Mini- Camp

flyingfooldoug

@orion said:

Gimme the old days when players didn't always have a microphone in their face and a smartphone in their hands.

Or to play harder in order to beat out competition for your position.

Orion

@canton-mike said:

I assume you refer to twitter, etc when you mention "smartphone". When will these players EVER (?) back off social media?

Mike

Yes.

Obviously, a lot of players know enough to lay low. I'm sure Tom Brady (for example) has a smartphone....but he tends to use it to take pictures, text his buddies and check the weather.

@gumby73 said:

1) I saw Seth DeValve run & catch a football without cracking 1 single knee cap.

lol

......and Freddie DID win the lottery. He went from RB coach, to OC and then HC in half a season.

flyingfooldoug

@canton-mike said:

I assume you refer to twitter, etc when you mention "smartphone". When will these players EVER (?) back off social media?

Mike

Those phones aren’t all that smart. Can’t mow grass or cook. I call em special. But it does seem as though they are replacing the automobile as an object of adoration.

gumby73

@orion said:

......and Freddie DID win the lottery. He went from RB coach, to OC and then HC in half a season.

here comes the Duke media aftermath...how much does coach Freddie get for player babysitting, after they call you a liar? Baker ain't backing off his comments..are they nutz?

domcucch1994

Duke doesn't want to be here because he doesn't want to be the 3rd option...

I get it, he's a good playmaker. He will have a good season until Hunt comes back, but he doesn't want to be a stop gap..

Trade him after week 8 and he'll be happy..

jrb12711

@domcucch1994 said:

Duke doesn't want to be here because he doesn't want to be the 3rd option...

I get it, he's a good playmaker. He will have a good season until Hunt comes back, but he doesn't want to be a stop gap..

Trade him after week 8 and he'll be happy..

The organization has done a lot of things right, but I can't wrap my head around this Duke situation. Since he's been here Duke's kept his head down and been a good player. For him to be talking that way at mini-camp no less means they miffed him pretty hard. With Hunt out 1/2 the season, I'm left scratching my head on why we boxed Johnson out as has obviously occurred.

I don't ever blame a player for wanting to get snaps on the field. Duke is an exceptional back-up, change of pace back who could bring a lot of value to many clubs like he has in Cleveland. Just odd the team has rebuked him, perhaps there's something we don't know about off the field?

domcucch1994

@jrb12711 said:

The organization has done a lot of things right, but I can't wrap my head around this Duke situation. Since he's been here Duke's kept his head down and been a good player. For him to be talking that way at mini-camp no less means they miffed him pretty hard. With Hunt out 1/2 the season, I'm left scratching my head on why we boxed Johnson out as has obviously occurred.

I don't ever blame a player for wanting to get snaps on the field. Duke is an exceptional back-up, change of pace back who could bring a lot of value to many clubs like he has in Cleveland. Just odd the team has rebuked him, perhaps there's something we don't know about off the field?

Could very well be..
Some people have said he has lost a step. Maybe that's why he was not utilized as much last season.

Nero

@jrb12711 said:

perhaps there's something we don't know about off the field?

Yes, there is. It's called business.

I can easily picture Dorsey being a nice buddy with his fellow GMs and a dog when negociating deals with players.

EDIT: Also, Dorsey had a plan. And as many people with plans, when something sticks out or doesn't go as planned you can be annoyed. Duke's move was unwanted. Foreseeable? yes, but ideally Dorsey didn't want to deal with any of this. I can't imagine what has been going on there, but if it wasn't pretty I wouldn't be surprised a bit.

ballpeen

Dontrell Hilliard is as good as Duke.

hoorta

@ballpeen said:

Dontrell Hilliard is as good as Duke.

& if Dorsey and Kitchens come to that conclusion, Duke will get traded. as Baker said, you're either on this train, or you're not.

hoorta

First culling of the herd. A lot of other info in the link. https://247sports.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/Article/Desmond-Harrison-release-Cleveland-Browns-132614603/?utm_source=247Sports Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=190605_130449_Cleveland Browns&utm_content=Image&liveconnect=CA-1F-A7-07-02-43-35-CA-71-7D-7D-AF-89-03-3E-6C190605_130449ClevelandBrowns

hoorta

Tom Withers@twithersCLE

Baker to Beckham. TD.

Jun 4, 2019 1.2K 23View on X

The Gipper

@ballpeen said:

Dontrell Hilliard is as good as Duke.

I have yet to see proof of that...not that it may not be true. I just do not see the convincing evidence of it. But...again, that may be a matter of opportunity.

jrb12711

@nero said:

Yes, there is. It's called business.

I can easily picture Dorsey being a nice buddy with his fellow GMs and a dog when negociating deals with players.

EDIT: Also, Dorsey had a plan. And as many people with plans, when something sticks out or doesn't go as planned you can be annoyed. Duke's move was unwanted. Foreseeable? yes, but ideally Dorsey didn't want to deal with any of this. I can't imagine what has been going on there, but if it wasn't pretty I wouldn't be surprised a bit.

Yeah, might be right there.

My educated guess (totally spit balling) is that Duke had some conversations about his role moving forward in the early off season with Chubb obviously earning top dog. The powers that be stated to him that he was definitely part of the plan, and then got blind sided with a guy like Hunt being signed (obviously to be the back-up). If I'm even around the right answer, I can't blame Duke. Rightly or wrongly, speaking out in today's NFL gets the players leverage (see AB) and may motivate the Browns to make a move, maybe not. What I feel very strongly about is that Duke is good enough to be a good role player on many teams in the NFL. If I got the vibe he (Duke) was the master mind behind everything, I'd feel differently.

The part I just don't understand is that we got him on a pretty friendly deal with no cap savings. A trade would net a 5th round pick, at most. Why this team wouldn't see him as a great back-up for the first 1/2 of the season doesn't make sense, unless there is a injury or something weird.

Dutch Oven

@ballpeen said:

Dontrell Hilliard is as good as Duke.

Based on what?

gumby73

@domcucch1994 said:

Duke doesn't want to be here because he doesn't want to be the 3rd option...

I get it, he's a good playmaker. He will have a good season until Hunt comes back, but he doesn't want to be a stop gap..

Trade him after week 8 and he'll be happy..

Duke does not want to be here for what he stated..Duke feels the organization lied to him, putting him on the trading block.period. That's the Business ..Duke would also be the 2nd* option at RB up to the trade deadline & Hunt's return..Honestly..In Hard Knocks it was Haley & some staff that was calling out Hue for being to soft with selected personal..Who was the player Hue got the heat for? Duke Johnson(Haley called him soft too, in my book)..That kind of chit may not sit right in the locker room most of last season? Sorry, Duke won't be here 8 weeks & won't re-gain his teammates trust by week 1..Duke will get his ticket out of town when Dorsey has some trading leverage..

Orion

I still blame Dorsey for some of this. After signing Hunt he was asked if this signing made Duke expendable and he answered, Not Yet. - I love Dorsey, but that one word was a blunder.

...I'm off to rehearsal to make music

Dutch Oven

@orion said:

...I'm off to rehearsal to make music

Freebird!!

TexasAg1969

@dutch-oven said:

Freebird!!

Simple Man!

gumby73

@texasag1969 said:

Simple Man!

Gimme back my bullets..?