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Does anyone know why half of the Cleveland fans have an issue with Minnie?

Can the Browns whiff on another one of their own?
Apr 09, 2012 -- 6:00am

By Tony Grossi

Déjà vu all over again?: The Browns ignored Clay Matthews’ son in the 2009 draft. Will they do they same to Frank Minnifield’s son this year?

Clay Matthews III was the 26th pick in the 2009 draft. The Browns needed an outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense they played at the time, but they passed on Clay four times – trading down from No. 5 to No. 17 to No. 19 and to No. 21. There they selected center Alex Mack.

Clay III wound up with the Green Bay Packers, for whom he helped win the Super Bowl championship in his second season.

Now comes another son of a former Browns’ great. Chase Minnifield plays cornerback, the same position his dad Frank Minnifield played on the Browns with distinction for nine seasons.

Like every team, the Browns are always looking for cornerbacks. Will they give Minnifield’s son a closer look than they gave Matthews’ son?

The best-laid plans went awry: Chase Minnifield considered leaving Virginia after his junior season last year, but he returned to school in hopes of improving his draft position. A knee injury at the end of the season has thrown into question when he will be drafted.

After consulting the famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, his father decided Chase should have surgery in January to remove cartilage particles. The surgery was minor, but it wiped out Chase’s pre-draft season. The trade-off was the promise to be fully healthy for his first pro training camp.

Chase wasn’t able to work out at the combine. Two weeks later, he pushed through the Virginia pro day at 80 percent to show, Frank said, that “he was on his way back and the surgery wasn’t major.”

“We’re going back to Dr. Andrews and will have him write something official that he’s fully recovered and 100 percent,” Frank said. “I would say if somebody wants to work him out, he’ll be ready. At this point, he hasn’t had any requests. Next week he is going back to Indy for a (medical) re-check.”

Frank said that his son is far more prepared to play in the NFL than he was coming out of University of Louisville in 1982. Chase played for two seasons under Al Groh, who was a long-time NFL assistant with the Browns and other teams.

“Anybody at Virginia will tell you his football IQ is off the charts, far as understanding the complexities of what the defense is trying to do,” Frank said. “At no point did I have a coach that played in the NFL. Not a DB coach or a head coach.”

How does Chase compare to his father athletically?

“He’s a real good leaper, real good jumper,” Frank said. “Not like that crazy number I would put up. My vertical jump was like 48 (inches). Chase is a little bit taller (by one inch), much longer. His arms are much longer. I’m more compact, shorter arms. He’s a whole lot more rangy-looking than me. I would say his biggest attribute is his length and his jumping (normally 38 inches). He’s probably got five inches on my reach.”

Does Minnifield want his son to play in Cleveland?: “You know, I have mixed feelings about Chase coming to Cleveland,” Frank said.

“I would love for him to be in Cleveland just because I know how great an experience it would be. I also know I have my detractors in Cleveland and I would hate for him to start out with 50 percent of people hoping he fails.”

Despite being a four-time Pro Bowler – and co-creator of the Dawg Pound with Hanford Dixon – Minnifield never got the credit he deserved as one of the Browns’ greatest players. I consider him one of the franchise’s five most under-rated talents.

“Some people kind of took offense to how brash me and Hanford tried to play and how confident we went about doing our jobs,” he said. “People aren’t receptive to some of the things I would say during the normal course of business.

“Chase is a much more polite kid because he didn’t grow up in the housing projects. He’s never been in a situation where he could’ve been really hurt seriously on the streets like several occasions I was in. Those kind of things kind of shape your world. But it’s amazing the resolve Chase has to be successful.”

Where will Minnifield be taken?: NFLdraftscout.com rates Minnifield the 109th player overall and the 15th cornerback, a third- or fourth-round pick.

“I just hope he’s not disappointed if the NFL discounts all the things he’s done up to this point because of the ‘scope he had,” Frank said. “He really had his heart set on coming back this year because he was probably thinking third round draft pick after his junior year and six interceptions. He came back to be a first-round draft pick. I know he’s going to be disappointed for anything other than first round.

