Carmen Policy has mixed feelings as he prepares to move into the role of
"consultant" at the beginning of next month.
The Browns President dominated the microphone at yesterday afternoon's press
conference in Berea, which was put together in order to make Policy's impending
exit official, while introducing the Cleveland press corps to new team president
John Collins.
Collins had little to say during the event, offering some details on his
background and joking about the transition from New York City to Cleveland.
Policy offered his thoughts at length, in the erudite style to which we have
become accustomed, and tried his best to paint the picture of a well-planned
transition to new a new business-side executive.
While Policy denied that he is "retiring", he did speak often of his property
in the Napa Valley which he is converting to a winery.
The Policy
story dominates this morning's newswire, which is packed with news articles
about that story and others of note to Browns fans.
Policy Heads Off to the Napa Valley
The news of the day, of course, is
the resignation of Carmen Policy and his impending replacement by NFL exec
John Collins. Policy and Lerner have maintained that the change happening faster
than planned as was the result of
Collins becoming available as a strong candidate to replace Policy. While
Collins and Policy would seem cut from similar cloth, Steve Doerschuck of the
Canton Rep maintains that
the
two have quite different backgrounds.
While there will be continuing speculation about Policy's motives in retiring
now, both
Tony Grossi of the Plain Dealer and the San Francisco Chronicle say that the
move is what it appears to be: a decrease in interest in running the Browns
following the death of Al Lerner and an
increased desire to stomp grapes and see grandchildren. The Chronicle offers
that while Policy might want to return to the 49ers at some point,
it's not darn likely right now.
Immediate press reaction to Policy's tenure does not appear to be kind, as
commentaries from
the Cleveland Plain Dealer and
the Lorain Morning-Journal are both less-than-enthused with the results
Policy achieved in Cleveland.
Lerner Steps Up
The Browns new owner often compares the way he wants to run the team as owner
to the way in which Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, and other standout head coaches
stood as the voice of the club. He clearly wants to remain in the background
and
let Butch Davis become the face of the club.
It's clear that Butch Davis will be getting credit for the team's successes
and will also take the hit if the team falters. In a refreshing change from the
sense of entitlement which seems to pervade the NFL, Lerner doesn't feel that
his inheriting the team from his father gives him
any special qualifications to run a football team.
Regardless, Lerner
spent a while talking to Browns beat writers after the press conference, and
was more open with them than members of the organization have been in the past.
Among Lerner's revelations was that the Browns
would seriously consider a quarterback with their first-round pick. Butch
Davis would undoubtedly approve of the revelation, as it simply adds to the
uncertainty which clouds the Browns draft planning to the outside world.
As we've been saying here, the change in leadership has no impact on any
potential future for the Browns and
Baltimore Ravens exec Ozzie Newsome or any other Browns alum, including our
namesake.
On a personal note, it's nice to hear about two men my age
being referred to as "young". It appears that the press has quite different
standards for "old" than the Bietz children, who are convinced that your humble
webmaster is decrepit because he speaks of a past with "dial phones" and lacking
in remote controls.
Couch (Small Red Heart) Green Bay
The Packers official web site, no surprise here, has the Browns Tim Couch
saying wonderful things about their team and organization following his
discussions with them. Still, there are
two challenges the Packers need to face before Couch becomes heir apparent
to Brett Favre. The first is the need to sign Couch to a contract while he
remains concerned about a lengthy stay on the bench waiting for Favre to retire.
The other is the subsequent need to agree to a trade with the Browns.
Regardless of the challenges, it appears that Couch is
as close to leaving the team as he has ever been.
The other thing which is obvious is that there's no shortage of reading
available for Browns fans on these topics today.
Dive in!
- AB