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By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 08:48 p.m. EDT, Oct 21, 2009
BEREA: Browns offensive lineman Rex Hadnot thought nothing of hanging out with his good buddy and defensive lineman Corey Williams on the team's off day Tuesday and spending the past week sitting next to linebacker Kamerion Wimbley in the locker room.
But now, ''They got me boxed in here,'' Hadnot said, referring to the small corner of the locker room he's assigned to, now considered Flu Ground Zero.
As tough as NFL players are, the flu epidemic that has grabbed the nation's attention has found its way into the Browns' locker room, sacking a dozen players Wednesday.
Before Browns coach Eric Mangini talked about Sunday's game against the visiting Green Bay Packers, he ticked off a growing list of players who were sent home with the flu.
In addition to Wimbley (who was sent home from Pittsburgh before Sunday's game against the Steelers even started) and defensive end Shaun Rogers (who played against the Steelers despite suffering flulike symptoms), 10 others came down with the virus since the weekend.
As of Wednesday morning, running back Jerome Harrison, center Alex Mack, defensive backs Brodney Pool and Anthony Madison, wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, linebacker Jason Trusnik, tight end Robert Royal, fullback Lawrence Vickers, defensive end Brian Schaefering and Williams were sent home with strict instructions to stay put.
Of the 12 players affected, seven are starters. For the portion of Wednesday's practice open to the media, only three wide receivers participated.
In response to the rapidly declining troops, Mangini and his staff had to trim Wednesday's practice and might have to do the same for the rest of the week's preparation for the Packers.
''We're going to cut practice down a little bit,'' Mangini said. ''We had flu cases and some more guys have come down with it, [so we're] working with quite a few less players.
''We're trying to get guys with the first signs of any type of illness to get home and out of the building. We're working as hard as we can to promote things to prevent the illness, stressing the importance of sleep and hands and things like that.''
Mangini cited HIPPA privacy laws for specifics, but the strain of flu that has wracked the Browns' roster is widely suspected to be the rapidly spreading H1N1 virus.
At 2 p.m. Wednesday, a large delivery from a local pharmacy arrived at the front desk of the Browns' complex containing individual paper bags labeled Tamiflu for the players and staff.
According to the medicine's Web site, Tamiflu is most effective when taken within 48 hours of the first symptoms. But it also states that it can be used for those who do not have symptoms but have been exposed to the virus.
Earlier this month, the NFL took precautions in case of a flu outbreak. By e-mail, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said each team received the following statement from the commissioner regarding swine flu:
''If a club has at least six players unable to participate as the result of confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu, it can receive roster exemptions for those players and promote players from its own practice squad to replace them. A club can receive a max of eight such exemptions. They must be medically confirmed cases of swine flu.''
In the meantime, the rest of the healthy Browns are trying to remain optimistic.
''All I can do is do all the preventive steps [like] washing my hands and all that stuff that goes along with going to kindergarten class,'' Browns linebacker David Bowens said.
Many are taking those extra precautions, but offensive lineman Joe Thomas said the inevitable might be coming anyway.
''I'm not too worried,'' Thomas said. ''If it's going to happen, you're going to get sick. We're doing everything we can to avoid it, [but] I think it's inevitable. People are going to be exposed to it all over the country.''
Wide receiver Mike Furrey thought all the attention paid to the subject Wednesday was a bit comical. Asked if he would take any added precautions, he joked, ''Yeah, we're all going to sleep in incubators tonight.''
Kick returner Joshua Cribbs and Hadnot voiced concerns of bringing the virus home to their newborn children.
''A lot of us players have small kids at home,'' said Cribbs, who sat out Wednesday's practice with a knee injury. ''I have a 4-month-old and Coach [Mangini] has kids. So he's just protecting our families. We don't want to bring these diseases home.''
Before leaving the media room after his morning session with the media, Mangini said: ''All right, get some sleep, guys. [And] wash your hands after you're in the locker room.''
Based on the evidence of the day, odds are he wasn't joking.
Stephanie Storm can be reached
at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
BEREA: Browns offensive lineman Rex Hadnot thought nothing of hanging out with his good buddy and defensive lineman Corey Williams on the team's off day Tuesday and spending the past week sitting next to linebacker Kamerion Wimbley in the locker room.
But now, ''They got me boxed in here,'' Hadnot said, referring to the small corner of the locker room he's assigned to, now considered Flu Ground Zero.
As tough as NFL players are, the flu epidemic that has grabbed the nation's attention has found its way into the Browns' locker room, sacking a dozen players Wednesday.
Before Browns coach Eric Mangini talked about Sunday's game against the visiting Green Bay Packers, he ticked off a growing list of players who were sent home with the flu.
