DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Braylon Edwards rips Cleveland

Jets’ Edwards Shows Smile and Growth on His Face

By GREG BISHOP
Published: August 8, 2010

CORTLAND, N.Y. — Braylon Edwards has turned his beard into a person. Over the past week alone, The Beard traveled here to Jets training camp, conducted interviews and considered making T-shirts.

Edwards started growing his new friend months ago, and it now juts some six glorious inches from his chin. The Beard represents Edwards’s most obvious growth since the Jets traded for him last season. It also underscores his continuing revival, away, Edwards hopes, from the perceptions that have plagued him, toward potential again fulfilled.

“He has a sense of renewal,” his mother, Malesa Plater, said. “He came from a team that was always looking for a savior to a team that knows how to win. No one would understand what he’s been through unless you’ve been drowning.”

Inside a Manhattan lounge last month, Edwards, 27, sipped white wine and explained how the Jets, the N.F.L.’s boldest team, in its biggest market, returned serenity to his life. He gushed about his year-old son, Braylon Jr., about the improved relationship with his offensive coordinator, about his mother’s recent wedding vow renewal, attended by Edwards and The Beard.

Plater remains her son’s closest confidante, his best friend, their bond such that they can communicate without words. She saw in her son this off-season something that had vanished — a level of happiness last evident in his senior year at Michigan.

“This is all I ever needed,” Edwards said. “And all I never had.”

Never had, he means, in Cleveland, with the organization that selected him with the third overall pick in 2005. Edwards glanced at the roster immediately after the Browns drafted him. He did not recognize many names.

Edwards arrived at his first news conference clad in a tailored Italian suit, head high, driving a Bentley coupe. Instantly, he said, this left the wrong impression.

Here was a Michigan man about to play professionally in Ohio, a young, rich, outspoken athlete driving a car that cost as much as a house. Blue-collar Cleveland, Plater said, never forgot that, despite the $1 million worth of scholarships she said her son endowed. She described him as “the most hated man” there.

Edwards added: “There’s nothing going on in Cleveland. There’s no real estate. There’s no social life, no social networking. All the people who have something going on leave Cleveland. So Cleveland has nothing, and I came in there with a New York-type of essence. So what? That was the attitude I came in with. Like, this is who I am. They didn’t like the flash.”

Edwards made the Pro Bowl in his third season, with 16 touchdowns and 1,289 receiving yards. But he was criticized in 2006 for arriving late to a team meeting after chartering a helicopter to attend a college football game. In 2008, after catching passes from four quarterbacks during the season, he told his mother he might retire when his contract expired. That would have been after this season.

Each year, it seemed, brought new coaches, or new coordinators, but expectations never changed. He felt burdened by the constant shuffling, the upheaval, the idea that he could, that he should, fix all of it. Edwards felt, “I’d be stuck in a less than mediocre team, organization, system, forever.”

The low point came in a 23-20 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last Oct. 4, when Edwards went without a catch for the first time in his career. On the ride home, Plater had never seen him so depressed. He looked tired, beaten, miserable. Everybody, even his neighbors, Edwards said, could see that.

“My career is over,” he told Plater. “I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my career.”

Later that night, or early the next morning, Edwards got into an altercation at a nightclub. The man he is accused of punching, Edward Givens, was a friend of LeBron James, who claimed Edwards was jealous of his success.

That week, Cleveland traded Edwards to the Jets, unloading an athletically gifted receiver less than two years removed from the Pro Bowl and still in the middle of his prime.

Edwards said he thought his story existed in the gulf between perception and reality. Perception, in his words: flashy, talkative, selfish, arrogant and, worst of all, prone to dropped passes, a statistic his mother said was “created because of him.” Reality, also in his words: pretty much the opposite.

This subject remains complicated, more gray than black and white. He said he expected the kind of scrutiny he has faced, but admitted that it bothered him. He said he wanted to change perception but worried that by addressing those notions, he gave merit to them.

He said that last year, he changed at least some perceptions. And he said that he would probably be seen as another petulant wide receiver until the Jets won the Super Bowl.

With the Jets, Edwards landed in an offensive system he already knew, in a city he already loved. The perfect timing, he said, the perfect fit.

But Cleveland left Edwards guarded. He admitted initial hesitation in developing a relationship with the offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer. Too many previous coaches, he said, too many broken relationships.

Schottenheimer allowed the relationship to grow slowly. At least until Edwards criticized the play-calling after the Jets lost to Indianapolis in the A.F.C. championship game (Edwards said he was misunderstood).

Regardless, Schottenheimer said “the comments, quite honestly, blindsided me.” Rather than fire back, Schottenheimer requested a meeting and told Edwards he wanted to improve their rapport. The two had lunch several times this spring, and recently, Schottenheimer said Edwards “came to me” and “said he never had this type of relationship with a coordinator before.”

This spring, Edwards learned both outside receiver positions. He drew Coach Rex Ryan’s attention when he repeatedly beat the All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis during minicamp practices.

The Jets traded for another No. 1-caliber receiver, Santonio Holmes, in the off-season. In his first meeting with Schottenheimer, Holmes said he thought Edwards had the talent to be the top receiver in the N.F.L. Henry Ellard, their position coach, said Edwards should reach the top five, at least, this season.

