and moving for Wright) they could have drafted Thomas, taken Kolb in their actual slot, moved up for Wright, and still taken Felix Jones in 2008.

If the Browns left Wright alone, they could have drafted: Thomas, Kolb, Bush, McClain, Pro Bowl Kicker Nick Folk, Felix Jones.

Someone please prove, or describe a theorem which explains any of the following:
Thomas, Quinn, Wright > Thomas, Kolb, Bush, McClain, Folk, Felix Jones (Chris Johnson).
Or, to a lesser extent:
Thomas, Quinn, Wright > Thomas, Wright, Bush, McClain, Folk, Jones (Johnson).
Or, addressing their QB needs while keeping Wright:
Thomas, Wright, Bush, McClain, Folk, Henne (2008); or
Thomas, Wright, Trent Edwards (3rd Rd, 2007), McClain, Folk, Jones (Johnson).

Browns fans who don't understand why many of us HATE Brady Quinn need to pay more attention.

2008

None (Brady Quinn)

- Felix Jones
-Chris Johnson

2009

1 Alex Mack

- #5 pick Mark Sanchez turned into Alex Mack and;
- 17th pick (Josh Freeman) Traded to Tampa (see Below)
- 52nd overall (David Veikune see below) and Kenyon Coleman, Brett Ratliff, Abram Elam*.

The #17 was traded to Tampa Bay in exchange for: 19th overall (Jeremy Maclin)(see below) and 191 overall (Coye Francies*).

For the 19 overall (Maclin) the Browns received Mack and # 195 overall James Davis.

To summarize: Sanchez for Mack, Coleman, Ratliff, Elam, Francies, Davis

Mack Could have been:
- Michael Oher

2 Brian Robiskie

- Pat White

2 Mohamed Massaquoi

- Johnny Knox

2 David Veikune

- Hard to tell if anyone is better yet at his position, since none are really playing. Including Veikune.

* Elam and Francies already have special places in Browns lore. Elam twice. Elam was the player famously charged $1,701 for not paying for his hotel wetbar bottle of water. (At least he was hydrating).

Francies lost his mind during a prank and got in a fight, taking a swing at one and the same Abram Elam (as well as chucking ice at Brandon MacDonald and Mike Adams.)

Evil Sow's the fields of Silence

Cleveland reporters are colossal sycophants. Did i just grow up in a weird three year window where you learn to reject being lied to by, corporations, agents and sales people in general?

Why do you become a reporter, and not become a marketer or a PR guy? Isn't the monetary exchange that you get to feel good about yourself, and enjoy a bit of justified sanctimony with you free newsroom coffee? Aren't you supposed to have an opinion, stand by it, and "aim to write down, to the best of your ability, the truth?"
Let's see if I'm wrong and spin the evidence wheel:
Courtesy of Patrick McManamon
http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/59362652.html
" 6. There's no reason to give up on Brady Quinn, just that in one game (against a very good defense) he did not seem real effective. As for the last drive that led to a touchdown with 30 seconds left . . . in 1999, those things mattered. It's a new coach, new system, but the standards for judging the team shouldn't make it as if they're grade-schoolers learning to play. If that last drive means a lot, then we're all in for a longer year than we thought. Had Derek Anderson played the same game Quinn played, folks would be taking him to the guillotine. Heck . . . Mark Sanchez , in his first start for the New York Jets, threw for 272 yards and went 12-for-16 on third down. Joe Flacco is in his second season and he threw for 307 in the first game. How do these things happen everywhere in the NFL except for with the Browns?

7. To say that Quinn did not throw down the field before the game was settled is not exactly accurate. He did take a couple shots. But all were deep fades down the sideline. Thirteen of Quinn's 21 completions went to backs or tight ends. I remember very few posts, skinny or otherwise, very few crossing routes, very few 20-yard turn-ins.

8. I don't know if Quinn is that kind of quarterback or if he's being coached to do that kind of thing. When a quarterback does that over and over again, the defense starts to squeeze the field, which makes running the ball pretty difficult. As the season progresses, we'll discover if it's an issue. But I do know that Quinn is gaining a reputation as an underneath guy, one who will not take chances. Whether that's fair at this point of his career is a legitimate question."

According to Mr. McMananon, there is "No reason to give up on Quinn." Then, for the next 291 words, he comes up with reasons to give up on Quinn. (From week one only!) That's like the famous caveat, "No offense, but your face looks like a yeast infection." The "No offense" apparently making it sting less, or be less true, or meaning you don't have to really pay attention.

Mr. McNanamon, call a yeast infection a yeast infection and your Taco Bell will taste better than Tom Condon's porterhouse. Or at least you can rightly tell yourself that. But believe me, writing the mishy-mashy, in-between, partial-sales job - then using the little extra cash to upgrade to a red robin reuben - that dinner tastes the worst.

And, doing my duty, those are merely reasons to give up on Quinn from week one. The remaining reasons:

The Notre Dame / Weiss Pedigree is clearly over-rated (no offense, domerfriends) ((hahahaha))

It's Quinn's third year in the league. Quinn was supposed to be "NFL ready after Notre Weiss. That was his "incredible value." That was the wrong assesment. Chasing sunken investments is the worst thing you can do in the present tense, both for the here and now, and for tomorrow.