In addition to Wimbley (who was sent home from Pittsburgh before Sunday's game against the Steelers even started) and defensive end Shaun Rogers (who played against the Steelers despite suffering flulike symptoms), 10 others came down with the virus since the weekend.
As of Wednesday morning, running back Jerome Harrison, center Alex Mack, defensive backs Brodney Pool and Anthony Madison, wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, linebacker Jason Trusnik, tight end Robert Royal, fullback Lawrence Vickers, defensive end Brian Schaefering and Williams were sent home with strict instructions to stay put.
Of the 12 players affected, seven are starters. For the portion of Wednesday's practice open to the media, only three wide receivers participated.
In response to the rapidly declining troops, Mangini and his staff had to trim Wednesday's practice and might have to do the same for the rest of the week's preparation for the Packers.
''We're going to cut practice down a little bit,'' Mangini said. ''We had flu cases and some more guys have come down with it, [so we're] working with quite a few less players.
''We're trying to get guys with the first signs of any type of illness to get home and out of the building. We're working as hard as we can to promote things to prevent the illness, stressing the importance of sleep and hands and things like that.''
Mangini cited HIPPA privacy laws for specifics, but the strain of flu that has wracked the Browns' roster is widely suspected to be the rapidly spreading H1N1 virus.
At 2 p.m. Wednesday, a large delivery from a local pharmacy arrived at the front desk of the Browns' complex containing individual paper bags labeled Tamiflu for the players and staff.
According to the medicine's Web site, Tamiflu is most effective when taken within 48 hours of the first symptoms. But it also states that it can be used for those who do not have symptoms but have been exposed to the virus.
Earlier this month, the NFL took precautions in case of a flu outbreak. By e-mail, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said each team received the following statement from the commissioner regarding swine flu:
''If a club has at least six players unable to participate as the result of confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu, it can receive roster exemptions for those players and promote players from its own practice squad to replace them. A club can receive a max of eight such exemptions. They must be medically confirmed cases of swine flu.''
In the meantime, the rest of the healthy Browns are trying to remain optimistic.
''All I can do is do all the preventive steps [like] washing my hands and all that stuff that goes along with going to kindergarten class,'' Browns linebacker David Bowens said.
Many are taking those extra precautions, but offensive lineman Joe Thomas said the inevitable might be coming anyway.
''I'm not too worried,'' Thomas said. ''If it's going to happen, you're going to get sick. We're doing everything we can to avoid it, [but] I think it's inevitable. People are going to be exposed to it all over the country.''
Wide receiver Mike Furrey thought all the attention paid to the subject Wednesday was a bit comical. Asked if he would take any added precautions, he joked, ''Yeah, we're all going to sleep in incubators tonight.''
Kick returner Joshua Cribbs and Hadnot voiced concerns of bringing the virus home to their newborn children.
''A lot of us players have small kids at home,'' said Cribbs, who sat out Wednesday's practice with a knee injury. ''I have a 4-month-old and Coach [Mangini] has kids. So he's just protecting our families. We don't want to bring these diseases home.''
Before leaving the media room after his morning session with the media, Mangini said: ''All right, get some sleep, guys. [And] wash your hands after you're in the locker room.''
Based on the evidence of the day, odds are he wasn't joking.
Stephanie Storm can be reached
at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Metairie, LA
Posted 09:22 PM, 10/21/2009
Next Monday's headline:
'Browns Puke'
Posted 09:48 PM, 10/21/2009
The sad thing is, no one really cares.
Naples, FL
Posted 06:24 AM, 10/22/2009
Says who? Go Browns!
Akron, Oh
Posted 07:59 AM, 10/22/2009
lets hope the practice squad can play football,
because the 1st squad sure isn't gettin' it done,
maybe we've got a qb and some receivers that can catch the ball hiding on the practice squad..
that aren't going to use the Flu thing as to why they can't play football..
Canton, OH
Posted 08:27 AM, 10/22/2009
It will be interesting to see if the flu has any effect on pro sports this year. we've heard several of the Cavs were sick, now the Browns.
akron, oh
Posted 08:53 AM, 10/22/2009
WEll, I guess the Browns can now blame the flu bug for not winning alot of their games.
akron, oh
Posted 11:24 AM, 10/22/2009
Put in the 3rd string. They might play better.
GO BROWNS:(
righthere, oh
Posted 05:03 PM, 10/22/2009
It's only fair, they've been making their fans sick for years.
Morris, IL
Posted 10:41 AM, 10/23/2009
I saw a story about the Cleveland Browns and the flu. My six year old granddaughter, Riley has H1N1, and my daughter, her mom, was told that Riley's epilepsy is not bad enough to warrant Tamiflu!!! It's in short supply! This is outrages that top condition jocks have access. I am sick.