“I’m going to be happy because it will be a dream come true for him. Whatever team gets him they’re going to get a very motivated football player. The reason the team loses won’t be because of Chase Minnifield.”

When the Browns passed on Clay Matthews III, Tom Heckert wasn’t the Browns general manager. You’ve got to hope that Heckert would have taken a closer look at Matthews. Heckert’s dad was a scout with the Browns when the elder Matthews and Minnifield were leading the Browns to five consecutive playoff appearances.

The Browns better not blow another evaluation of a second-generation Brown.



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What about Casey Matthews? Why isn't he mentioned

he puts forward a good effort and has some cover skills for sure, but he's overmatched at times, especially in the red zone. He just seems so small. We could do worse in the fourth, but my interest in him is more sentimental than football.

And this is coming from the guy who said we should take Matthews III at 5 if we couldn't trade down.

I've never heard anyone talk badly about Frank Minnifield.

As for his son playing here, I could understand if he's a little reluctant. As soon as his son would make a mistake (and let's face it, they all make mistakes), everyone would be saying "well, he's not his dad" or "his dad would have done better", etc.

It would be like being Michael Jordan's son going to play basketball at North Carolina. It's almost a guaranteed losing situation.

If the kid can play, let's bring him in. But, let's not draft him just because of who his dad is.

JMHO

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If the kid can play, let's bring him in. But, let's not draft him just because of who his dad is.

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Exactly. Grade him out as if his name was John Doe and if he is there when you think you should take him, then take him.. but don't reach for sentimental reasons.

I think, if there really is THAT many people that have a beef w/ Chase, a lot of it might have to do w/ how far his stock has plummetted. Dude was looking to be graded into the late 1st / early 2nd a few months back and now look where he's slated to go . . .

Sure he shouldn't be drafted high by us just because of his pedigree, but if H&H nab him later, where they think he is a good value, I'll greet him w/ open arms. Haters can take a hike . . .

If I was Frank Minnifield I would not want my son drafted by the Browns for one reason, and that's this:

No matter what Chase does, it will never be good enough compared to our memories of Frank Minnifield. When I think back, I have a hard time recalling Frank Minnifield being beat ..... ever. I remember the good times with both him a Hanford Dixon, and seem to have shut out any of the rough spots from that whole era. How could a kid ever hope to compare to an idealized memory of his father, who was great to begin with?

I asked about this once before.. there wasn't any outpouring of emotion either way if I remember it correctly.

comparing him to Clay Matthews Jr coming out,, Minnie isn't in the same class prospect wise from my understanding.

I'm also not sure what Frank is saying about him hving detractors here.. I don't remember anything negative about Frank.. weird

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No matter what Chase does, it will never be good enough compared to our memories of Frank Minnifield.

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He could intercept a pass in the super bowl.

Not a bad article, except the beginning and end... in between, it's a decent story.

But why the negative title?..."Can the Browns whiff on another one of their own?"

and why the ultimatum at the end: "The Browns better not blow another evaluation of a second-generation Brown."

OR WHAT GROSSI ?...if the Browns do not draft Chase Minnifield, what are you going to do about it, Grossi ?...write one of your garbage articles tearing down the people rebuilding the Browns?

I believe most readers understand Grossi has an agenda and most read his stuff knowing that Grossi is still grinding that axe.

I wish he would just lose the agenda...

Why would grossi want to lose his agenda?

Think about it: If the Browns DON'T draft him, and he plays very well somewhere else, grossi can lambaste the Browns again.

If the Browns DO draft him, and he plays well, grossi can say "see, I told you so."

If the Browns draft him, and he stinks, grossi can forget this article and say "see, the Browns went with the sentimental pick and it bit them."

gross has his bases covered.

If he's there in the 3rd.. Get him.. He may even last til our first 4th rounder.

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But why the negative title?..."Can the Browns whiff on another one of their own?"

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I agree. He was 3 when his dad retired from the Browns.. he's not "on of our own"... He's the son of a great former Browns player.. that's it. He still has to prove that HE can be a good player in the NFL..

It would be a great story for him to come here and succeed and nobody would enjoy that story more than me.. but this is a business, not a family reunion.

