The Cleveland Browns have so much to be excited about in terms of what they added in the draft, but they are starting a disturbing trend as well.
After saying character is important in his defense of fourth round selection Antonio Callaway, Cleveland Browns general manager signed two undrafted free agent with their own alleged incidents involving women. Since he’s been in charge of the Browns, Dorsey has traded for and signed a lucrative extension with Jarvis Landry, who was charged with domestic battery. The case was eventually dismissed despite the presence of surveillance video as it wasn’t entirely clear what exactly happened with Landry and the woman involved changed her mind.
Zaycoven Henderson, a defensive tackle out of Texas A&M who is reportedly signing an undrafted rookie contract, was arrested on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence and possession of marijuana. According to the police report, Henderson pointed a gun at three women, then tried to get rid of the gun.
Henderson has not been indicted to this point, but Texas A&M sought fit to suspend him from the team’s bowl appearance and ultimately decided not to allow him to participate at the team’s Pro Day. Notable, as Johnny Manziel was allowed to participate. If Henderson were indicted and convicted, he could face between two and 20 years in prison.
Montrel Meander, the free safety from Grambling, has reportedly agreed to sign a undrafted free agent deal with the Browns. Before Grambling, Meander attended the University of Texas where he was charged with sexual assault.
The victim says she had too much to drink before agreeing to go back to Meander’s dorm room. After initially consenting to have sex with Meander, the victim said Kendall Sanders showed up at which point she said she wanted to stop and they wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The defense argued that the victim consented, but was embarrassed when Sanders took photos of her and then reported it as a crime. Despite the charges being dismissed, Meander and Sanders were both expelled per school policy. This actually led to a lawsuit against the school, but Meander ended up at Grambling where he finished his college career.
Florida wide receiver Antonio Callaway was ruled “not responsible” of a sexual assault charge in a Title IX case after arguing he was too high to have sex with anyone. The woman who said she was unable to give consent refused to appear at the hearing because the University of Florida appointed a booster to hear the case.
Callaway had three known failed drug tests Florida for marijuana, was suspended multiple times and failed the so-called idiot test at the Combine as he failed a scheduled test. He also was cited for driving 95mph in a 65mph zone with a suspended license.
Callaway was suspended for all of last season after he was alleged to be part of a credit card scheme where Florida players used credit cards to buy electronics, which then were resold for cash according to sworn testimony. Many of the players, including Callaway, were able to avoid criminal charges because of a pre-trial intervention. They had to complete a program set forth by the school to have the charges effectively dropped.
That was probably as exhausting to read as it was to write and it begs the question, what the hell are we doing? On a weekend where fans should be excited some genuinely great things the Browns did that could really turn this team around, this is the lingering feeling.
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Where is Dee Haslam? She just left her position as CEO of RIVR media to get more involved with the organization. Haslam has been on the player conduct board specifically to give a voice to women and these types of issues. And since Dorsey has arrived, he’s added four of them.
And yes, some of you are saying the charges were dropped or they were ruled not guilty. And hopefully they all are truly innocent. Meander seems like the most innocent, even if his behavior wasn’t ideal. It’s not just adding one player anymore. It’s now adding three in a single day, so it feels like piling on. Two of them might not be here in a month, but why are the Browns going down this road to try to improve their roster? The juice simply isn’t worth the squeeze and there are plenty of capable players out there that do things the right way.
It furthers this belief by so many that football players are bad people. They see players get off or get over in fishy circumstances and they assume it’s because they are football players and that everyone is like that when crime rates are pretty consistent with the general population. Most football players, aside from being physically so much bigger, are pretty normal, nice people.
But don’t have John Dorsey and Hue Jackson tell me character matters. It’s completely disingenuous lip service. They are counting on the media (who did a great job pushing the issue with Dorsey) to stop asking about it and covering it. They are confident fans won’t pay enough attention to make a difference in their likelihood to buy tickets or products. If that changes, so will the Browns.
Dorsey was specifically asked about the Me Too movement and the implications that could play a role here. It absolutely can if fans from both genders decide it’s unacceptable. Being able to catch a football or tackle someone isn’t a good enough reason to look past all misdeeds and the line needs to be moved.
This stands out to female fans, mostly, because the incidents target women, but it’s for anyone. Women in particular are a huge portion of NFL fans that are treated incredibly poorly and rarely even considered. Just throw some pink gear at them and maybe they won’t notice.
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Simply because they don’t know, fans were more outraged with how a player treated dogs than how players treat women. And some of this is due to the fact it’s so commonplace that it barely draws notice, which is the most disturbing part. This isn’t to suggest that anyone should go protest Callaway, Landry or any other player specifically, but the target should be Dorsey, the Cleveland Browns organization as a whole.
The question when it comes to the Cleveland Browns is how do fans think the team should represent them? Is winning at any cost acceptable or is there a very clear line that shouldn’t be crossed? That as much as fans want their team to win, they also want people they can feel good rooting for, rather than cheering for guys on the field that they wouldn’t want anywhere near them or their loved ones. They are your Cleveland Browns after all.