Deny, deny, deny. That was the game plan of the Cleveland Browns front office when it came to the rumors of Michael Lombardi returning to the club. For the past two months it was the Browns position they hadn’t even spoke to Lombardi. That was refuted when Cleveland hired the NFL Network analyst Friday as Vice President of player personnel.
Lombardi comes with plenty of baggage, most of it surrounding his first stint with the team in the 1990’s. Cleveland fans are unhappy with this hire and Lombardi knows it. The only thing he can do to change people’s minds is help build the Browns into a consistent winner.
“I’m just asking for a fair and honest chance.”
Lombardi’s problem with the fans came when Bill Belichick released popular home town quarterback Bernie Kosar in 1993. Belichick took the blame, but it was based upon a supposed suggestion by Lombardi.
Lombardi was the Player Personnel director for Belichick and then-owner Art Modell. After a game with Denver in which Kosar reportedly drew up plays “in the dirt” and ignored the calls from the sidelines, Lombardi and Belichick met behind closed doors. It was in that meeting Lombardi expressed his desire to release the native Ohioan.
Belichick was convinced. Keep in mind the coach was head strong and nobody would persuade him of anything he didn’t approve of. The pair then met with David Modell, Jim Bailey and Art in the owner’s office to discuss there idea. Everyone agreed and Kosar was gone the next day.
That is Lombardi’s history with the Browns. Many compare Lombardi to the previous GM, Ernie Accorsi. Accorsi is given credit for building a tough, scrappy team of the late 80s, including engineering the trade that landed Kosar in a Browns uniform.
Comparisons of Lombardi to Accorsi are unfair. Anyone who thinks Lombardi had the final say in the draft or player personnel while working with Belichick are mistaken. There was no consensus, only one man made the picks and that was Belichick. Fans only remember the good from Accorsi, while only the bad from Lombardi.
Browns fans constantly talk about Lombardi with the Oakland Raiders and drafting JaMarcus Russell. That is untrue. Lombardi was on his way out in 2007 at draft time and it was really Al Davis’s pick. Davis loved big, strong armed quarterbacks and he fell in love with Russell, who proved to be a bust and is now out of the NFL.
Meanwhile Accorsi, who drafted John Elway, Philip Rivers, and Bernie Kosar, also let the Browns of the 1980’s slowly slip away while drafting Mike Junkin (the supposed “Mad Dog in a Meat Market”), Clifford Charlton and Lawyer Tillman. Accorsi did what every GM in the NFL does. He hit on some quality players, and fell short on some. Same as Mike Lombardi.
This isn’t to mean the Lombardi hire is good, judgment should be withheld on that. Let time pass and allow Lombardi to make his mark on the team and perform. One cannot be judged by his mistakes of the past. Lombardi was in his twenties when in Cleveland the first time. Who can say they were perfect and made no mistakes at a younger age. Experience makes us all smarter and more humble. Lombardi should be given the benefit of the doubt. In truth, every time a pick is made or a free agent is signed the fans or media question, his past will be brought up again and again.
In a morning interview Tuesday, Lombardi explained the five year stint as analyst on the NFL Network helped his career. He said it gave him better insight on the role of the media and allowed him to step back and see the league as a whole, while studying every team, seeing what works and what doesn’t.
Lombardi, to no surprise, also endorsed his boss and friend Joe Banner. Lombardi calls the Browns team President his friend with a “unique” set of skills that can accomplish great things in Cleveland. He sounds like he is speaking of Liam Neeson in the movie “Taken” rather than Banner as a front office administrator.
One big question Lombardi, Banner and new coach Rob Chudzinski have to answer is Brandon Weeden the quarterback of the future or not. Lombardi made disparaging comments about the Oklahoma State grad while with the NFL Network. Lombardi called the Browns’ first-round selection of Weeden a “panicked disaster.”
On Friday Lombardi clarified his comments, saying he needed to study more tape before making a fair judgment. And he is keeping an open mind about Weeden, as he is all players.
“When you live in the building, I think you have a better understanding of the player moving forward,” Lombardi said. “It’s going to take some time for me to really formulate my final opinions.”
The Browns have lost at least 11 games for five strait years. This year’s team showed improvement on the field, but not on the scoreboard.
Lombardi has a lot of tape to study.
Dave Mitchell co-hosts with Mark Donahue the UST talk show “Ohio Baseball Weekly,” highlighting the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. The Show returns in March, 2013.