I'm not exactly sure why it would be considered a whiff if we didn't draft Minnefield.. I mean, I've read some very nice things about him so I'm not opposed to it at all, but it's not like he's this "we gotta get this guy" kinda player....

And, this isn't like a college recruiting type thing where we go out and woo the kid and hope he picks us. Then, maybe, Dad has some influence.

With the NFL, who his Dad is means nothing. Yeah, it's a nice back story, but it doesn't make him any better or worse of a player.

Hmm, the kid is the son of a former player here.... so he MUST be good enough to make sure we draft him, right?? ...and not doing so means that we "wiffed", right??


Grossi needs to put down the bong at least 8 hours before he starts typing.

Marty's not the coach anymore, I don't think these coaches could benefit.

I mean how could one think they could re-create history with Pat Schurmur.

I don't understand how not selecting somebody can really be described as "whiffing" -- especially when you got another very good player instead. (Alex Mack in our case).

I know he was banged up with a knee injury ... but I don't know how much that affected him.

He put up 8 reps of 225 at his pro day and ran a 4.63 / 4.68 .....

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His Bias is showing,, that's why he's not with the PD anymore.

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No, he's not with the PD because he got a better job, with more freedom at ESPN.com..

You guys can take a simple premise and twist it more ways than a pretzel-maker. The idea was to mention the son of a former star in Cleveland and to tie in the fact that we missed drafting a really good player in Clay Matthews Jr. Who, by the way, is a better player than Alex Mack.

The other thing that should probably be mentioned is the fact that normally the article's author doesn't write the headline. His editor does. Don't know if that is the case here but it's a good bet that it is.

Somebody's bias is showing but I don't think it's Tony's......

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The other thing that should probably be mentioned is the fact that normally the article's author doesn't write the headline. His editor does. Don't know if that is the case here but it's a good bet that it is.

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craz...is Grossi responsible for the last line in the story?

Is Grossi responsible for the content of the story?

Grossi has an agenda and it shows up in everything he writes...he can't help himself.

Example...Grossi rails on the Browns for not taking Clay Mathews Jr in the 2009 draft..outlines how the Browns traded down several times, not taking Mathews...

...and never once does Grossi mention the name of those responsible for the 2009 draft choices that missed on Mathews. A good writer would use that opportunity to mention that Kokinis and Mangini were running that draft...but for some odd reason, Grossi can't mention their names.

Then Grossi pumps up Minnifield Jr, playing the role of superior draft scout...then waits until the end of the story to point out that Heckert was not the GM responsible for passing on Clay Mathews Jr, but still can't bring himself to mention Kokinis or Mangini, the two who were responsible for drafting Alex Mack instead of Clay Mathews Jr in the 2009 draft.

As for the Browns drafting Minnifield...Minnifield is no Clay Mathews Jr. He is projected to go in the 3rd or 4th round, where teams are trying to find that hidden gem. The chances of the Browns taking Minnifield are slim, at best. It could happen, but only if the Browns believe he is the best CB available and if the Browns are looking to go CB in the 3-4 rounds.

But hey, Grossi already has a negative hatchet job of a story set to go should the Browns pass on Minnifield...everyone knows it..wait and see.

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...and never once does Grossi mention the name of those responsible for the 2009 draft choices that missed on Mathews. A good writer would use that opportunity to mention that Kokinis and Mangini were running that draft...but for some odd reason, Grossi can't mention their names.

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Seriously? Is there any Browns fan who doesn't know who controlled that Draft? Tony has written about it many times. As far as something to gripe about this one is pretty lame.

As far as writing about Chase Minniefield, I took it as more of a favor to his father as anything else. Tony knows that Minniefield is a 3rd or 4th round pick. He mentioned it on Twitter tonight.

You guys that bitch and moan about Tony Grossi really need to get out more. He's a pretty good writer and he's going to be around for a while. You should drop YOUR biases and read what's actually printed....not what you think is there.

Biggest thing I picked up on in the article, I didn't Frank had a 48" vertical leap. That's pretty amazing for a guy maybe 5'9".