It’s a foregone conclusion: Browns over LeBron

Denzel Ward

There was no tears and a half hearted tribute when LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the glorious Los Angeles Lakers, and then the town got its Browns back as Baker Mayfield led the resurgence of the Dawg Pound town.

Yep, for the longest of times this was Bron’s town, the massive “Witness’ billboard downtown for the world to witness, but then after another humiliating defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors Bron Bron was gone again. This time for good when he left for Hollywood.

He would make his only visit to the Q with his new team and was greeted with a halfhearted tribute. There were no burning jerseys, no retiring number ceremonies and no statute’s erected outside.

Thanks for the memories…

It didn’t take too long for the Cavs to show LeBron’s coach Tyronn Lue the door after the Cavs stumbled out of gate and right behind him the Browns gave Hue Jackson the boot, giving the city the dubious distinction of firing both its basketball and football coach during the same weekend.

Lue deserved much better than a quick boot because he refused to play inferior talent in a tanking regime, especially after leading the Cavs to their only title in 2016 and the first in pro sports in Ohio in more than 50 years.

Jackson on the other hand, was handed Todd Haley as his offensive coordinator and when Haley could not get on the same page with its star rookie quarterback, both were fired.

Few felt sorry for Jackson who was the shepherded of one of the worst tenure’s in NFL history, including one winless season to add to a resume that was splattered with utter disappointment as a head coach in the NFL.

He would resurface in Cincinnati as a special assistant to Marvin Lewis Bengal country, but then after another disappointing season, including two beat downs at the hands of the upstart Browns Lewis and the Bengals mutually agreed to part ways.

Lewis endorsed Jackson for the Bengals job on the way out, but with an eroding fan base and the battle for Ohio swinging towards Cleveland the likely hood of Jackson getting that job appears to be slim.

Ohio State would tease the state and their rabid fan base with yet another year of blown national championship hopes as Urban Meyer managed to take arguably the most talented team in the country to Purdue where it got blown out 49-20 ruining any hopes of a national crown.

That was one throbbing headache Meyer or the Buckeyes could not recover from, but a 62-39 thumping of rival Michigan soothed their wounds and they eventually went on the win the Big 10 title over Northwestern.

After serving a four game suspension to begin the season, Meyer would eventually announce that he is retiring from coaching citing health concerns would move upstairs to assist the athletic director in the department.

The Indians deserve some mention for going in and out of the playoffs again and now appear to be in full reboot mode.

Now to the best of 2018 for the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland Browns will be sending two players Miles Garrett and Denzel Ward to the 2019 Pro Bowl.

What’s even more exciting the Browns under interim coach Gregg Williams flirted with the playoffs and almost ruined Baltimore’s on the final day of the season.

Mayfield, after calling Jackson a fake and staring him down, then grabbed his crouch at his own offensive coordinator, has emerged as the face of the franchise and the perhaps even the face of Cleveland.

He finished the season with a NFL rookie record of throwing for 27 touchdown passes, he stuck the fear of God into every defense that he faced and has instilled a level of confidence in the Browns not seen in decades.

The Browns would finish the season 6-8-1, but the handwriting is on the wall for next season.

This is a team capable of beating any team on the planet and the only one’s that can miss this up is themselves.

Of course, we’re talking about the Cleveland Browns here, so anything is possible.