The Cleveland Browns franchise has seen many great players through the years. The likes of Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Paul Warfield and Leroy Kelly amongst many others who donned the treasured orange helmet and battled in the trenches for the proud franchise. Each of their accomplishments and play have helped make the Browns one of the most storied and cherished franchises in the National Football League.
But in recent times, the team and ownership has bumbled the relationships with their former stars once they have left the gridiron and hung up the cleats.
We saw the franchise at odds for years with Brown. When Mike Holmgren was in charge of the Browns franchise, he famously excused Brown from his consulting position with the team, causing the former star to lash out against the front office and franchise publicly. It was only after Jimmy Haslam purchased the team, and ousted Holmgren and company, that they were able to repair the fractured relationship between Brown and the team he laid it on the line for each Sunday.
Now, the franchise is embattled with another one of its former stars and faces of the franchise: Bernie Kosar.
The relationship between the Browns and Kosar can be described in the same three words head coach Mike Pettine used to describe the team’s quarterback situation at the end of the 2014 season, “muddy at best.”
The Browns and Kosar have had a peculiar relationship since the team returned in 1999. Kosar has always desired to be a part of the Browns franchise since its return, but ownership through the years has struggled to find the right fit for Kosar within the organization. Kosar has voiced on numerous times his desire to become more involved with the team, either through a coaching position or one in the front office. But nothing has ever come to fruition for the former quarterback as the timing was always not right, according to the team.
Kosar served as the color commentator on the team’s preseason television broadcasts only to be relieved of his duties in April of 2014 after the unprofessional comments he made on a preseason telecast against the St. Louis Rams in 2013 followed by his arrest for DUI a month later. Kosar explained that he believes his slurred speech is a result the concussions he endured during his 13-year NFL career.
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Unfortunately, the chain of events in 2013 rubbed ownership the wrong way, causing them to separate the club from one of their most beloved alumni, replacing him on the preseason telecasts and distancing themselves from Kosar in the public eye.
Fans and local radio hosts were outraged at the fact that Kosar was ousted by the Browns. It felt almost like 1993 all over again, when the Browns famously released Kosar due to his “diminishing skills” on the field. Was Kosar relieved now because of his diminishing skills in the broadcast booth as well?
It’s hard to argue that the Browns didn’t have the right to move forward without Kosar on the color commentary due to his transgressions off the field, but most think that the franchise has fumbled the relationship between the former quarterback and themselves. Fans and media alike question why the team hasn’t found a place within the organization similar to the position they created for Brown. But the franchise has been reluctant to embrace Kosar since the events that led to his oustering in early 2014.
Kosar has been increasingly critical of the franchise since his dismissal, frequently commenting on the structure and operations of the organization, and has been especially pointed in his comments about the handling of the quarterback position since the teams’ rebirth in 1999. Some say it’s sour grapes by Kosar; others say it’s a great football mind that is critical because he just wants to help his beloved team succeed once again on the field.
Whatever it may be, it’s evident that the Browns and Kosar need to mend the fences of their troubled relationship and move on together.