The Browns look to be headed in familiar direction.
For a city that has seen more than its fair share of misfortunes when it comes to professional football, the Cleveland Browns fan base is somewhat impressive.
The bad news, however, is that things aren’t going to get better this upcoming season.
In 2013, local St.Ignatius Prep product Brian Hoyer made some noise as a future quarterback. But, as has become the norm, hard luck fell on the fans when Hoyer was diagnosed with a torn ACL and was forced to miss most of the season.
He continued to be playable in 2014, a season in which the Browns drafted Johnny Manziel to be their controversial quarterback of the future.
Whether it was a ploy to gain fan attraction, or an actual football decision, things have backfired in a way the city of Cleveland has come to expect.
Manziel, who gained his football fame as the athletic signal caller for Texas A&M, saw action in five games last season and failed to complete a touchdown pass at any point in his 35 pass attempts.
While the initial reaction to that could be that Manziel was only a rookie, and merely didn’t get enough playing time, it is his off the field affairs that continue to be an issue.
The undersized quarterback was in an alcohol rehabilitation facility for a portion of the offseason; and not to be forgotten is Josh Gordon’s continual failed drug tests that lead to his suspensions.
Brian Hoyer moved on to Houston this past offseason, leaving the Browns to either hand the team to the not quite ready Johnny Manziel or sign a quarterback to take over.
Browns General Manager Ray Farmer opted to sign a new quarterback, only this time he gave a contract to Josh McCown.
McCown, who had been cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is 36 years old and has had remote success for exactly one season- an 8 game stint with the Chicago Bears in 2013.
If constantly missing their best offensive weapon in Gordon isn’t bad enough, the Browns apparently are low on hope for the quarterback position.
Head Coach Mike Pettine desperately wants to have Josh McCown as the starting quarterback, but the 36 year old McCown is, in my opinion, just not good enough.
This fan base deserves an organization that knows what they’re doing.
Unfortunately, it’s tough to see any organization succeed when they are forced to start over twenty different quarterbacks in a 15-year stretch. In addition, regularly firing coaching staffs after one season doesn’t help.
The seven win team from last season seems to be a far cry from the expectations for the 2015 Cleveland Browns.
But, hey, at least Browns fans have new uniforms to look forward to.
