Dear Mr. Holmgren:
We are the long suffering diehard fans of the Browns. Despite filling the old Browns stadium every home game, we lost our team. Since we got the new Browns back in 1999, we have suffered through losing season after losing season. We have seen coaches, GMs, and top 10 draft picks come and go each promising to turn the team around only to be fired for being worse than the previous one.
Speaking for my listeners and callers, we love the Browns and to a man, woman and child hope you, Mr. Heckert and Mr. Shurmur will bring the Browns back to the top of the league. Any GM or Head Coach that takes the Browns to a win in the Super Bowl will be loved in NE Ohio forever.
We were thrilled with Dick Jauron being named DC. He was an excellent pick. The D played well despite having a number of rookies and older players starting. We are looking forward to seeing the West Coast Offense work wonders in Cleveland because we feel it will work.
We now have you as our team President. We are depending on you to do the job that no one else has been able to accomplish. Last year you decided not to sign any significant UFAs that many of us felt would impact the team and add to the victory total. There were a number of UFAs that were only 26 or 27. A player of that age would still be in his prime when you have turned the team around and it is ready to challenge for the playoffs.
In 2011, the team regressed to 4-12 finding new ways to lose games. Frankly Coach Pat Shurmur made some mistakes that a veteran coach might not have made. We are all pleased that you and he decided to hire an offensive coordinator. That should help the team.
But while the best way to build a team is the draft, please don’t ignore free agency this off season. The fan base needs to know that you and the other leaders of the organization are sensitive to the long suffering of the fans. A key quality free agent or two would help the fan base keep faith in the process. That would also fill some of the many holes in this roster with guys that are ready to contribute now.
The fan base needs to see some major improvement in the record of the 2012 Browns. The last thing that any real fan of the Browns wants to see is what happened to the Bengals happen here in Cleveland. But there a number of fans that have lost faith or are losing faith in the process. An 8-8 record or better would go a long way to bring them back to support the team. It would also give all of us more reason to come to the stadium every Sunday and it would restore our faith in everyone in power in the organization.
GM Tom Heckert has done a good job with the draft and has brought in solid players. But we need some veteran leadership in key positions we don’t have on the current roster. A veteran starting quality DE, RT, and possession type WR would help greatly.
There are other positions that could use some veteran starters as well but any of the above would give the Browns fans hope and something to look forward to on Sundays.
Sincerely, Bill Smith, host of News, Notes and Rumors on Moohead radio.
