DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum O'Hara Droughns " RAC is the Right Guy"

More former Browns going to Super Bowl
Posted by Tony Grossi February 01, 2008 22:57PM
Categories: Browns
Giants running back Reuben Droughns is another ex-Brown in the Super Bowl.Phoenix -- We all know by now that Cleveland is the only NFL city to never appear in or host a Super Bowl.
The hosting part will never happen for a variety of reasons. Weather and lack of hotel rooms are right at the top.

But in my second annual survey of players, coaches or other executives who passed through the Browns and advanced to the Super Bowl, there was a new sense of optimism that someday soon the team may actually break its 42-year drought and get to the NFL promised land.

"I think they are [on their way]," said New York Giants running back Reuben Droughns. "They've taken another step, a winning season. I believe Romeo [Crennel] will take them to the next level and get them back into the playoffs, and then anything can happen."


Droughns was largely ignored during interviews this week. His table at the Giants headquarters hotel was empty except for a couple obscure teammates playing cards.

Droughns is No. 57 on my list of ex-Browns to get to the Super Bowl in my time as The Plain Dealer's beat writer. Cleveland natives who didn't play for the Browns are not included on the list.

Droughns broke the Browns' 1,000-yard rushing season drought of 20 years with a 1,232-yard effort in 2005, and then fell into disfavor. He was traded last year for receiver Tim Carter.

He carried 85 times for 275 yards and six touchdowns for the Giants, but spent most of his time on special teams and partly as a fullback -- which is the way he broke into the NFL.

"[The trade] worked out real well. I'm here for the first time," Droughns said. "Sometimes you have to take the backseat to get where you want to go. I've still got two years left on my contract. I don't know where it stands for next year. We'll see."

Droughns said he was not surprised at the resurrection of the Browns' offense in 2007.

"I knew Derek [Anderson] was going to be a good quarterback, watching him in practice. I think he should have been 'the guy' a long time ago. I think, obviously, the key was building an offensive line."

No. 58 on the list is Shaun O'Hara, the Giants' version of Hank Fraley -- scrappy, reliable and a team captain.

He made the Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2000 and left in free agency after the 2003 season.

O'Hara is a New Jersey native who attended Rutgers University and is now in the Super Bowl with the closest thing to being a hometown team. Yet when it was suggested that career move was the best thing to happen to him, he had mixed feelings.

"I loved my four years in Cleveland," O'Hara said, getting emotional. "It was tough for me to leave because I felt I'd really given my heart and soul to that program.

"That was my first experience dealing with the business side of the NFL. I took it personally then, but I don't now."

He is a believer in Crennel getting the job done in Cleveland.

"It's just a matter of time, I know it," O'Hara said. "I know it's been a tough road since '99. I think they have the right guy there now in Romeo. I think things are in place. Hopefully, I'll be playing against them [with the Giants] in the next Super Bowl."

O'Hara was one of the overlooked successes of the two-year coaching era of Chris Palmer, now the Giants quarterbacks coach and No. 59 on the list.

Palmer is also proud of the fact that two of his original assistant coaches in 1999 are now head coaches -- Ken Whisenhunt with Arizona and Tony Sparano with Miami -- and Crennel, whom he made defensive coordinator in 2000, is a third.

Palmer was fired after his second season in charge and a 5-27 record. His tenure was strewn, of course, with unique obstacles.

"I couldn't control how long they were going to give me," he said of the old Carmen Policy regime. "My goal was always to be in the playoffs in the fourth year. And I'm not taking anything away from [successor] Butch Davis and his staff because they were there. But one of the things said to me by Shaun was, Chris, we went to the playoffs [in 2002] with all your players.' Which made me feel good, but I still was fired."

Palmer worked for the expansion Houston Texans upon leaving Cleveland. Asked what he learned from his two years as a head coach, Palmer didn't hesitate.

"Never take an expansion job," he answered. "And I screwed up twice. I promise you I will not take another expansion job."

It's more then strange to me that X players, and players that don't know RAC on a personnal level all have great respect for him, and believe he will lead the Browns to the SB. Yet "some" fans in Cleveland can't find anything but fault in the guy. I really wonder who knows what their talking about the players or the Fans??? LMAO

Brown to the Bone

True. I don't think I've ever heard of a player who hasn't respected RAC.

I also found this interesting:

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Droughns said he was not surprised at the resurrection of the Browns' offense in 2007.

"I knew Derek [Anderson] was going to be a good quarterback, watching him in practice. I think he should have been 'the guy' a long time ago. I think, obviously, the key was building an offensive line."

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Bet that quote goes largely ignored, while statements where a reporter uses a phrase like "are believed to..." will be taken as gospel.

