Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner was interviewed on WTAM 1100 Wednesday afternoon. The audio of the interview has been placed on the official team website. I haven't had time to listen to the interview, but after the jump is a brief summary that a user from the OBR posted when they listened to the interview live.
He sounds like he expects to stay with this front office for a long time. Seems tired of constant change and really thinks he's got it right this time. Most of this interview was focused along those lines. Interesting tidbits:
1. Has moved back to Cleveland full time, spends most days in Berea. Office right next to Holmgren.
2. Does not think owning Aston Villa affects his attention to Browns. Is still a Browns fan from birth.
3. Both he and Holmgren get very frustrated and angry about the losing, but know they have to be patient.
4. Has total faith that this front office will get it done.
5. Thinks last draft was very good, thinks things are headed in the right direction.
If you give the interview a listen, let us know anything interesting that you encounter.
0 recs | 45 comments
6. Realized he was thinking of the 49ers and promptly left for his home in San Francisco.
SpecialBrownie - January 19, 2012
He said this administration will be here for a while. And when Holmgren retires everything will be in place. The key word is "continuity".
Also that finding the right QB is the most important. You fire on a QB, and if it doesn’t work out, you fire again. He used PIT and BAL as examples. Then when asked if he thought Colt was the right guy he refused to answer.
Brownie's Year - January 19, 2012
Ah crap. I think he gave away a big RGIII secret.
SpecialBrownie - January 19, 2012
He didn’t even try to dance around it like H&H. He said "my mouth stops working when I’m asked that question".
Brownie's Year - January 19, 2012
i don’t think the browns being interested in RG3 is much of a secret at this point.
DontCallMeJoey - January 19, 2012
Randy has never been a media guy but I actually like his points better than Holmgren. I thought all the we were soooo close stuff was lame and insulting to the fans. Mentioning the games you lost by under 7 points while not mentioning that 3 of your 4 wins were like by a point and decided on the final plays is disingenuous. We were much closer to 1-15 than to 6-10 if you do the math and I would just rather quote Parcelss and say we are 4-12 football team period. We will fix it.
realmccoy - January 19, 2012
Not enough truth in the world today. You are right, we were 4-12 that is the deal and it needs to be fixed. It is not a crime, just the current situtation. You have to be outplayed, outcoached, and make a lot of mistakes to lose 12 times in one year. We are not close to anything. That being said we are not dead.
champion64 - January 19, 2012
We are drafting better – that is a good first step to get this baby turned around. Plus I really feel that not having an OC was a bigger miss than we anticipated, especially with the constrained training camp. Without the OC we did not have the double check WTF are you doing? kind of discussions.
realmccoy - January 19, 2012
I am 43 and I’ve been a Brown’s fan for as long as I can remember. I have been listening to ESPN radio 850 and watching all of the comments posted on the internet. In my opinion the Browns are headed in the right direction. They have been drafting decent and are building a solid foundation. I am tired of hearing all of the negativity of Colt McCoy. Although he may not be the answer to our prayers of an elite QB, he really hasn’t been given a fair shot. Colt didn’t drop 40+ passes in his starts nor did he run the ball for us during those games at a horrible rate. He did make some mistakes, but all QB’s do. If everyone watched the same games I did, they would have seen that a ton of those dropped passes killed great drives that we were putting together. We need to put the pieces of the puzzle together before inserting the final piece. RGIII will not fair any better with a crappy running game and 40+ dropped passes. Get your O-Line together, your running back situation straightened out and a true #1 WR and if Colt fails with that then get a franchise QB next year or maybe he will surprise everyone and break out. We also need to further solidify our defense which is getting better. All and all I think we are heading in the right direction. We can’t keep changing coaches and QB’s every year and expect to win. Keep Shurmur, keep Colt at least 1 more year and then go from there. GO BROWNS!!!
Jchapman18 - January 19, 2012
I totally disagree with this. As to why… there are literally dozens of posts explaining why McCoy ain’t the guy. The Browns cannot afford another year like this. This is THE best chance they will have to put the key piece of QB on the team. If they don’t take it, we will probably not see another chance like it under this set of leadership. I think Learner made some VERY good points in this conversation. The best was this sequence:
“On needing patience for Mike Holmgren and his staff.
"This is not an industry or business where you’re going to get time. I understand what you’re saying (Triv) and I understand that you’re trying to be sympathetic for what we’re trying to do. I think there are some basic things that have to get done that this organization is very focused on. The most fundamental is settle on a quarterback. Now far be it from me. I’m not a talent evaluator, to say the least, or anything like one. At some point as a Browns fan when you look around and see Pittsburgh needing a quarterback and dealing with Kordell Stewart or dealing with Tommy Maddox or whatever… They made a move. They committed to the move and they’ve succeeded with that move. And Baltimore with Kyle Boller and that didn’t work out. And they tried and made a move and got Flacco. I think one of the things that is crucial right now is to take a significant step forward is to try TRY if you can to get this quarterback situation settled."
Can that quarterback, from the owner’s perspective, be Colt McCoy?
"(Joking) I suddenly lose the ability to speak when I’m asked that question."
If Holmgren is sold on Colt he should name him the starter now. I mean the guy has played a season and a half and you don’t know he is the starter? That means you don’t have faith in him being able to develop. So there is a possibility that Wallace could be guy next year? That’s what Holmgren is saying. In my opinion Wallace should be cut after what he said about not helping McCoy learn. If this front office doesn’t do something about the QB position this year it will say a lot about them. I have virtually no interest in watching a McCoy/Wallace led offense next year.
Brownsyup - January 19, 2012
I also have no interest in watching a Colt vs Seneca vs 5th round rookie QB competition in training camp with Colt emerging as the “winner” by default more than anything else.
