Getty ImagesThe last thing Trent Richardson had to be expecting on Wednesday was that he was no longer going to be a part of the Cleveland Browns future plans. Richardson was the third overall pick in the draft just a season ago and he was just two games into his sophomore season with the team. It had to be even more difficult to take when he learned of his trade to the Indianapolis Colts – not from the Browns, Colts or his agent – but from turning on the radio.
According to Mark Schwab of CBS-19 and 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Richardson said a friend called him asking if he’d been traded. He told his friend to “shut up” and hung up the phone, but when he turned on his radio he learned that he had, in fact, been dealt to the Colts.
Information moves fast in this day and age but it seems a little callous for Richardson to have to find out about the trade in such a fashion. Colts owner Jim Irsay had been going crazy on Twitter over the acquisition for nearly an hour before the team announced the trade. It seems as though someone from the Browns could have relayed the team’s plans on to Richardson before the deal became public.
It would have come as a shock to Richardson either way that the team that had selected him just one year ago was already moving on but it still would have been better to hear the news from someone representing the teams involved in the deal first than from the radio.
Not very classy by the Browns, hardly a shock given their dysfunction. It could be Irsay threw off the timing, but when you’re dealing with the Colts, you know they have a big mouth owner so you may have to relay the information quicker than originally anticipated.
Now we officially have the 2 best guys out of the top 3 players drafted in 2012! Cleveland we love you!
if youre a browns fan….this has to be sickening!
It pays to listen to the radio. Avoid traffic jams, dress properly for the coming weather, find out who you’re working for tomorrow and what city you need to be in…..
poor poor poor browns fans
Shoot I bet he’s jumping for joy lol can’t say I blame him
Damn, that’s cold! Classy move. Guess it shouldn’t be a surprise-look at their criminal…oops! I mean classy owner.
T-Rich is better off, heading towards a ring opportunity, but how low of Cleveland to not even have the decency to let him know! Lombardi, Banner, and Chud are all duplicitous fools.
Sick! Not a surprise, considering it’s the Browns.
Factory of Classiness
Probably bad blood between Richardson and the Browns management, all this while i felt te agent should have relayed the message, probably agent was as blindsided as he was.
Stay classy, Cleveland!
‘Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That!’
The opposite of classy.
Not just the Browns fans, but I bet the players and coaches are equally as pissed. Seriously, Richardson was their best player. And of course Brandon Weeden probably already feels like he’s gone after this year.
The press conference that Browns CEO J. Banner and Chudz held was something though. Reporters could barely wait to get out insulting questions. My favorite was “What do you have to say to the fans out there who assumed a Richardson jersey was the safest player on the entire team that they could have purchased?” It was brutal and well deserved.
Is anybody really surprised at the clandestine nature of the Browns’ franchise?
That was a touch of “Lombardi class”.
There is classless, and then, we have The Browns!
probally best news he ever heard on the radio
Stay classy, Browns!
Stay Classy San Diego…
Well, buck up Trent, your career prospects just improved about tenfold.
Stay classy, Cleveland.
I’m not sentimental, but this kid played hurt for an entire season, and seemed to have done everything else the right way while in Cleveland. There’s a right way to treat people whether it’s a business environment or not. Banner reminds me of that dude from Billy Madison…”Business Ethics”.
Tactless, thoughtless. Browns lose respect for that one.
Joe Banner runs that team now. I expect nothing less. He’s yours now Cleveland.
Classic Joe Banner move.
TR was traded for Teddy Bridgewater
There is always a BIG off the field reason why stars get traded. The Browns claim they tried multiple times to contact him before they announced but he never answered. He has been unimpressive thus far and hopefully he gets a better shot in Indy. The bruising running back is a thing of the past and last years staff has gone by the wayside. If the Trent doesn’t fit, you must-a-quit.
Sad if true. Not the way to do things professionally, but then again…
is there a class action suit Brown’s fans can file against the team and Haslam? for not operating the franchise in good faith. this is absurd to start tanking the season after week 2
Factory of sadness strikes again.
Dude….I’d bet T-Rich is already knee deep in the playbook and out for blood.
That’s just a crappy way to treat people. He’s only been in Cleveland a little over a year, was the #3 for a rebuilding franchise…I mean he had to have started setting roots. Probably bought a home. Just a low class way to treat a young man who clearly thought he was part of the plans for the long term in that town.
Hopefully he’s excited by the oppo to leave the factory and get to an offense with real a real QB and legit recievers….I know my fantasy team is PUMPED!
Welcome to Indy #33. Well maybe not #33 any more. Vic Ballard is #33 here so how about #24 or #42? They both equal 6 when you add the 2 digits together. Either way, welcome to Indy.
He shouldn’t be upset, he should be thankful to leave the Browns & go to a team with a legit franchise QB.
Classless move by the organization. However, I’m sure Trent is glad that he actually has a shot now to play in the playoffs.
If I’m Trent Richardson I don’t care how I found out, I’m just celebrating all day. Finally out of the mistake on the lake!
Unprofessional on Irsay’s part. Browns didn’t even have a chance to reach him before sprung to Twitter.
Classless In Cleveland
This is an indication that some owners view players as assets and not human beings with feelings. A VERY classless move by the Browns IMO.
The Colts need to target Justin Blackmon next and own picks 1,3,5 of the 2012 draft..
Banner wasn’t known for being warm and fuzzy during his time in Philly.
Should have been handled better but not really surprising.
When he found out he was traded to a better team, he was overcome with joy
Lombardi ain’t sayin nothin to nobody. If it goes wring, it’s Joe Banner’s fault.
Poor Jimmy Haslem. He has no idea what his executives are doing but he wants $120 million from Cleveland taxpayers for stadium enhancements. Good luck with that.
cleveland will learn, as did philly, that joe banner isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. he and his team have always been good at winning the draft pick game. nobody ever attaches classy as an adjective to describe joe.
unfortunately, in philly many of those allegedly brilliant draft moves turned into kevin kolb and reggie brown and freddy mitchell.
I’m just shocked that people still listen to the radio.
Tough day for a season ticket holder, but long term success is what we all want. Going to be a painful 14 weeks…. Probably part of the reason Haslam got rid of PSL’s this year….. He didn’t want fans asking for a rebate errrrrr I mean refund!
surprised he turned down the music to hear a phone call and listen to talk radio
Wow, way to just dump a season going into week 3. Richardson gone and no genuine starting QB.
Turds are also Brown…coincidence? I think not!