Butch Boots KJ
Well, wow. I can't say I am surprised about this, especially since KJ fired back regarding his benchng. You know that wasn't going to go over well with the front office. It's obvious there has been some less than flattering things going on by all parties involved. That said, I break this thing down two ways...
1) The move itself, the idea of cutting Johnson. On purely football terms, the move is questionable but makes some sense. Kj is a good receiver with fantastic hands. Other attributes, like blocking, are difficult for us fans to judge bet's assume he was a horrible blocker and a bad teammate -- there is evidence of both. Davis probably told Johnson he expected him to be a supportive teammate when not in the game and KJ didn't seem to do that. In fact, he appeared to be quite the opposite by standing alone on the sidelines and spouting off over the radio. If that's the way it went down, so be it the guy has to go. Add in the fact that the team has a decent core of receivers and the move becomes understandable. What hurts is the fact that KJ has won some games for this team, and was the lone bright spot for several dark years after 1999. And you have to consider that a good coach finds ways to motivate different types of personalities and to accent the strengths of his players. Butch obviously failed miserably in this regard with KJ. So the move is an admission of misjudgement by Davis, be perhaps a necessary one.
2) Business and management, the way the situation came together and was handled. On this count, the blame is entirely on Butch Davis and the Browns, and their spinning is incredibly lame. No matter how you slice it, this is Butch Davis' f*uck up. Any business management self-help book will tell you that a good organization get's the "right people on the bus" then decides where to drive it. While KJ was not a "Butch guy," it was indeed Davis who resigned KJ to a long-term deal before last season. So in effect, KJ had the Butch Davis seal of approval. When this happened last year Davis and Browns should have known everything they needed to about KJ as a player and a person. They can't now claim major deficiencies. If KJ wasn't the right fit for this team in 2002, he should have played out his contract last year as the Browns made the playoffs then walked. Or he should have been traded for a 3rd-5th round pick. Anything but this. While KJ's actions this season haven't been ideal, this is a situation of Davis' creating and he's got no one to blame but himself. Add to this the lame flow of hints and allegations coming out of Berea regarding KJ which, even if they are all true, are not the sign of a well-run organization. Believe me, the current "employees" care about how colleagues are shown the door. In this case, the proper thing to do is quietly say the team wanted to go a different direction, that injuries/circumstances forced their hand, and a very tough call had to be made... then let the player tie his own noose with negative comments, if he so wishes. Instead, we are left wondering whether Davis or Johnson is more guilty of "conduct detrimental to the team."
Oh yeah, it's also worth noting that KJ has not been arrested, hasn't been driving drunk with his shirt off, hasn't been rolling fatties in his SUV, and hasn't been anything other than a popular player. I mean, maybe this rubs people the wrong way but there could be far worse things. An incomplete, self-serving player? Yeah. But last I checked a guy like Hanford Dixon would have fit that description.
1) The move itself, the idea of cutting Johnson. On purely football terms, the move is questionable but makes some sense. Kj is a good receiver with fantastic hands. Other attributes, like blocking, are difficult for us fans to judge bet's assume he was a horrible blocker and a bad teammate -- there is evidence of both. Davis probably told Johnson he expected him to be a supportive teammate when not in the game and KJ didn't seem to do that. In fact, he appeared to be quite the opposite by standing alone on the sidelines and spouting off over the radio. If that's the way it went down, so be it the guy has to go. Add in the fact that the team has a decent core of receivers and the move becomes understandable. What hurts is the fact that KJ has won some games for this team, and was the lone bright spot for several dark years after 1999. And you have to consider that a good coach finds ways to motivate different types of personalities and to accent the strengths of his players. Butch obviously failed miserably in this regard with KJ. So the move is an admission of misjudgement by Davis, be perhaps a necessary one.
2) Business and management, the way the situation came together and was handled. On this count, the blame is entirely on Butch Davis and the Browns, and their spinning is incredibly lame. No matter how you slice it, this is Butch Davis' f*uck up. Any business management self-help book will tell you that a good organization get's the "right people on the bus" then decides where to drive it. While KJ was not a "Butch guy," it was indeed Davis who resigned KJ to a long-term deal before last season. So in effect, KJ had the Butch Davis seal of approval. When this happened last year Davis and Browns should have known everything they needed to about KJ as a player and a person. They can't now claim major deficiencies. If KJ wasn't the right fit for this team in 2002, he should have played out his contract last year as the Browns made the playoffs then walked. Or he should have been traded for a 3rd-5th round pick. Anything but this. While KJ's actions this season haven't been ideal, this is a situation of Davis' creating and he's got no one to blame but himself. Add to this the lame flow of hints and allegations coming out of Berea regarding KJ which, even if they are all true, are not the sign of a well-run organization. Believe me, the current "employees" care about how colleagues are shown the door. In this case, the proper thing to do is quietly say the team wanted to go a different direction, that injuries/circumstances forced their hand, and a very tough call had to be made... then let the player tie his own noose with negative comments, if he so wishes. Instead, we are left wondering whether Davis or Johnson is more guilty of "conduct detrimental to the team."
Oh yeah, it's also worth noting that KJ has not been arrested, hasn't been driving drunk with his shirt off, hasn't been rolling fatties in his SUV, and hasn't been anything other than a popular player. I mean, maybe this rubs people the wrong way but there could be far worse things. An incomplete, self-serving player? Yeah. But last I checked a guy like Hanford Dixon would have fit that description.
posted by Michael @ 11:27 AM
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