CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Browns are a mess once again and former quarterback Bernie Kosar has had enough of it.
Sunday morning on ‘Tailgate 19,’ which airs at 11 am Sunday mornings and features WOIO Cleveland 19 sports director Tony Zarrella, former Browns cornerback Hanford Dixon and Chuck Booms, Kosar said it’s gotten to the point that he’s ready to just do it himself.
“I want to do this, OK,” Kosar said on the show. “And I’ll fire myself if we are not a competitive NFL team within a year or 2.”
Watch Kosar talk about the lack of a winning culture in Berea on Cleveland 19 in this video.
Kosar lamented the losing culture that continues to hover over a once proud franchise under new owner Jimmy Haslam, team president Alec Scheiner, general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine.
Since Haslam took over the team officially on Oct. 22, 2012, the Browns are an awful 17-33. After a promising 7-4 start last year under Pettine, the team is 2-12 since.
With 7 more games left to play, they’ve already been all but eliminated from playoff contention by the first week of November.
If the NFL draft were today they’d have the No. 2 overall pick. Then again, it’s reached a point that it doesn’t matter where the Browns pick.
They blow first round picks annually and the 4 selections that Farmer has made – Justin Gilbert, Johnny Manziel, Danny Shelton and Cameron Erving – are having little to no significant impact to help the team win on the field.
“This is 16-plus years and this is unacceptable,” Kosar said. “I’m not trying to pick on people. This is not arrow [directed at someone]. This is factual statements that this is not acceptable. This is not professional football.”
Kosar feels that young players are not being taught to take winning seriously and he points to the post game smiles, hugs and jersey swaps in the field as prime examples of the lack of respect they show the team’s loyal fans.
“This is about a way of being, what you stand for,” Kosar said. “I’m not blaming the effort from the players. I’m not blaming the effort from the coaches. This is from the beginning, and I feel like a broken record, this is not lobbying to pick on people.
“But this is a cultural, systemic issue.”
As for the overall state of the franchise, Kosar sees more of a focus on marketing and branding – see the new Dawg Pound logo and uniforms – rather than on building a consistent winner that can compete at the level that the teams he played for from the mid-80’s to early 90’s did.
That bothers him deeply.
“I see this stuff standing for a marketing logo instead of a football team or a football organization, and I’m tired of it,” Kosar said.
While the Browns continue to add to their NFL-worst record of 86-179 since 1999, the financial fortunes of the franchise have never been better.
The new branding, uniforms and renovated stadium have allowed the team’s value to increase by nearly $500 million since Haslam bought the club while remaining a doormat for the rest of the league.
“It is not fair what we’re doing to the Joe Haden’s, the Joe Thomas’, the Alex Mack’s, the guys that really have the gifted ability,” Kosar said.
And now Kosar, whom fans have long yearned for to have some involvement in the team, is ready to step forward and take matters into his own hands.
“I want to at least help because you have to have accountability,” Kosar said. “You have to take complete responsibility.”
