They DID make the Superbowl in 2003...

@vaportrail said:

Fuck you, Shane Lechler is awesome.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

I agree. Haslam isn't impressing me with any of his leadership picks so far. It maybe that there just isn't anyone who want's the job. Who knows.

Time will tell. I have moved passed the angry stage finally, they are the new front office of the Browns and I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

@miktoxic said:

i don't know dan. the one sticking point that i remember in haslam's first interview after being officially introduced as the new owner of the browns was his commitment of continuity in this organization going forward. it didn't come sideways out of his mouth. it sounded a lot like a promise. so to me i think that means all these hires are going to be around for a long time (until they accept other jobs and move on etc.). anything less than 5 years from these guys would come off as a bold faced lie IMO.

heckert was fired cuz he fingered banner's wife/husband. personal animosity. period.

Good point, and Banner admitted he was going out on a limb on this hire so he must really believe that Lombardi is an improvement (even if it was totally transparent that they are buddies since he was like a giddy school girl when talking about doing mocks with Mike). Who knows? I am willing to concede that Al Davis ran the drafts in Oakland and Lombardi just served as an advisor. I am even willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for his time in Cleveland and Philly as part of learning on the job. What I do not like is all of the character issues. He was accused of undermining Art Shell in Oakland by painting him in a bad light to the media and was subsequently banned from practices, and we was accused of tampering the trade of Randy Moss from Oakland to New England (presumably to help him land a job in New England with his friend Bill Belichick). It also bothers me that they put on this phony search for a GM when clearly Lombardi was waiting in the wings.

@daninnyc said:

I hope that Haslam has the stones to admit his mistake and make the necessary changes. Also, it is insulting to my intelligence to say that Heckert was fired not because of his ability to draft talent, but because he did not know how to build a team, whatever that means. It is also insulting to my intelligence to tell me that this is an upgrade.

i don't know dan. the one sticking point that i remember in haslam's first interview after being officially introduced as the new owner of the browns was his commitment of continuity in this organization going forward. it didn't come sideways out of his mouth. it sounded a lot like a promise. so to me i think that means all these hires are going to be around for a long time (until they accept other jobs and move on etc.). anything less than 5 years from these guys would come off as a bold faced lie IMO.

heckert was fired cuz he fingered banner's wife/husband. personal animosity. period.

@vaportrail said:

just threw up in my mouth.

god awful.

@daninnyc said:

I watched the press conference of the announcement on the Browns' website. The Lombardi hire wreaks of croneyism and it was pretty apparent that Banner and Lombardi will be the two main guys making draft mocks and decisions. I am pretty sick about this. Especially after looking at the list of picks Lombardi has made. If this sours, as I think it might, I hope that Haslam has the stones to admit his mistake and make the necessary changes. Also, it is insulting to my intelligence to say that Heckert was fired not because of his ability to draft talent, but because he did not know how to build a team, whatever that means. It is also insulting to my intelligence to tell me that this is an upgrade.

I agree. Haslam isn't impressing me with any of his leadership picks so far. It maybe that there just isn't anyone who want's the job. Who knows.

I kind of agree on Lombardi's comment that The Browns picking Weeden at 22 was a panicked move to try and save jobs. They should have taken a LB, CB, RG, or even a FB for God's sake. I didn't like the Weeden pick because regardless of how you slice it, it's not a SMART pick. He's almost 30, that's rediculous, you're not planning for the long term with that pick and you also stunted the development of the promising QB we already had here.

@hoorta said:

Did Haslam and Banner bother to check out his guy's track record before they hired him? Really? Lombradi will get NO benefit of the doubt from me.

I sure as hell hope someone other than this doofus has final say, or it's Matt Millen revisited.

Im totally sickened by this hire.

@darubes said:

Awful.Haslem and Banner kick Browns fans in the gut.

Did Haslam and Banner bother to check out his guy's track record before they hired him? Really? Lombradi will get NO benefit of the doubt from me.

I sure as hell hope someone other than this doofus has final say, or it's Matt Millen revisited.

I'm hoping it's a team effort thing and that he's more so a scout than anything. I love the OC and DC hires although I'm a little disappointed that we may be changing to a 3-4, hopefully it'll be more of a hybrid thing because we have too many dlinemen to run mostly a 3-4.

We have Banner who can overrule Lombardi...

We have Chud who has input...

I'm sure Norv will be giving some input...

It's really not the end of the world. Lombardi has drafted some talent in the past. Plus, it's not like he's the head guy anyway.

If we get Horton as DC, I will be thrilled with the offseason thus far.

I am going to give the brass the benefit of the doubt for the time being as there is nothing we can do as fans but hope jimmy and joe are right about both chud and lombardi..

We have an owner that wants to win so i will back that horse at least until it becomes obvious that it is lame..

Cleveland Browns Forever!

@hunt-daddy said:

Jarmarcus Russell is also on that resume.

He wasn't the one who picked him. He started after that. Search it out.

@kshutchins said:

The demise already occurred (Isn't "final demise" redundant?) I'm hoping for no further delays in resurrection.

Redundant,that may be. But the bottom line is..."This asshole sucks" and the futility will remain. And I

ll just bet if this team does not break 500. in year 2 of the process...Banner and Lomtardi will be looking for jobs.

Prove me wrong & just win.

@hunt-daddy said:

Jarmarcus Russell is also on that resume.