If you’re one of the Cleveland fans who hates what has become of your team so much that you’re planning to protest at the next home game, Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has a message for you: He hates himself, too.
But Ryan still says he hopes fans don’t hate the Browns enough to turn their backs on them.
“I look at myself in the mirror, and I hate me,” Ryan said today.
Ryan added, however, that he’s hoping the fans can be persuaded not to follow through on a planned protest, which would include skipping the opening kickoff of the Monday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens on November 16.
“I hate me, too,” Ryan said. “So, they hate me. That doesn’t mean you turn your back. I’ve got a kid who flunked a class one time. I don’t turn my back on him, I go get him a tutor and help him. Now he’s a straight-A student, as far as you know.
Ryan’s comments come after Browns owner Randy Lerner issued a statement in response to the planned protest. But while Lerner’s statement was a bit confusing, Ryan was direct in his promise to fans that the Browns are going to get better, starting Sunday at Chicago.
“Bottom line is, my God, a little adversity happens, you don’t turn your back,” Ryan said. “You fight, you rub your hands together and you fight harder. That’s what we’re going to do on defense. It starts with Chicago. . . . We’re going to get after it this week.”
If Ryan is right and the Browns pull off the upset on Sunday, maybe that will be enough to convince Cleveland fans not to protest. But if Browns fans go through with it, they might want to do something other than skip the opening kickoff. After all, the special teams are about the only thing going well for the Browns this year.
His twin brother might want to be on his guard the next time they see each other.
I love Rob Ryan. He needs to understand the fans aren’t exactly protesting him and Mangini. They’re protesting what has been a sorry excuse for an NFL franchise since returning since 1999. People are quick to channel all those years of frustration towards the current coaching staff who quite frankly dont deserve it. The protest is aimed at Randy Lerner, the owner. We fans have seen poor decision after poor decision from our owner and it has lead to year after year of struggling. It’s just finally reached a tipping point where one of the most loyal fan bases in the country has finally had enough. But to be fair, protesting isn’t going to magically make the team into a playoff team. It’s going to take years of good drafting to get the Browns relevant again. They have been easily the worst drafting team in the league since ’99. Only one 1st round blue chip guy and that was Joe Thomas. It all starts with the draft.
Rob Ryan, pick up the white courtesy phone. Dr. Phil is on the other line.
Wow, I feel for the Browns fans. They are a very loyal group and have nothing to look forward to with Womangini there. Good luck you guys—you deserve better.
Rex always has been the smarter Ryan twin.
I wonder if Rob can still, “get another job in five minutes”.
Translation: Please keep buying tickets to watch our piece of shit football team, so I can keep my job, eat an entire bakery every morning, and keep my family in this nice neighborhood.
Fans protesting and boycotting all throughout the NFL. It’s the league’s answer to those tea parties, except with more teeth.
That’s what the Raidernation and the Hogs have been doing for a couple months now. Vote with your wallets everybody!!!
Florio – best comment I’ve ever heard from you about missing the best part of the Browns – Joe Cribbs returning the kickoffs. That is the truth.
As far as this guy named Ryan – who cares what he thinks. He’s only put up with this crap for 6 games or so. I’ve put up with it the majority of my life, especially the last 10 years. And if Ryan just doesn’t undertand it and equates it to his kid getting an “F” well then he’s an idiot.
I hope the stadium stays empty the whole game and every game after that until the team shows they can be respectable, competitive and perhaps win a good game. Its just like the expansion team. I wasn’t wishing for wins as much as I was just wishing for watching a competitive game.
Joe Cribbs? who’s Joe Cribbs is he any relation to Josh Cribbs……….. Some Browns fan eh buddy….
What kind of despicable prick throws his own kid under the bus? These Ryan boys are real class acts.
Glad to see it fall apart. My Steelers will get another sure win later on.
Seriously though, I understand fan loyalty and feel for the Browns Fans. I hope your ownership gets its act together and the boycott is a great idea!
BTW… Pay Cribbs whatever he wants…….
the funny part is Lerner is considered a good owner in England for not interfering too much in Aston Villa’s affairs
His openness, honesty and sighting himself as integral to the situation is refreshing. He doesn’t try to point fingers but rather reinforces his personal commitment to improve.
I like that.
“I hate me, too,” Ryan said. “So, they hate me. That doesn’t mean you turn your back. I’ve got a kid who flunked a class one time. I don’t turn my back on him, I go get him a tutor and help him.”
There you go.
They should get someone who is better at coaching to coach the coaches on how to coach better. Instead of just firing them and bringing in better coaches.
He’d actually make a really good general manager.
For the Browns.
Dude sounds a little bi-polar to me. Seriously, what good comes of voicing that opinion?
CTownHustla says:
October 30, 2009 8:48 PM
Joe Cribbs? who’s Joe Cribbs is he any relation to Josh Cribbs……….. Some Browns fan eh buddy….
