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Below is an insert from my upcoming book on the Cleveland Browns. This chapter focuses on the 2007 season in which they went 10-6 and players such as Jamal Lewis, Kellen Winslow, Braylon Edwards, Derek Anderson and even Brady Quinn led us to believe the next great era of Cleveland Browns football had arrived.
While this book is about the playoff years, there is one non-playoff year in the new Browns regime that stands out as one of the most fun for fans and what almost looked like a total dynasty to come. Sadly, it was not, but for fans, the 2007 season of Cleveland Browns football was simply a taste and teaser of just how fun things could be when the team is good as they went 10-6 that season, and became one of the few teams in the NFL history to win 10 games, and narrowly miss the playoffs.
It all started with the 2004 NFL Draft when Butch Davis was still running the show with everything Cleveland Browns personnel. The Browns saw franchise quarterbacks Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers along with cannot miss wideout Larry Fitzgerald and lights out safety Sean Taylor come off the board by the time they picked at 6. Despite 4 studs already off the board, it was okay, because “The Soldier” had landed in their lap as Miami University Tight End Kellen Winslow was sitting there for the taking.
It didn’t matter that Ohio born Big Ben Roethlisberger was the prototypical quarterback of their dreams, and sitting right there, they went with their soldier! The Browns had had acquired Jeff Garcia in the offseason, and Davis was ready to hitch his wagon to him for better or worse.
The fans loved the pick of Winslow, the media loved the pick and the team loved the pick. He was the top threat coming out, and seen as an instant game changer. Northeast Ohio fans knew him well from the 2003 National Championship game against their beloved Ohio State Buckeyes where Winslow caught 11 balls for 122 yards and a touchdown. He was the top receiver in a game that also saw first rounds studs Andrew Johnson, Roscoe Parrish, Michael Jenkins and Chris Gamble all catch balls.
In two seasons as a starter with the Hurricanes, Winslow caught 117 balls for 9 touchdowns and 1331 yards. His freshman year, he appeared in 10 games, but these stats simply reflect his sophomore and junior seasons.
He won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s best collegiate tight end, and he was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American, after receiving first-team honors from the Associated Press and other national selector organizations. I’ll say it again, this guy was cannot miss and even better than the previous Hurricane Tight End stud Jeremy Shockey who came out the year before him.
The “Soldier” nickname came from a game against the Tennessee Volunteers. The eighteenth-ranked Tennessee Vols defeated #6 Miami on the Hurricanes home field by a score of 10–6. After a sweep play that saw Winslow take out two Volunteers to make way for Devin Hester, he got up screaming and taunting in typical “U” fashion. When questioned about the play afterwards, he replied with “I’m a Fucking soldier!”.
This was despite the fact he never served in the military and the United States was in the middle of a war in Afghanistan. Not to mention the fact, he was care free of the fact his team lost a major game, costing them a chance at the National Championship. He was simply about himself and making it known, he was a soldier.
None of that mattered to Butch Davis, and the Cleveland Browns. They needed a scoring threat, and he was a serious one! He was the highest-selected tight end in more than 30 years. Butch Davis was also well familiar with Winslow as it was he who recruited Winslow to the University of Miami before leaving for Cleveland in 01. Almost instantly, there was issues as he was a contract hold out, demanding more money until Cleveland finally caved and gave him a six-year $40 million deal for Winslow, including a $16.5 million signing bonus.
Perhaps most appealing of Winslow was that his father Kellen Sr, was an NFL Legend with the San Diego Chargers and current NFL Hall of Famer. He was very well respected and it almost seemed like a sure thing that Winslow Jr would follow in his fathers footsteps. It simply wasn’t meant to be.
Winslow would last all of two games into his rookie season before being lost for the year. In two games, he was held to 5 catches for 50 yards and was a total non-factor. In typical Browns fashion, he got hurt on an onside kick attempt in the closing moments of their 19-12 loss to Vinny Testaverde and the Dallas Cowboys. Why the Hell he was in the game is anyone’s guess, but just like that, all that hype, was over for the season.
As mentioned in the prior chapter of this book, Davis wouldn’t make it through the rest of the 2004 season as interim head coach Terry Robiskie took over after Week 11, as the team finished 4-12 during a horrendous season.
The long list of Randy Lerner hiring the wrong man for the job began with his hire of Romeo Crennel to take over in Cleveland. Lerner had taken over for his father after Al Lerner passed in October of 2002. Lerner’s first big move was to bring Crennel back to Cleveland as Romeo was the defensive coordinator during the abysmal 2000 season. Romeo was one in done and sent packing when Butch Davis arrived in the winter of 2001.
Coach Romeo was lovable, and the kind of guy you wanted to play for. He wasn’t feared like Davis was, but he seemed to have a nature both players, fans and media would love with a giant smile on his face. He, like Winslow, also had a wining pedigree. Unlike Kellen, his winning experience was self-made and not inherited. Romeo was on the staff of the Giants under Bill Parcells when they won the Super Bowl in 1987 and 1991. This was after 10 years of coaching at Western Kentucky, Texas Tech, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech.
Being with big name programs and coaching in huge games was what Romeo was all about. He would then follow Parcells to his coaching stints with the Patriots and Jets where he was met with more winning as an assistant. Speaking of the Patriots and winning, after his disastrous season with Cleveland, he joined another Parcells disciple, Bill Belichick and was on his staff for three Super Bowl wins between 01-04.
