We’re trying not to let ourselves be too depressed by this storyline that tells us that there will be no quarterback controversy in Cleveland this year. We assume that Phil Savage knows what he’s doing here — that he couldn’t have just let Derek Anderson walk away for nothing in the off-season, that keeping him around will be good for Brady Quinn’s development and for the team, and will allow the Browns to make a better decision about their quarterback situation in 2009. But $14.5 million, the amount of guaranteed money in Anderson’s new deal, is a lot of cash. Especially considering his meltdown in the must-win week 17 match against the Bengals, and that our grandma would have made the Pro Bowl last year throwing to those receivers behind that offensive line against those opponents.
The Anderson/Quinn quandary had us uneasy enough before we came across a couple of items that suggest that star receiver Braylon Edwards might not have his priorities in order. First there’s this piece from Mike at WFNY about Braylon’s untied diamond studded bowtie look at last week’s ESPY awards (pictured above), which we might have let slide until we read this article from ESPN the Magazine that’s linked in the WFNY bowtie piece. Apparently Edwards has “big-screen dreams.” He wants to make it big in Hollywood. This doesn’t make Braylon much different from millions of LA residents, high school drama clubbers, and university drama majors from coast to coast — except that Braylon has an NFL career to keep him busy, and has enough money and name recognition to allow him to pursue his Hollywood dream in a way that so many of these others may not. And it appears that Braylon is dedicating no small portion of his time and energy to doing this.
This doesn’t seem to bother Mike at WFNY, who says that “Braylon is fully aware that his game is what gets his foot in the door.” Easy for Braylon to say, but our question is, what happens to his game once his foot is in this door? Cliff Lee has shown what a difference a properly focused off-season can make. Success in any major pro sport doesn’t seem like something that anyone could take for granted. And Hollywood stardom is something that only a tiny percentage of one percent who seek it achieve. Every minute spent chasing it is a minute not spent on football, or rest and recuperation. While it’s possible that Braylon’s pursuit could be viewed as “rest” of a certain kind, nothing more than a harmless hobby, a few quotes from the ESPN Mag piece trouble us here:
#1: “‘When I see LeBron having these huge posters all over Cleveland or doing Saturday Night Live—he deserves all the respect he gets,’ Edwards says. ‘I’d like to be the King of Cleveland because I’m doing the exact same things consistently, like he’s been doing. I’m trying to get to that level.’”
The exact same things as LeBron? Consistently? ??? ????? At the very least this suggests that Braylon might not understand how much work there is to be done before he and the Browns achieve a fraction of the success that LeBron has with the Cavs. (The playoffs would be a good start, Bray.)
#2: “As Skall pulls out of the Film 44 parking lot and heads crosstown to meeting No. 2, Edwards whips out his iPhone and calls his tailor. Edwards has an idea for a suit, and he wants to brainstorm the concept.”
What happens if Braylon, inspired by the Dawg Pound faithful, gets ‘an idea for a suit’ in the middle of a game? Is there room for these kind of ideas in this game of inches. Can the Browns afford distractions like this?
#3: “‘The Entourage guys want to hang out while I’m in town,’ [Braylon] says with a megawatt smile. ‘I thought, Wow, they want to hang out! Okay, that’s cool.’”
And if the Entourage guys want to hang out on a Saturday before a big game? Then what? Braylon himself believes that “[i]t’s who you’re shaking hands with, who you’ve been a friend to, who’s been on your side forever. These are the people who get the roles.” Based on how taken Braylon is with the Hollywood scene, how can we be sure that his Hollywood handshakes won’t interfere with high fives in the Dawg Pound?
#4: “The 25-year-old Browns receiver’s ensemble was carefully designed, he says, to show he’s professional and fun. Even his fragrance, Bond No. 9, serves a higher purpose. ‘It’s my war cologne,’ he says. ‘It’s a strong, masculine scent. I wear it when I’m trying to show confidence or be dominant.’”
?!?!?!?! War cologne!?! Here we’ll point out that Braylon is a Michigan grad. We don’t begrudge anyone for pursuing his dreams, but we hope that Braylon remembers that he has a great thing going with this NFL gig, and should have plenty of time and money with which to pursue his Hollywood dreams once the NFL gig is up. Unfortunately, once a guy is telling reporters about his war cologne it’s probably too late.
