I usually pay attention to these things, but somehow I guess I totally missed what it was that Deion Sanders supposedly said that ticked off NFL GM's and turned them off on his son..
Thinking about this pick for a few days has helped give me some prospective that I guess I didn't have when it was announced. Sanders was supposed to be one of this drafts bright and shining stars at QB..... Literally all of the Talking heads thought so and said as much.. Some strongly and others a little less. The Browns picked him up so late that even if the kid bombs (seems doubtful) he's a steal. So what the heck. Take a shot. See what happens.
As for the Haslams pushing this pick, listen, they've spent billions on this team, so they forced a 5th round pick. So what? (that's if they really did that) Somewhere along the line, the Haslams have earned the right to make a few decisions.
I don't feel this way about it, if they truly forced the Watson deal.. That was meddling. Or if they'd have forced a first rounder that the GM and Coach didn't want. Again, meddling. But the 5th round,, Who cares!
I can agree with a lot of what you say here, what's way more concerning than this incident is the
pattern.
Haslam engineered the move to draft Manziel. People gawked at the "value" because he slid so far in the 1st round. We ended up with a catastrophe, and it all started in the QB room
long before it ended on the field. Brian Hoyer and Manziel did not get along. Manziel knew his progress was being prioritized and Hoyer was trying to play football -- not be some snotty-nosed-kid's mentor. Hoyer was 6-3 on the season (9-3 over the last 12) but before the second upcoming loss was booked, JFF was on the field.
I won't be surprised when this happens again. Not saying it will -- just saying I won't be surprised. I don't mean Sanders forcing someone off the field, I mean a broken QB room. Before round five, I was looking at "Okay, seasoned vet with probowl pedigree; dude trying to work his way into another shot; rookie running around soaking up everything, with only himself in the way of future success. I like it!" After the fifth I was point-blank like "WTF", and I bet Gabriel's reaction was stronger than mine.
IMO the Watson debacle, was 90% Haslam flexing on the league with GM and coach along for the ride. And besides the major instances of his tail wagging the dawg, I personally think the dude is probably constantly micromanaging what goes on in Berea. I could definitely be wrong, but I'm starting to think hoping for Haslam to change is about as futile as when we held out those hopes for Johnny's bong smoking partner-in-crime.
/two-cent-rant