You never miss an oppertunity do you?
It comes as no surprise that players respect coaches,that's the way of the football world,for the most part.
Getting an endorsement from O'hara carries as much wieght as getting an endorsement from any poster on this board.
Outside of winning 10 games,O'hara has no clue what goes on,or even who's on the team.
The Droughns endorsement,when he could have been bitter over being traded,impresses me.

What I want to know is, did he REALLY count the ex-Browns in the Superbowl? And even so, what would that mean? That if we had kept all 59 we would be the NE Patriots?

Quote:

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You never miss an oppertunity do you?

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Aww come on BC,, it's just an article,,,, About this time of year, I'll take anything in the way of something to read about the Browns.... Won't you?

I take it by your comment, your not a big RAC supporter? did I get that right?

Yeah, that explains it.

Good to hear about the Browns during Super Bowl time...

I think Droughns statement about Anderson is pretty accurate.. Frye just didn't have the arm strength or poise to continue to be a starter here in Cleveland.

jay, I am referring to Specter saying that because RD thought he was a feature back, we should ignore what he says about DA.

If that were the case, perhaps we should ignore everything Specter says, because he screamed long and hard about how there was proof that the Browns had Peterson ranked higher than Joe and therefore, it was a guarantee that we would draft Peterson.

Or perhaps we should wonder why Reuben knew DA was gonna be a good QB but Romeo picked Charlie.

See.....it works both ways.

That's actually an interesting question. Why do you think he did? Or did he?

Do you think their draft status had anything to do w/it? Or just a poor judgment?

But come on, man. Specter is full of it saying what RD says is meaningless because he said he was a franchise back. Besides, did RD ever say that? And if you agree w/that, then I guess we have to discount what he said about the OL too. Right? *L*

Why do I think Romeo picked Charlie over DA? Well, actually I think Romeo didn't really know who was better. So he guessed. An educated guess, but a guess nonetheless. He was wrong, initially. Or was he? One year, albeit a good one, does not a career make. DA could still end up being a dud. Only the future will tell us that. I mean, afterall, the coaching staff evidently thought DA was close to chopped liver for over 2 years. As did many, if not all, the guys on here. He might still end up being just that. Or he could end up being something close to, say, someone like Drew Bledsoe. If you're looking for Johnny Unitas here I think you're way out in left field. But he could be good for a nice long time.

As far as Reuben's opinion being off base in this instance because he thinks of himself more highly than anyone else.....Well, I wouldn't discount it because of that. I could question RD's judgement because of other things but not because of that.

And since we're discussing Romeo, too, I'll throw in my 2 cents worth......I think RAC is a good coach. I have not seen anything that says he'll be a great one. But that could be coming. This coming year will tell us a great deal about many, many parts of this team. It should be very exciting.

O'Hara and Droughns say nice things about the Browns to a Cleveland beat writer in a mindless feel good article. Some of you guys are dissecting this article waaay too much.

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I didn't know that Peterson had re-injured himself. As SOON as I found that out, I knew it wasn't going to happen - the risk was too high. That said, I believe I was correct in assessing his talent level... or would you like to slight me on that too?

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No, if I would have wanted to slight you on that; I already would have.

My point is that you make some arguments that are not based in fact, yet you sure make them sound like they are.

Btw......I said Couch was going to be a bust very early in the game. I also remember writing about Bodden after I saw him in TC when he was a rook. His jump on the ball impressed me. [and you can insert your own emoticon on that one]

And what exactly would you need to see in order to think he will be a great one?

Well, to be declared a great coach I'd have to see some more wins. If he comes up with a winning record in 2008 against what looks to be a very tough schedule I'd have to say he's on his way.

The wins this year, while very nice, came against mostly cupcakes. The Seattle win was impressive but the rest.........eh, not as much.

And before someone starts with the "Well, what about when he was in NE?" stuff. Save it. He wasn't the head coach and frankly, I think Belichick was mainly in charge of the Defense then and now.

Since I'm not gushing with enthusiasm like some of the guys on here I'm sure I'll be labeled a "hater". Nothing could be further from the truth but if that's your take then so be it.

j/c

I think this is very refreshing. How many guys would have said things like this while Butch was the coach? I never really lost faith in Romeo. That being said, I was very, very, very, close during this past preseason. I didn't want us to have to make a change because it would have set us back another 3 or 4 years and I was ecstatic that Romeo had the season he had. Apart from the obvious winning season, contention, and 7 straight home wins, the fact that he proved he can do it in this league was huge. He may not be the greatest coaching mind ever, but he can win with this team. That's the key. If Phil keeps piling talent onto the roster Romeo should have no problem taking this team deep into the playoffs and once we're there anything can happen.

On a side note, I always like Shaun O'Hara and Rueben and I'm definitely happy for them. Neither of them wanted to leave Cleveland and it just came down to financial or front office reasons that they weren't here.