In addition to the news that a Browns player was fined $1,701 during the preseason for not paying for a $3 bottle of water at the team hotel, we’re hearing of another practice that has some players and their agents upset.
Per multiple sources, the Browns establish a specific itinerary for the players upon arriving at the team hotel the evening before a home game. On the list, there’s a deadline for checking in, and a time set for a team meeting.
So if players don’t check into the hotel on time but they show up on time for the meeting, they get fined by coach Eric Mangini for being late.
In Mangini’s defense, the Browns aren’t the only team that does this. We know of at least one other. (And the other team isn’t Tom Coughlin’s “if you’re less than five minutes early you’re still late” Giants.) But other teams don’t care when the players check in to the hotel, as long as they show up on time for the meeting.
It’s just another example of the stuff that is creating a bad feeling in the Browns organization.
As one source explained it to us, “Mangini needs to learn how to pick his battles.”
We think the same advice applies to Channing Crowder.