DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Browns could be headed for SI's cover

Browns could be headed for SI's cover
Steve King, Staff Writer
07.24.2008
When Peter King, the longtime, well-respected NFL writer for Sports Illustrated, visited Browns Headquarters during training camp last year, he bit his tongue when asked for his opinion by team owner Randy Lerner.

"He said to me, 'So, what do you think of the team?' " King said. "I told him, 'This will be a rebuilding year. Next year is the year you have to look for.'

"But I was lying to him."

King, like many others, had the Browns ranked at or near the bottom of the heap in the NFL going into 2007, to a great extent because of an unsettled situation at quarterback, and also the fact they were coming off a 4-12 finish, had had four straight losing seasons and seven of eight since they returned to the field in 1999.

Sitting on the sidelines watching practice, he said it pained him to say that because he believes Cleveland is a great football town. But he had to be honest.

To the media, that is, not to the owner.

King was back in town on Wednesday and Thursday as the Browns opened their 2008 camp. In fact, Cleveland, because of scheduling convenience since the Browns opened camp earlier that some other teams in the region, was the first stop on his tour of NFL camps.

This time, he could be honest, and not hurt anyone's feelings at all. That's because he is optimistic about the Browns chances in 2008.

"Cleveland and Pittsburgh are neck and neck in this division," King said of the AFC North race. "I'll know more after I go to both camps and get a look t the teams, but if I had to pick one right now to win it, I'd pick Cleveland."

The Browns.


Think about that. The Cleveland Browns.

If King is right, and he cautions that he's not right much -- "My picks always stink. You don't want me to pick your team," he said -- then it would be the Browns' first division crown since they finished 9-6-1 in 1989 and barely won the AFC Central. It would also be only their second playoff appearance since then, and their first since 2002.

But that will all start to play out come September. In the meantime, King and S.I. have been working for months on a piece on the club -- and its near 180-degree transformation over the last year -- that's likely toserve as the cover story for the magazine's NFL preview issue.

"Every year, we do a story on an up-and-coming team," King said. "The Browns this year one of the teams that a lot of people are anxious to see how they handle what (in 2007) was the first real success they had had in the nine years they've been back.

"The story will be a diary of the Browns in the offseason, from how crushed they were after beating the 49ers in the final game year and still not making the playoffs, to watching the postseason and saying to themselves, 'That should have been us," to a very active spring (in free agency), to a very inactive draft day, to a lot of high hopes going into this year.

"We think it will be pretty well-read."

The story will include King's analysis of how the quarterback play, supposedly the Browns' Achilles heel going into last season, turned into a major strength and spurred the team's resurgence after Derek Anderson became the starter for the final 15 games and had a Pro Bowl season.

"Up until the end of the season, when he stubbed his toe in Cincinnati, he was terrific," King said. "The Browns can look at themselves and say they've finally gotten what they had been searching for, for nine years, a quarterback. And maybe they've got a second one, too, in Brady Quinn, or at least trade bait down the road.

"Almost as big a part of the strides the Browns made last season can be attributed to the offensive line. They had been looking under every rock in the universe to try to find an offensive line, and then last offseason they go out in free agency and draft and get Eric Steinbach and Joe Thomas, who was my co-Rookie of the Year along with Adrian Peterson. That solidified that whole left side of the line.

"The Browns got a lot done last year that will help them for a long time to come."

Like so many others, King is curious how the Browns will handle a schedule that has five prime-time national TV appearances, including three on Monday Night Football.

"It's like the old saying, 'Be careful what you wish for,' " he said. "Coaches would love to play 16 games at 1 o'clock on Sunday. We'll just have to see what happens.

"But when I was talking to Braylon Edwards, he said he can't wait to go into the pre-game meeting for Sunday Night Football so he can sit in there with John Madden."

Edwards will do that before the Browns host the Steelers on Sept. 14 in a game that will certainly have a major impact on the division race.

"For the Browns in those head-to-head meetings with Pittsburgh, it will boil down to how well their secondary plays," King said. "The Browns need to rattle Ben Roethlisberger."

And if they can, then well, maybe, Peter King's prediction will come true.

No lie.


http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=8590

Quote:

---

Browns could be headed for SI's cover

---

OMG NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

We've been jinxed enough!

Quote:

---

If King is right, and he cautions that he's not right much -- "My picks always stink. You don't want me to pick your team," he said

---

Honesty... from a journalist... reporting facts journalistically. BRILLIANT!

We had Lewis on the cover last year didn't we? I don't think it was the NFL preview edition though. I think it was their Fantasy special. Either way I don't care.

We are going to top the Steelers this year regardless of what a journalist says.

Yeah, it was the fantasy preview... I have it in plastic with my Quinn jersey.

I think I have two copies of it somewhere, I tried to get Jamal to sign them last year at camp. I'll have to try again this year. I went four times last year and he didn't sign once, does anyone know if he signs?

Even though it stunck at the time, the best thing for these guys might have been getting so close and missing the playoffs, hopefully that so close will leave a bad taste in thier mouths for more.

but really making the playoffs isnt just our only goal, we wanna win it all

I thought about it and some of this is malarkey. Jinx, schminx. We still strap 'em on and play. I AM superstitious after all of these years. How could so many folks make so many bad decisions as a whole and show such lousy judgment? We have been so snakebit with bizarro injuries and such (I don't remember the phrase 'freak season-ending injury' being used so often with one club, the number of qubees we went through in one season,etc. But it is just one more thing to overcome. If we master ourselves, we can do it.
JMO, but hey, preseason rants are in order.

Quote:

---

the best thing for these guys might have been getting so close and missing the playoffs, hopefully that so close will leave a bad taste in thier mouths for more.

---

You know, I was thinking the same thing the other day. I know it sucked for us, especially the way it happened (the awful cinci game), but just think how those guys felt. Especially some of the guys that have been here for a little while, even guys like Winslow and Edwards, have seen some pretty sorry teams.

MAYBE, all the hype won't go to there heads, at least I hope not.

I am trying REALLY hard not to get too excited this yr., I just keep having flashbacks to all the hype that teams like the Saints got last yr. If everyone remembers correctly, the Saints were everyone's darlings last yr., and they didn't fair to well. It seems there is someone every yr. that the media falls in love with, than all hope comes crashing down.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but....................IT'S ALMOST FOOTBALL TIME!!!!!!

Me...Go right ahead and promote us on the cover.

I believe in God not Jinxes

but I will say a Prayer or two...lol

Ya those cover curses dont mean anything, I mean has the swin suit models on the cover of S.I. ever had thier bobbies fall off or over night gain 2-3 pounds and become extremely over weight, no they just went on to have loveless marriages with thankless kids, who spend all thier money and they still cant eat a weinnie on a stick with barfing it up....so other than that were good to go.

Besides the SI jinx is only for baseball...Its the Madden cover that messes up football....

i believe he used the term "pigpen" last year

think of it this way...it can't get any worse than the last time he picked us to win our division (hint: he picked us for the superbowl that year too)

i don't really believe in the si curse...

if you think about it, when there is a big game, like the super bowl, bcs championship, world series, etc... they tend to put one team or one player from one of the competing teams on the cover, so if you do that for every championship of every sport, you are going to put teams and players that end up losing on the cover, it is the law of averages if anything else...

also, if you look up the curse on wikipedia, it points out that michael jordan was a cover boy 49 times

he did alright.

The only real curse the Browns have ever seen was Butch Davis.