Tight end Dustin Keller said he thought that no receiver blocked better last season, and that no teammate worked harder this spring, than Edwards, who bench-pressed as much as offensive linemen. Still, questions linger. Can Edwards catch consistently? Will he be content with pedestrian statistics on a winning team?

Edwards insisted that he expected a “huge” season, but clarified that huge could mean 700 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns and that elusive Super Bowl ring. Ellard noticed an increased consistency from Edwards, built over this off-season.

“He reminds me of Torry Holt,” Ellard said. “Both have the gift of grab. Braylon has shown he can make the dramatic catch, the spectacular catch. This year, he will be more consistent. People forget how young he is.”

Plater said Edwards turned down photo shoots, magazine covers and marketing opportunities over the past year to focus on his football resurgence. She said they rarely, if ever, discussed Cleveland anymore.

Ryan found Edwards at once unselfish and self-aware, even if he never read or heard that. In this case, no news was good news. Growth was evident, especially all over his face.

The Beard could not be reached for comment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/sports/football/09jets.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hpw

What a self intitled idiot. I hope this guy drops several passes when he returns to Cleveland later this season. Hopefully Browns fans make his return miserable for him.

Did the dog fart....what was that noise...

It's some interesting revisionist history.

Douchebag Attention-Whore Alert (DAWA) is now in effect for the entire viewing area.

we all knew how much of an ass he is, but now knowing how much of a momma's boy he is, it explains alot.

I would hardly call that ripping Cleveland. It was all pretty much fact.

He had no consistency, no decent QB, and dropped passes, which he admits himself.

More power to him, hope he rebuilds his career. He had all the attributes to be a good to great WR, just lacked the focus when it was needed most.

My prediction is that Edwards will be the best receiver in the league one day - if not this year, then next. Half the battle is getting open, and almost no one does it better then he does. When he gets in an offense that is more consistent, his catching the ball will get more consistent also.

Having said that, he is very Braylon-centric. It's a quality I despise, and it's something that just doesn't fit in a town like Cleveland or on the type of team that Mangini wants to build. Those type of people are great when times are good and absolutely impossible when there's adversity.

I'd rather lose than win with guys like that.

Nobody ever hated Braylon because of his expensive car and his Italian suits.

He has a point that Cleveland is not the most "happenin" place with a football team.

He also has a point that Cleveland had little talent and lot of uncertainty while he was here.

Where he's wrong is that people just didn't like him because he didn't catch the ball. He didn't have to be a savior, he just had to do his job.

The fact that he played at Michigan has nothing to do with any of the flac he caught here.

Why do people keep insisting otherwise

All this kid ever had to do was catch the damn ball,,,we'd have been just fine with him..

But no,, he drops the ball on the field and now he's dropping the ball off the field..

What a Maroon...

It is funny how the one year he actually did catch the ball, he was loved throughout the land.

I thought personally that Edwards was cherished here. I saw him at a number of Browns events off the field and it appeared everyone still clamored to meet him or get his autograph all the years he was here.

You can't argue that it was a totally mess while he was here but he didn't help his cause with the drops either. I think this situation was a two way street for sure.

Quote:

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Dude has all of the tools necessary to be the best WR in the league ... he lacks mental fortitude.

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Where is all this coming from?

Anybody remember Larry Fitzgerald? Andre Johnson? Who thinks he can really hang with these guys?

Exactly. Talent-wise, there's little difference between Fitz, Johnson, and Edwards. Mentality-wise, it's night and day.

November 14th. New York Jets AT Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Sounds like Obama on GW Bush!

Give it a rest!

I tend to agree.. the "presence" is because people fear Fitz or Johnson.. if the ball is near them they will catch it, they will make big plays when big plays need to be made.. AND they will make plays throughout. Edwards doesn't look mentally into each play and when the ball is thrown his direction, I wait for something bad to happen as much as I wait for him to make a play...

All this yapping, young Edwards should can it.
And press coverage? -news oulets should ban it...
...for why should we care
what gets spewed in the air
By some punk with two hands made of granite?

I get what you are saying but cherry picking photos with Johnson in full stride bracing for a hit and Edwards standing still looking dejected is hardly an even comparison..

I see you "caught" that, too.

Maybe this photo would be more appropriate, since it's an action shot:

Ok, he doesn't look too intimidating there either.. But it's not because he lacks presence, it's because he can't catch the ball and he has that "Oh CRAP!!!" look on his face.

Just a dumb question,, why are you guys argueing over a mental midget like braylon Edwards?

He talked about finally getting through the legal issues stemming from a nightclub incident in Cleveland, which were resolved in court on Tuesday. He talked about having five different quarterbacks in Cleveland and the inconsistencies there. He mentioned the lack of throws coming his way with the Jets, which leads to “over thinking” when a ball is thrown his way.

“We run the ball so much, I’ve had two pass attempts last week, and when you get one, you’re thinking, ‘Okay, here it is, I’ve got to make the play,’ instead of just having fun,” Edwards said.

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/01/politi_its_time_for_braylon_ed.html

The epitome of "it isn't me, it's someone or something else".

^ Blaming the offensive gameplan for not catching balls....they don't throw to me enough to stay focused.

Excuses, excuses.

They throw the ball to you more if you'd catch it, period.

One word comes to mind: "Leon"

btw...I would be glad to bet anyone that come 2025 ol' Bray Bray is broke.