Quinn failed in his primary role, as a game manager to keep the score low and close.

49.3 < Quinn < 74.1

Jeff Garcia and Charlie Frye already failed on the Browns. Quinn's physical gifts are not measurably better than either one of those players.

There are 3,800 yards and 30 touchdowns on the bench (i rounded up).

The 2007 Browns won 10 games.

the 2008 Browns played the hardest strength of schedule in the NFL.

Braydrops.

The only reason Quinn is being given such a long leash, and such an extended "chance" is that he's famous, he's handsome, and he's local. Guess what, Wesley Snipes would not be a good NFL quarterback. Not in Atlanta, not in Transylvania.

Ask a (non-Notre Dame) Carolina fan, "Who would you want to be your QB: Anderson, Delhomme, or Quinn." Ask. I dare you. Do the same thing to a Niner fan, using Shaun Hill. Honestly, you might be able to ask in Seattle, St. Louis, Denver, Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa. I would lay money - each time- they'd choose the order I'm insinuating. I'm confident I would come out ahead overall.

So why, I beg any Quinn supporter to tell me, why is it so important he be the Browns QB?

What is the value?

Literally the browns current situation is like your favorite restaurant leaving town, and then they open a video store where the restaurant used to be, with the same decorations, and they just show you videotapes of food and tell you how good it is.

The browns used to be a football team. Now they are story time.

To the evidence wheel:
http://www.ohio.com/sports/59285082.html
"But Mangini found bright spots, especially in the play of Quinn, who made just his fourth career start.

''There were a lot of things Brady did that I liked,'' Mangini said. ''I thought he showed a lot of poise. There were times where he gave us a chance on some plays that maybe we wouldn't have had a chance on and he made some adjustments that showed not only a lot of poise, but a lot of awareness.

''I know he's been in the league more than one season, but in terms of experience and starts, it's a young career. For the opening game, I thought he showed a lot of poise.''

Quinn completed 21-of-35 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown with an interception for a 74.1 rating. But that includes going 6-of-7 for 88 yards with a 26-yard TD to tight end Robert Royal in a late-fourth quarter drive, when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Before that, Quinn had hit on 15-of-28 for 117 yards with an interception for a 49.3 rating."

Point #1 "Brady showed alot of poise"

Tom brady showed alot of poise. Brady Quinn punted a ball to the cornerback on a needless deep bomb to Braylon Edwards. Not only did he underthrow him on a 30 yard pass, it came right after Minnesota had scored on a long ass, defender energy draining drive. Quinn threw a shit ball, out of his skill range, and put the defense right back on the field. That's not poise.

Second, Quinn let the ball flip out of his hands like a greek kicker on the next possession. That's the opposite of poise.

Point #2 "There were times when he gave us a chance on some plays"

On the interception, Quinn gave the vikings a chance. I've NEVER seen Derek Anderson underthrow anybody on a floater, and definitely not on a thirty yard throw. This interception would actually seem to qualify as taking a chance away. Maybe in football talk that's a negative chance.

Also, I haven't seen anyone fumble the ball by holding it since Dave "Carney Hands" Kreig was in the league. Garo Yepremeian, Fran Tarkenton and Dave Kreig have made that fumble. That's three people in the history of the league. I'd have to call that fumble a negative chance as well.

On the last drive with the browns down two scores, quinn threw 1 completion on seven plays. Every single pass attempt was for less than the first down marker. Quinn gave them a chance to *not gain* a first down yet he also failed at giving them a chance to *not gain* a first down. Apparently since the chance to not gain a first down is a negative (-) and failure to complete the chance to *not gain* a first down is also a negative (-) the double negative chance makes a positive chance. I get it now. Mangenious, on point with his math. That's seven positives. I'm glad i thought this through because now i feel better.

I stand corrected. Subtracting for the Fumble and Pick, Brady Quinn gave the Browns 5 positive chances.

Point #3 Quinn ended the game with a 74.1 Rating.

Wait, I'm a little dizzy here. The article mitigates this rating by informing us that before a meaningless, tight end driven drive with the browns down 21 points and nary 4 minutes on the clock, Quinn's QB rating was 49.3. So in fairness, - the 74.1 rating shouldn't be taken as too much of a positive?

Really? Normally we'd laude the guy and go apeshit over his surgical evisceration of a team with his 74.1 QB rating, but lets just hold our horses because it's actually not entirely accurate?

There are 9 other QB's with ratings less than Quinn's "inflated." 74.1. Nine. Every single one of those QB's lost. Only four threw for less yards. Quinn's longest pass went for 26 yards. (Jake Delhomme was the only QB with a shorter "longest completion"). How did Quinn gain those 26 yards? He dumped the ball off to Cribbs who made people miss for 17 yards. Quinn's average yards per attempt are six tenths of a yard higher than Jamal Lewis' yards per rush attempt. Just let your brain digest for a minute.

