Despite their 4-12 record, Browns believe they have foundation to become successful

By Nate Ulrich
Beacon Journal sports writer

BEREA: The Browns packed their bags for the offseason and played the patience card on their way out the door.

Fans are tired of being told success is on the horizon, and who could blame them? The Browns have finished with a record of 4-12 for the third time in the past six seasons.

Still, the players who surfaced in the locker room Monday stressed the importance of continuity and stability. They believe the team is not far from turning the corner, even though the six-game losing streak at the end of coach Pat Shurmur’s first season in Cleveland suggests otherwise.

“Very close,” cornerback Sheldon Brown said. “One or two plays each game. You just have to find your playmakers, and they just have to understand the sense of urgency and make the plays.

“I didn’t tell you this last year. I thought we were way off last year from a lot of other things that we were having to deal with, but I think this organization is heading in the right direction.”

The Browns suffered six defeats by seven or fewer points this season, and they lost their final three games by a combined 13 points. On Sunday, they fell 13-9 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular-season finale for both teams.

“We were in a lot of games,” kicker Phil Dawson said. “It’s death by inches, though. How are you going to look at that? Are we that close, or is that just the nature of the league? It depends on your personality, how you’re going to view that. In my little world, if my plant foot misses the spot by a quarter-inch, I miss the kick. That will probably tell you how I look at it. Everybody looks at themselves critically and figures out how they can improve. If we do that, now these close games are coming out in our favor. Hopefully, that’s the way guys respond to it.”

Tight end Evan Moore cited the team’s youth as a reason to believe it will develop.

With an average age of 25.9 years, the Browns are one of the youngest teams in the NFL. The Browns finished the season with 29 players on their active roster who were rookies, first- or second-year players.

The NFL’s lockout might have delayed the growth of those young players. The work stoppage prevented Shurmur from meeting his entire team until late July. This year, the Browns will begin their offseason workout program April 16.

“With no offseason to prepare, and granted [every team] dealt with no offseason, we have a young core of players on offense that are trying to learn a new offense, and there’s not a whole lot of experience in general at the skill positions, and so when you put all that together, it makes it tough,” Moore said. “We weren’t able to get it done. I’m not trying to make excuses — 4-12 is by no means a success. We might have had some successes in our own inner circles, but 4-12 is 4-12. That’s what you guys see, that’s what the public sees and fans see, and that’s something we need to try and fix.”

President Mike Holmgren hired Shurmur to spearhead a turnaround. Although Shurmur had one fewer win this season than his predecessor, Eric Mangini, had in each of his two years with the Browns, Shurmur’s players insist he’s the right man for the job.

“Shurmur’s one of those guys where you can tell everything he says, he really means it,” defensive lineman Brian Schaefering said. “He’s not just saying it to be a scripted guy or because that’s what somebody above him was telling him to say. Everything he says is exactly what he means. That’s something that makes guys want to play for him.”

Shurmur should receive ample time to reverse the fortunes of an organization that has had only two winnings seasons since its rebirth in 1999. Shurmur will “absolutely” coach the Browns in 2012 and “he’s going to be the coach around here for a long time,” Holmgren said Dec. 14.

“The worst thing that I’ve known of the history of the Browns is one or two years and they want to blow it up,” Brown said. “People want to think that it changes in one or two years. There’s a process that you have to go through in this league, and you have to be patient to do it.

“[Shurmur] kept this football team fighting, and for me, that’s how I judge a head coach. If a football team goes out there and competes their tail off week in and week out through thick and thin — it was very thick this year — but we didn’t quit. So that tells me the leader is in place, and the guys believe in him.”

As for the talent Shurmur has at his disposal, it’s no secret the Browns must add some key pieces to improve, and owning the fourth overall pick in April’s draft should help. But Brown isn’t waiting for Baylor University quarterback Robert Griffin III, or another elite draft prospect, to save the franchise.

“I’m definitely not,” he said. “And if you are, you’re crazy.

“If you’re depending on a draft pick to come in here and change your life, then you’re kidding yourself. This game is too hard, and there’s too big of a jump.”

Instead, he believes progression from the team’s young nucleus will yield success.

“Everybody needs to play better,” Brown said. “When you lose close games, you can go back and point to maybe one or two drops or one or two miscues. When things like that happen, I bet you go back and you say, ‘[It’s] a young player that hasn’t been in this situation, hasn’t experienced it.’ Well, now he’s experienced it, and he won’t do it again.”