Dawgs By Nature
In 1955, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected a gangly quarterback out of Louisville. His name was Johnny Unitas. The head coach of the Steelers was Walt Keisling, who was on his second stint as Pittsburgh’s head coach.
Keisling did not like how Unitas released the ball and attempted to change it. Unitas refused. This created a rift between the head coach and the rookie signalcaller. Keisling did not play Unitas in any of their six preseason games.
RELATED: CLEVELAND FANS HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF DILLON GABRIEL
Keisling had a disdain for Unitas the entire training camp, and the Steelers cut him on the final cutdown day. Of course, today, Unitas is listed as one of the three greatest quarterbacks to play the game at the NFL level.
How does this translate to the Cleveland Browns? Keisling refused to play Unitas. Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski seems to be doing the same in that he is going out of his way not to play his other rookie quarterback, Shedeur Sanders.
Not that there is a controversy over whether Sanders should be the starter instead of fellow Dillon Gabriel. If Stefanski and his coaching staff are confident that Gabriel won the job, then we as Browns fans should abide by the coach’s decisions. They are the ones who are hired to work with players, develop them, and make an assessment as to what their talent level is.
When the coaches named Joe Flacco the starter going into Week 1, all of us assumed that Flacco had beat out both rookies for the starting nod with Gabriel QB2 and Sanders QB3. For the first five games, Sanders was listed on each game’s inactive list, which meant he could only play if both the starter and backup became injured in the contest. He was also inactive for the New England Patriots game due to injury.
When Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, we all assumed that Gabriel was elevated because the people who work with these players every day knew his capacity and tabbed him the new starter. Sanders was then named the backup.
No controversy, no issues, no worries.
But then, the Miami Dolphins came to town on October 19. Cleveland dominated the Dolphins in every aspect. It was a fun game to watch, and the players enjoyed the final quarter along the sideline, knowing the game was in hand.
With 10:56 left in the fourth quarter, Browns rookie RB Quinshon Judkins scored a touchdown from the two-yard line. Following Andre Szymt’s successful PAT, the scoreboard indicated that Cleveland had a 31-6 lead.
Two plays later, S Ronnie Hickman secured an interception. The Browns were back in business at Miami’s 40-yard line with 9:58 left on the game clock. Out came Gabriel. Four plays went by, and Cleveland punted. The Dolphins had a three-and-out and punted.
With 6:45 remaining, out came Gabriel—another punt. Miami could not convert on a fourth-down play, and the Browns got it back for one more snap to end...