I'm fine with saying Quinn had a better game than Jake Delhomme. Got no problem with that. Let him even keep his inflated stats. JUST DON'T TELL ME IT'S A POSITIVE. 74.1 puts you squarely in the bottom third of the league. And If I may make a supplemental argument to point one, Quinn was Sacked 5 times. Maybe he didn't show awareness on those 5 times, so the negative (-) for awareness and the negative (-) for the sack should be a positive. It's galling to say that we "shouldn't get too excited about the 74.1, because the 49.3 was probably more accurate." Really? I am going to be doing cartwheels because of the 74.1?

Incidentally, the 49.3 would beat out Jamarcus Russell, so Quinn should have been the #1 pick.

This is all evidence that Derek Anderson is an insufferable asshole. There can be no other reason that Quinn starts.

The First

So, way back at the beginning of the 2007 football season, I took out the job-ad below on craigslist. It was promptly flagged and removed within about ten seconds.
I'm posting it here for a couple reasons. First, I was obviously wrong, because there was indeed someone who fit the bill on the roster. Second, as the Browns move into their first off-season following a successful year since the new incarnation, I wanted to get back in touch with how hopeless the Browns were before Derek Anderson took over at quarterback. Third, for those who complain about the quarterback position, please recall the Cleveland Freaking Browns just went 10-5 with a QB who ranked in the top 5 in the league. That doesn't leave alot of room to upgrade. Defense might be a problem. Fourth, I want to point out that at no point does my ad mention the ability to film EAS commercials:

Things look bad for the Browns.  They’ve looked bad before,  but at this point,
the Death Star looks like it is about to pass the moon for a clear shot at Berea.

How did they get here? The Browns situation over the last fifteen years has simply
been ridiculous.  The NFL let Art Modell take the browns to Baltimore for gajillions
of dollars.  The NFL then “let” Cleveland keep the colors and shell out gajillions
of dollars for an expansion team to replace the guys wearing those colors.

Let me tell you something, If your wife divorces you and runs off for cash, you don’t
find some new girl, give her plastic surgery and call her by your wife’s name. 
That would be weird.

So, the actual Browns went on to win the super bowl for former rival Baltimore,
who had already become Indianapolis.  The “Browns” expanded in 1999 and have basically
remained expansion ever since.  The one bright spot were those two games by Honeycomb
Holcomb in '03.  It looked like the “Browns” had found the hero they so desperately
needed. 

Not so much.

And they need a hero.  They need Han Solo bombing out from the glaring sun thinking,
“I don’t know why I’m doing this because I’m usually in it for myself, but I hate the
Steelers and Bronco’s so screw it, ‘You’re all clear kid so lets blow this thing and
go home.”

I don’t know who that guy is.  I don’t know if he’s a maverick safety who bounces around
the league on bad knees. I don’t know if it’s a tight end that stays in the league because
he knows every dirty hand-trick in the book.  I don’t know if it’s a veteran QB who can
come in and show EVERY quarterback on the roster how and when to gamble and how and when
to throw the ball away, and most importantly, how and when to keep composure when something
goes wrong. Hell, he might be a coach who says, “Screw it, we’re running the hook-and-ladder”
on 3rd and 2 because a team needs haymaker confidence, not just first downs.

I’m pretty sure it’s none of the guys on this roster.  I don’t know any of them, or any of
their personalities, but I’ve seen their sound bites and I’ve seen their play.  There hasn’t
been one guy in four years who has stood out as “the guy who might make the difference”
as the Browns drive late on the Ravens, or as the Chiefs waddle down the field for a field goal,
or as the Steelers pull their bus into the parking lot.  There are some young aggressive guys.
There are some talkers.  There are some veterans who I think are frauds.  There are squeaky
clean guys with potential, and there are plenty of hard workers.  There’s even a good deal of
talent. But there is no hero on this roster.  At least not today.

I don’t know who he is or what he is doing.  I don’t know whether he speaks with a western Texas
twang or if he’s a bayou boy who rolls his words from the back of his mouth.  Maybe he hustled
his way through Philadelphia, Maybe he logged in the Pac Northwest.  Wherever he is he probably
once spit tobacco juice on his older brother just for the excitement of the impending escape attempt.
Whoever he is he probably annoys the hell out of everyone around him, especially authority figures. 
He probably doesn’t take orders well, and he probably calls members of the media stupid when they
ask stupid questions.  He also *Doesn’t Take Losing Well.*

The Browns need a guy who can erase the chalky aftertaste of the Browns/Baltimore corporate divorce. 
They need a guy to replace the thud of Art Modell.  They need someone to let us laugh off the helmet
toss, the blocked field goal in Pittsburgh, the Jacksonville debacle.  But he’s also got to erase
John Elway.  He’s got to erase Belichick and Vinnie Testaverde.  Red Right 88. He’s got to be able to
see those odds, and not care.  The old stadium is gone, Art is gone, The helmet toss didn’t keep the
Browns from the playoffs, Elway is retired and looks terrible, Belichick is a cheater and Vinnie wasn’t
so bad in the end. Red Right 88 still sucks, but who can remember that far back?  Everyone has to go
through some growing pains.

If anyone knows this guy, please send him an application.