The Browns: the prize pony of NFL expansion

It has been three years since a Cleveland native could relax in front of the tube on a Sunday afternoon with a frosty beverage, stuff his or her face with Funyuns and enjoy an afternoon of Browns' football.

The joy is back at last, the hype has died down just a tad and the Browns are set to kick things off at home on September 12 against - who else? - their arch rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns boast a mix of veterans and youngsters, and, perhaps most importantly, one of the best front offices in the game.

When majority owner Al Lerner first purchased the team, he began building from the top down. His first move was to lure Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark (then 49er brass) to be President and Vice-President, respectively. This duo engineered three championships in the 90's for San Fran. For his part, Policy is a player-friendly executive as well as a whiz at cap management and salary restructuring.

The luxury of the number one pick in the draft wasn't so shabby either. Rookie quarterback phenom Tim Couch hopes to bring as much excitement and fan frenzy to the Mistake by the Lake as last year's top draft pick, Peyton Manning, brought to the Indianapolis Colts.

Couch will be slowly brought along by first-year head coach Chris Palmer, a quarterback specialist who has worked closely with the young play-caller. Although Couch is the star-in-the-making, Ty Detmer (another 49er who jumped ship) will be the initial starter, which should give Couch a chance to ease into the offense while observing from the sidelines. With any luck, the Browns will be able to avoid the burdensome pressure that the San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts placed on upstart quarterbacks Ryan Leaf and Manning, respectively, a year ago.

In addition to a strong play-calling core, the Browns brought veteran depth to their offensive line, secondary and defensive line. Bookend tackles Lomas Brown and Orlando Brown will ensure that Detmer and Couch will not lie awake on Saturday night yearning for Bayer and Motrin. Center Dave Wohlabaugh, another free agent signee from the New England Patriots, is only in his third year, but has already established himself as a good snapper.

At cornerback, the Browns will start Corey Fuller and Marquez Pope. Fuller has had an up and down career, but is still an NFL-quality corner. Pope had struggled with the 49ers (noticing a pattern?) until last year when he broke out. Backup Antonio Langham has also struggled lately, but he was a high first-rounder three years ago, so somebody must have liked him.

Veteran defensive tackles Jerry Ball and John Jurkovic (caled Jurko by his contemporaries, for reasons unknown) will help clog the middle while proven pass rushers Roy Barker (you guessed it, formally of the Niners) and Derrick Alexander occupy the ends.

The linebackers seemed to be the focal point of the Browns' defense. Until,that is, Ohio native Chris Spielman was forced into retirement following a nasty hit (an aftershock from Spielman's vertebral fusion surgery two years ago). He decided that risking his life every time he strapped on his pads was just not worth it.

That leaves converted defensive end John Thierry and pass-rusher extraordinaire Jamir Miller to pick up the slack. Miller is an excellent run-stopper and will play on the weak side, while Thierry will have to get used to tight ends taking out his ankles on the strong side. Rookie Wali Rainer will try to fill the void left by Spielman.

Unfortunately for your beloved Dawgs, the excitement ends there. At wideout, the only experienced receiver is free agent acquisition Leslie Shepherd, who will be the go-to-guy. This will be quite a task for the 5'11" receiver, who has played slot for much of his career. The other "veterans" are no-names Curtis Marsh and Jermaine Ross. The rest of the pack is as follows: rookies Kevin Johnson, Ronnie Powell, Darrin Chiaverini and second-year Damon Gibson. Coach Palmer likes three-receiver sets, so expects the young-uns to be thrown into the mix from day one. Irv Smith is a quality tight end, but just a mite past his prime.

The backfield brings yet another Niner reject, Terry Kirby, and another ex-Patriot, Sedrick Shaw. Bullish Marc Edwards will start at fullback with converted linebacker Tarek Saleh backing him up.

Punter Chris Gardocki is the only real name in the special teams. Kicker Chris Boniol has bounced around the league in past years, but he will get his chance in the Rock and Roll capital.

Well, the Browns will certainly suffer this year with a main concern being depth. Against ball control teams that run the clock, reserve defensive linemen and linebackers will be preyed upon.

The lone shining star will be the progress of Tim Couch, and thanks to his tackles, his concussions should be cut to minimum. Perhaps Terry Kirby can rejuvenate his career with a thousand-yard season. Of course Cleveland will have to run the ball 25-30 times effectively for their offense to be any kind of a threat. Given their light schedule (the toughest non-conference team is New England), a safe bet would be a 4-12 campaign.

Interesting games to note: The intrastate rivalry returns on October 10 and December 12, against Cincinnati. More importantly, the Devil himself (in the form of Art Modell) returns to the scene of the crime with his Ravens and their lovely uniforms on November 7. The Browns will face their most hated rivals in Baltimore on September 26.

Although I am a native New Yorker, the Dawg fervor has hit me as well, so I shall root, root, root for the home team. GO BROWNS!