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Owner says quarterback decision key to success
By Marla Ridenour Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Thursday, Oct 18, 2007
BEREA: Browns owner Randy Lerner confessed he took the 34-7 season opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers about the same as any other fan.
''What was I thinking? Nothing very good, frankly,'' Lerner said.
The Browns are now 3-3 at their bye week, and their offense ranks eighth in the league. Lerner, a publicity-shy billionaire, conceded in a rare half-hour interview Wednesday that he didn't see the turnaround coming, even though he did everything he could to orchestrate it.
Lerner attributed the drastic improvement in the Browns' fortunes to ''staying the course'' and to switching to quarterback Derek Anderson. Two days after the Steelers' loss, the Browns traded starting quarterback Charlie Frye to the Seattle Seahawks and installed Anderson.
''That was a difficult move, a conspicuous, high-profile move, and it worked without a doubt,'' Lerner said in his first session with reporters in more than a year. ''It was a very crisp, quick, difficult decision that has to be considered very, very success ful.''
Lerner said he had no part in that decision.
''I wouldn't have answered the phone if I was being called,'' he said. ''What do I know?''
After the disastrous opener, Lerner said he spent Monday and Tuesday meeting with coach Romeo Crennel, General Manager Phil Savage and senior vice president Mike Keenan, talking about what they could do to ''strengthen the resolve within the building.''
The discussions ranged from the practice format, team meetings on Saturday night in the hotel, their personnel's overall strengths and weaknesses and whether they needed to bring in inspirational speakers.
''In the end, if I were to point that one thing that came out of those discussions, it was probably the head coach's reliance on team captains,'' Lerner said. ''They did step up and communicate maybe in a way that was slightly more direct than they had.''
Lerner complimented Crennel for weathering the storm ''professionally and very effectively'' and keeping the players poised and their attitude positive.
Taking over after his father Al Lerner died in 2002, Lerner said he never considered getting out of the football business after the Steelers game.
''One game is not enough to get you that extreme in your emotions,'' said Lerner, 44.
''It's a burden and it's a privilege. I don't know anybody who wouldn't take on that burden who's from Cleveland, pulls for the Browns their whole life. I don't feel the weight of the world. I still think it's the best team in the NFL, the most traditional, honest, straight team. It's an amazing experience.''
Now that the Browns are part of an unprecedented sports resurgence in Cleveland, Lerner doesn't want to tinker with a good thing and play first-round pick Brady Quinn at quarterback. The Browns gave up their first-rounder in 2008 to trade up to select him.
Asked if he's eager to see Quinn, Lerner said, ''Not right now. I think it is so much more important to get Brady as much observation experience as possible. Overwhelming information suggests if you can get that right there's a higher likelihood of a player like Brady getting off to a good start. And Derek Anderson has been inspired and I'm pretty caught up in that. He's got some pretty impressive rankings right now.''
The Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants will play Oct. 28 in London, but Lerner said he won't volunteer the Browns for a game in Europe. That seemed surprising because he also owns soccer team Aston Villa, a member of the English Premier League.
''I think the Browns spent enough years outside Cleveland in the '90s,'' he said. ''I want to keep them in Cleveland and I want them to play in our stadium.''
Lerner said the hardest thing about owning the Browns is realizing that they didn't get any players in their first five years. The only one remaining from 1999 is kicker Phil Dawson.
''If you don't have a quarterback or a left tackle or a wideout or a pass rusher or a cover corner, you're in a bad spot in this business,'' he said. ''You pick up about six or seven players a year when you combine the draft and free agency. Rule of thumb is 35-ish players to get deep in the season and be effective.
''So if it's six or seven and you need 35, that's another five years. That's a bad day, month, week, year, career, lifetime.''
Now it doesn't look to Lerner as if it will take five years.
''We're 3-3, we were 1-5 last year,'' he said. ''I think it's a good moment, fortunately.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
BEREA: Browns owner Randy Lerner confessed he took the 34-7 season opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers about the same as any other fan.
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