Another Reason The NFL Sucks

Today I had to stay home from church so that someone could come and fix a problem with my kitchen sink. My consolation was that the Cleveland Browns, the only NFL team that I ever cared about since grade school, are playing the Kansas City Chiefs. In Tulsa the Chiefs are the AFC team that is ALWAYS shown on the local affiliate no matter how bad they or their opponent is. Until this week that is. Instead a game with playoff implications featuring two teams from the East Coast is being shown. This is typical of how the NFL operates. The Browns are given zero respect in the league and in the media.

 

Don't get started with all of the garbage about how it's up to the local affiliates as to which games gets chosen because that argument is utter hogwash. The NFL doesn't want die hard fans of individual teams anymore, instead they want fans of the league. They want fans who have several favorite teams, fans who will accept whatever is given to them. Do you really think the NFL wouldn't exert any type of influence over the choice of games that are shown on TV? Please. Besides, the Browns vs Chiefs offers a back story of several former Browns players and coaches who ended up with the Chiefs and they likely want to exact some sort of revenge on the team that gave up on them and cut them loose. That makes for good drama.

So instead I'm given a game featuring the Ravens vs Washington, a game by the way that I refuse to watch. I''ll watch nothing instead.  It may actually all be for the best. It seems that as I write this and follow the game on the Internet Cleveland has given up a big play, an 80 yard touchdown run on the very first play of the game. Also it seems that Brady Quinn, the quarterback cast off from Cleveland, has also completed a pass for over 45 yards. He's on his third team after being unable to win the starting job for the Browns. If I were watching the game I'd probably be yelling curses at the screen as I pulled out what little hair I have left on my head.

It's not easy being a Browns fan. I've suffered through countless regime shifts. Often head coaches and general managers are gone after only two years and many of them never have been the right choice in the first place. It seems like every few years they start over, installing a new philosophy and having to change most of the players so that they fit the new system. Hardly a blueprint for success or longevity. I've said for years that they need to get personnel in who have done the job and been successful before instead of hiring those that never held that position. But what do I know, I'm only a fan.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.