Actually, Joe Cribbs was a running back for the Bills in the 80s and Josh is his nephew.
Browns fans ARE the Cleveland Browns. Not this garbage we’ve had to endure for 11 years now. Add one season where the move to Baltimore was announced halfway through the season, three years while we got our organization back together after the move, now this. That is 15 years of bad or no football. Give us a break, it’s long overdue.
“A little adversity”???? Rob Ryan has been here for all of 10 months. We’ve endured this same crap for the last 10 years. How disconnected is this?
Browns fans DON’T HATE ANYONE – they do HATE INEPT MANAGEMENT!!! Are there only 4 teams of Owners/GMs/Coaches in all of football who know how to BUILD and CONSISTENTLY run a pro football franchise? Indy, NE, Pittsburgh, Baltimore?
We want an owner who’s talented and driven enough himself to chose TWO PEOPLE who are excellent in their field – GM and Coach. The rest will follow.
I agree — it’s our team, our colors, our history. We were promised a professional football team by the NFL, and all we want is a competitive team that gives us reason to hope that next year might actually be better than this year. There really isn’t much right with the team, and there are systemic problems throughout at every level of the organization.
I hope that even fans who didn’t waste money on tickets will go down to the stadium and protest outside while the fans inside also do their thing… The changes made last offseason have set this team back even further, and there’s no hope in sight. Something’s got to give.
I gave up my PSLs and canceled my season tickets after the draft in April. I was already leaning against when Lerner hired Mangini (who seems like we get all of the arrogance of Bill Belichick coaching tree but without any of the proven coaching talent), but day 1 of the draft sealed the decision for me.
Now, the team is so agonizing to watch that I can’t even bring myself to go to the local Browns bar here in DC to watch the weekly trainwreck unfold.
Browns fans: Don’t protest!
Please read:
http://readandreact.net/2009/10/30/browns-fans-dont-protest/
Ryan is right.
You want a benchmark for the current state of the Browns hapless offense?
The 1999 expansion Browns managed to score 28 TD’s in 16 games, even though they were the lowest scoring offense in the league. (Ranked 31 out of 31 teams). That works out to 1.75 touchdowns per game.
The current Browns have scored a total of 4 offensive TD’s in the past 13 games (I know the games are off by a few), for an average of around .3 TD’s per game in that span.
So the expansion team, led by such rookies as Tim Couch, Darrin Chiaverini, and Kevin Johnson, along with retreads like Terry Kirby and Karim Abdul-Jabbar, were able to score at a rate almost 6 times as often as the current Browns.
By the way, the Browns two rookie WR’s in 1999 (a 2nd & 5th round pick) caught 110 passes for 1487 yards and 12 TD’s between them. The Browns two 2nd round pick WR’s this year have hauled in a total of 18 passes for 323 yards and 0 touchdowns in the first 7 games.
And that is what you would call offensive ineptitude of historic proportions.
Is Rob Ryan the new Head Coach in Cleveland?
Somebody better lift up his tummy and check for a vagina.
MDS wrote the article, not Florio, but it was a great piece. We can’t abandon these guys, especially the way Ryan’s unit is playing. They play touugh, physical defense and if the O could sustain a drive or 2 they wouldn’t get worn out halfway through the 3rd quarter.
Fellow Browns fans…..we need to realize our fate this year and look towards the draft. We have to give this clown Mangini a chance to change the culture (it needed changed), and we have to go to these games and root for Cribbs and Rogers before we lose them. We need to see Brady for the rest of the year to decide if we need a new QB, and we need to use our league high draft picks to stock pile in what is being called the deepest draft ever.
Let’s not jump off the bridge!!!!!
The only reason I can see anyone showing up in Browns Stadium is to watch the other team. Why would anyone waste time watching the Browns?
Having slept on this little PR stunt of Ryan’s you have to wonder whether it was MangIdiot approved… or just a smart public powerplay to position himself as a strong potential interim coach.
This guy is the worst coach the Ryans have produced. His defenses in Oakland got worse every year. I thought by not have Davis to tell him what to do, he would have the Browns building a solid group. But Noooo! This guy just stinks as a coordinator. He needs to go back to coaching what, the linebackers.
He is what I thought he was!
Dennis Green, thanks.
Funny comment about special teams from MDS, because during the Green Bay game we decided to wait until after Cribbs’ kickoff return to leave. It’s one of the few times in the stadium that everyone stops to take notice. I’m hoping the Browns lose the coin toss Monday Night. By the way, the Browns are somewhere around 0-8 since 2004 when they return a KO for a TD. Maybe Cribbs should stop at the one.
No need to hate Ryan (even though it beats me why he was hired in the first place, the Raiders defesne wasnt that good,especially against the run, the Browns achilles heel). The defense has no talent except for Sean Rogers and absolutely no depth. what do you expect.