PaduaDSP - January 19, 2012
I don’t think Colt will ever be more than average. He’s short with weak arm strength. One can be over come. Over coming both is next to impossible. He is a Jeff Garcia/Doug Flutie type. His only hope might be to have the pre snap recognition Peyton has.
triple 000 - January 19, 2012 via mobile
Or play on the 2000 ravens or 02 Bucs.
HenryDawg - January 19, 2012
IMO the short and weak arm debate is a weak argument. The fact that others of the same size have succeeded remove this as a issue. I am not sure how we quanify weak arm, but i discount this as well.
Before anyone goes bananas. I think you can have the opinion that he lacks talent to be a starting QB, but the too short and weak arm does not fly IMO.
This dead horse has been beaten I know, but it still needs to be said.
SBP - January 19, 2012
Actually its a pretty strong argument. Only a handful have succeeded out of 1000s of NFL QBs. He may be a able to be a decent, short, weak armed QB, but none of that helps.
HenryDawg - January 19, 2012
The reality is that only a handful of QBs period have been successful out of thousands. All of which have varying talents and skills.
I am neither defending or condemning McCoy. His height is not a limiting factor for success.
I know that my argument will not change minds, but that’s ok.
SBP - January 19, 2012
I agree with this. There are a lot of reasons that I’ve lost faith in Colt as the QBotF, but height and arm strength aren’t among them. I don’t think either of those things were holding him back this season. They weren’t helping him either, but those attributes didn’t drag him down.
Legoman0721 - January 20, 2012 via Android app
I think those arguments are still valid. People can succeed in spite of those things, but they are a negative attribute.
notthatnoise - January 19, 2012
I think you are right. They could be a negative. If he managed it better then success will come quicker.
I think it might be why it took Brees longer. The league moves faster each year and teams want to speed up the development process. It will be harder to develop QBs into the Brees mold because guys come along each year with better skills, but IMO this is what is holding back the league. Everyone wants the QB, but the are generally unwilling to wait.
SBP - January 19, 2012
this is definitely true. waiting, as lerner says in the interview, is not really a part of the DNA of the NFL at this point.
DontCallMeJoey - January 20, 2012
Still, people make it sound like he is 5’10" and 185.
He’s legitimately less than a full inch shorter than Barkley.
rufio - January 19, 2012
I specifically remember seeing 6’4" Alex Smith get several passes batted back at him by the Saints last week. A couple inches of height aren’t a make-or-break issue.
Legoman0721 - January 20, 2012 via Android app
Right, it’s not his height that bothers me.
notthatnoise - January 20, 2012
as opposed to disproving that these are issues, this is actually the exception that proves the rule.
DontCallMeJoey - January 19, 2012
I hear what you are saying, but I think my issue with that is, What is the rule?That’s just my own frustration with the system. Like I noted above, teams are forced to move too quick and in doing so have created an arbitrary definition of what will be successful.
Dynasty teams do a good job developing players and get lucky with a few key positions. There is just so much collateral damage along the way that could develop.
SBP - January 19, 2012
i don’t think we’re too far apart on any of the points you make here. i would just say on the qb issue that you are much more likely to find success with a taller guy who has a stronger arm.
DontCallMeJoey - January 20, 2012
Garcia was really really good when he played in a WCO.
rufio - January 19, 2012
But even then, with good talent and coaching his ceiling was a divisional playoff loss.
HenryDawg - January 19, 2012
Would you not welcome a QB who could lead us to the playoffs right now?
rufio - January 19, 2012
Grossi tweet which he has since deleted when he heard about a Lerner interview that he apparently wasn’t invited to:
Roger Dorn - January 19, 2012
Was Toni talking about himself?
If he meant billionaire as in how many Big Macs he ate in the year, then probably.
SpecialBrownie - January 19, 2012
Heyo!
rufio - January 19, 2012
Wow. This needs to be preserved. The internet doesn’t forget.
Simmsinns - January 19, 2012
Penny arcade will be pleased…
SpecialBrownie - January 19, 2012
I quote tweeted it immediately, so I have it preserved in my timeline. I saw some screen captures creep up as well. I think the tweet only lasted all of 3-4 minutes.
Roger Dorn - January 19, 2012
Those screen caps need to be saved. If you have any, could you post it here or a link?
Simmsinns - January 19, 2012
Don’t really have the ability at work, but Frowns just posted on this very topic, if anyone is up for visiting his site.
Roger Dorn - January 19, 2012
Why does Grossi even cover the Browns, he seems to have this hate for the team and organization.
champion64 - January 19, 2012
I’m not even sure I disagree with him, it’s just a bit surprising to see his feelings on this one, and the fact that he deleted it means he knows its a bad idea to be saying that.
Roger Dorn - January 19, 2012
he is probably just pissed b/c Lerner basically only talks to Triv and nobody else in the local media. Lerner doesn’t even talk to the Mike Holmgren’s mouth piece Vic Carucci.
PaduaDSP - January 19, 2012
Apparently Lerner isn’t that stupid.
SpecialBrownie - January 19, 2012
If this ends up panning out, Grossi could be done covering the Browns. This is the crap that Holmgren is angry about. Grossi is not getting playoff tickets!
SBP - January 19, 2012
Vince G from Cleveland Scene just tweeted that Grossi is in the PD office today getting a scolding.
Roger Dorn - January 19, 2012
Interesting, he should be…..
SBP - January 19, 2012
Got to say guys that many of your comments are mirrored by Aston Villa supporters. Randy Lerner, when he can be persuaded to talk, only answers very safe questions and seems to thrive on mediocrity.
M5Villa - January 20, 2012
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