Cleveland Browns should put Nathan Zegura in the Broadcast Booth

The Cleveland Browns have suspended sideline reporter and Cleveland Browns Daily host Nathan Zegura. But he should go into the booth upon return.

The Cleveland Browns have passionate fans. No matter how much the Browns lose (and they have lost a lot), fans keep coming back for more. The passion of the fans found a voice in sideline reporter and Cleveland Browns Daily (CBD) host Nathan Zegura. His passion for the Browns, Browns fans and the Browns getting a victory is unparalleled.

Recently Mary Kay Cabot, beat writer for Cleveland.com, reported that the Browns have suspended Zegura for yelling at a referee during the Browns loss to the Saints this past Sunday.

Per Cabot, this is not the first time the Browns have had to reprimand Zegura for his sideline behavior.

Sometimes passion can go too far. In this case, Zegura’s passion for the Browns is getting him in trouble. But the worst thing he or the Browns can do is stifle that passion by forcing him to become more “professional” on the sidelines.

Zegura’s greatest asset as a sideline reporter and host of CBD is his passion. Browns fans have connected with is passion. Fans love Zegura because he represents, in many ways, the voice of the people. But as a sideline reporter he needs to act more professional. There is a reason the fans are behind walls and off the field of play.

Thus, the Browns have a dilemma with Zegura. They can retrain him and force him to become more “professional”. They can teach him to distance his emotions from the game and see it objectively. At this point, the Browns seem to be taking this approach to Zegura.

But, this is the wrong route to take with him. The Browns need him to be passionate. They need him to exude passion to promote and generate interest in a team that has gone 1-31-1 over the past two years.

Instead of stifling the passion, the better option would be to put Zegura’s passion to use. Yes, they need to get Zegura off the sidelines where the passion can hurt the team. The Browns needs to put the passion to better use. Having Zegura on the sidelines is a waste of his abilities.

Instead, they should tell Zegura to keep up the passion. They should put him in a spot where fans can have greater access to his passion on game day. The Browns need to move Zegura’s passion from the sidelines and into the broadcast booth.

I have had the pleasure of listening to Zegura going on four years now. Over that time his passion and knowledge of the game has increased expotentially. He has done and continues to do his homework on the X’s and O’s of the game. He understands how a game should operate and can tell when something is out of whack.

Three man broadcasting booths are becoming more common. Keep Doug Deiken and Jim Donovan, just add Zegura to the existing crew in the booth. Zegura would act as an analyst while actively rooting for the Browns. Fans would love to listen to his opinions on the game. Ratings may even go up generating more income. That is a win-win scenario

On a personal note, as fellow Emory University Alumnus, I have enjoyed following Zegura’s career with the Browns. It would be sad to see the Browns mismanage this situation by asking him to be passionate during the week then employ professional distance on the game day. Not many people can pull off the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine. The better option would be to develop his strengths for future success. His strengths are best used in the radio booth on game day.