Let me state from the outset that I grew up in Cleveland and despite living in the D.C. area for more than 2 decades, am still, first and foremost, a Browns fan. I am pleased when the 'skins do well, but really can't say I'm a 'skins fan.
If you are not a subscriber, allow me to suggest you pick up The Sporting News training camp edition, which is out now. It includes a glowing profile of Joe Gibbs. I've always found Gibbs to be a fascinating figure. Without ever appearing to "court" them, he has always been a darling of the d.c. media. He is not without flaws. I don't care who you are or what job you have, I think there is something wrong if you are consistently putting in 20 hour days and sleeping in the office, as Gibbs did during his first tenure with the 'skins. Such practices, in my mind, lead to clouded judgement and poor decision making, not to mention family stress. In Gibbs case, it eventually affected his health.
That aside, from everything I've read over the years, he seems to be a genuinely decent human being. He earned tremendous respect, loyalty and in some cases, love from ownership, colleagues, players and fans. He had disagreements with GM Bobby Beathard, but if he ever developed outright antagonism for anyone, or vice versa, I have not heard about it. If a former player really ripped him or carried a grudge, I don't recall it.
In short, he works hard-maybe too hard-and treats people right. This is the type of guy you want to see succeed. Just reading between the lines here in d.c., I even get the feeling the players want him to succeed too, if that's possible in this modern, me-first, era.
I may not be a Redskins' fan, but I'll be rooting for Gibbs.
Now, contrast these feelings with those I have for the team I've rooted for all my life, the Browns. If it is possible to still be a fan but at the same time hope they lose, then that's the situation I find myself in, again because of the coach. Perhaps its akin to killing the patient as a means of saving him, but the Browns can only get turned around by losing all the games necessary to secure the departure of Butch Davis.
Davis's arrogance and disrespect for the fans would be difficult to take from a winning coach. As we all know, he's not been a winning coach with the Browns. But that's not the only difference between him and Gibbs. Davis simply doesn't appear to be a good, trustworthy guy. He lied to his players at U of M about taking the Browns job right up until the moment he signed his contract. He has engineered the departure of virtually anyone in the Browns organization who was in a position to either disagree with him or control him. He showed his utter disregard for the intelligence of Browns fans everywhere last year when, in the midst of a terrible season, said the team was better than the playoff team from the year before. And the players? Well, most of the ones he's brought in have either underacheived (see G. Warren), been hurt (see C. Brown) or are really messed up individuals (see W. Green). Yeah, I might be exaggerating, but I don't see any of them really busting their humps because of respect or admiration for the head coach.
I can't see the Browns succeeding til this guy is gone and someone with better judgement and more character in brought in. As big a fan as I am (and free agency, an abentee owner and other factors have made me less of one over the years), I can't bring myself to root for this coach.
If you are not a subscriber, allow me to suggest you pick up The Sporting News training camp edition, which is out now. It includes a glowing profile of Joe Gibbs. I've always found Gibbs to be a fascinating figure. Without ever appearing to "court" them, he has always been a darling of the d.c. media. He is not without flaws. I don't care who you are or what job you have, I think there is something wrong if you are consistently putting in 20 hour days and sleeping in the office, as Gibbs did during his first tenure with the 'skins. Such practices, in my mind, lead to clouded judgement and poor decision making, not to mention family stress. In Gibbs case, it eventually affected his health.
That aside, from everything I've read over the years, he seems to be a genuinely decent human being. He earned tremendous respect, loyalty and in some cases, love from ownership, colleagues, players and fans. He had disagreements with GM Bobby Beathard, but if he ever developed outright antagonism for anyone, or vice versa, I have not heard about it. If a former player really ripped him or carried a grudge, I don't recall it.
In short, he works hard-maybe too hard-and treats people right. This is the type of guy you want to see succeed. Just reading between the lines here in d.c., I even get the feeling the players want him to succeed too, if that's possible in this modern, me-first, era.
I may not be a Redskins' fan, but I'll be rooting for Gibbs.
Now, contrast these feelings with those I have for the team I've rooted for all my life, the Browns. If it is possible to still be a fan but at the same time hope they lose, then that's the situation I find myself in, again because of the coach. Perhaps its akin to killing the patient as a means of saving him, but the Browns can only get turned around by losing all the games necessary to secure the departure of Butch Davis.
Davis's arrogance and disrespect for the fans would be difficult to take from a winning coach. As we all know, he's not been a winning coach with the Browns. But that's not the only difference between him and Gibbs. Davis simply doesn't appear to be a good, trustworthy guy. He lied to his players at U of M about taking the Browns job right up until the moment he signed his contract. He has engineered the departure of virtually anyone in the Browns organization who was in a position to either disagree with him or control him. He showed his utter disregard for the intelligence of Browns fans everywhere last year when, in the midst of a terrible season, said the team was better than the playoff team from the year before. And the players? Well, most of the ones he's brought in have either underacheived (see G. Warren), been hurt (see C. Brown) or are really messed up individuals (see W. Green). Yeah, I might be exaggerating, but I don't see any of them really busting their humps because of respect or admiration for the head coach.
I can't see the Browns succeeding til this guy is gone and someone with better judgement and more character in brought in. As big a fan as I am (and free agency, an abentee owner and other factors have made me less of one over the years), I can't bring myself to root for this coach.
