Mike Lombardi vs. Joe Haden: Who’s Too Slow for What?

by Cleveland Frowns on July 20, 2010

We’ve written before that we should probably never expect Mike Lombardi to write reasonably about any Browns player, manager, or presumptive draftee as long as Eric Mangini is coaching the team, and hope it will be soon enough that Lombardi can write something about the Browns and everybody can ignore it. But until then, here’s Lombardi’s latest, this time on Joe Haden:

According to coaches around the league, Browns first-round pick Joe Haden has not been very impressive in camps and might not have enough speed to play corner. Maybe all that talk about some in the organization wanted [sic.] to take Kyle Wilson over Haden was true.

We should probably start with the obvious question: What are “coaches around the league” doing at Browns camp? Did Mangini invite them? Did he send out tapes? If so, he’s come along way from Spygate.

Wait. Spies. There could be spies in Browns camp who are glad to tell coaches around the league  about their own team’s specific weaknesses. It might even be a Browns coach who wants the team to do poorly … so … he … can … lose his job.

Wait. Really, who could it be? They say Haden is competing with Eric Wright for a starting job. Maybe it’s Eric Wright who’s talking to coaches around the league.

Wait. It’s mini-camp. They’re not even rushing the passer yet. They’re not even in pads. How much can we really know about a rookie cornerback after mini-camp?

Too many questions here, so let’s back up and review what we do know.

  • We know (well, I know, and you will know after you read this) that Lombardi emailed me last season and said among other things that, “it is my right to not like [Mangini], and not have to justify my sources to you,” and that “Mangini will blow the [2010 draft], there is no doubt in my mind.”*

So let’s connect the dots. A former NFL personnel exec who can no longer find a job in the league now writes a widely-read column based largely on anonymous sourcing.  This columnist has demonstrated and confessed an unmistakable intent to exercise “his right not to like Eric Mangini,” and has invested his credibility in the conclusion that Mangini isn’t fit to be an NFL head coach.  This columnist knows that if fans are irrationally impatient about anything, it’s draft picks, and when Joe Haden looks to be Eric Mangini’s presumptive choice as a first round pick, this columnist starts “hearing” that Haden won’t be any good.  The Browns end up choosing Haden, sparking unfounded rumors that Kyle Wilson was the guy they really wanted.  It soon becomes clear that with Sheldon Brown and Eric Wright around, the Browns have the flexibility to bring Haden along relatively slowly, giving cover to anyone who wants to inflame fan impatience and bring a head coach down by taking unfounded shots at the rookie cornerback. (“Hey, the first-rounder isn’t starting! What’s wrong with him? What’s wrong with this organization?!”)

Now Mike Lombardi is, amazingly, “hearing from coaches around the league” that Haden was “not very impressive in camps and might not have the speed to play corner,” and wondering if “maybe all that talk about some in the organization wanted to take Kyle Wilson over Haden was true.”

If anybody’s “too slow” here, it sure doesn’t seem to be Haden.  Do you think this guy would have a job if his last name wasn’t Lombardi?  No relation, by the way.

Meanwhile, everyone else seems to think that Haden is doing just fine.

That’s all for now. Back with more later. Hope everyone’s Tuesday gets off to a decent start in the meantime.

———-

*Here’s another gem from a Lombardi email to me (all in a back-and-forth regarding his aforementioned Mangini hit-job at National Football Post):

“You have no clue, I have spent over 23 years in the NFL.  Where did you learn the game?  Can you get anyone from the NFL to return your calls?”

I meant to email Lombardi to tell him that I didn’t need to spend 23 years in the NFL or be able to get anyone from the NFL to return my calls to go 10-1 against the spread with my playoff picks (while he was flailing away at 5-6 with his on Bill Simmons’ podcast) but I never got around to it, which is sort of a bummer.

  • smittypop2

    I am not a fan of Mangini at all (as everyone knows), but Lombardi is a bum. His analysis is off about 92% of the time. I do like the sweet burn on the picks. You should lay into him again.

  • Biki

    BTW, did you ever consider that maybe this was put out there by the Browns? Joe Haden is currently unsigned and is negotiating his contract. A #7 pick typically gets a healthy signing bonus, but rarely is a DB taken this high. We're talking about millions of dollars here so who knows, maybe Holmgren leaked out something about his speed so that maybe they have some bargaining chips while negotiating???

    I mean afterall, if it's not true, there really is no skin off Holmgren's back, in fact, it may even put a chip on Haden's shoulder to prove Lombardi and the naysayers wrong.

    Save a couple million bucks in guaranteed money over a leak of Haden's speed, or apparent lackthereof? It's all fun and games in this negotiating process till someone gives in. I really see no downside to the Browns leaking this.

  • Cleveland Frowns

    Yeah, I'd rather not think that the Browns organization leaks malicious lies about its own players in order to lowball them in contract negotiations. I'd like to think that's no way to treat an employee.

    Biki, everyone. He'll be here all week.

    (Smitty, thanks. It's a sweet burn because it's true.)

  • Redz.Harvest

    Damn.

    That's some very unprofessional sportsmanship Lombardi is showing off in those emails to you. wow.

  • Biki

    "malicious lies"?? saying someone slow is a "malicious lie"?? again, Haden will probably demand a bonus in the range of $25+ million (last year's #7 pick Heyward-Bey got $23m

    what about your theory last year of Mangini purposely benching Brady so that they wouldn't have to pay him his bonus?? which was only what, like $4 million?

    who knows what Haden and his camp are thinking in terms of bonus. And it is odd that this story was leaked the week that rookies are schedule to come in for their rookie camp.

    again, assuming this Haden is not as slow as Lombardi would have us believe, the worst that happens is Haden's feelings are hurt and he tries extra hard to improve his speed. i wouldn't consider that "malicious"

    i'm just sayin…

  • jimkanicki

    "You have no clue, I have spent over 23 years in the NFL. Where did you learn the game? Can you get anyone from the NFL to return your calls?"

    (Lombardi created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple 'do you know who I am' dare and going right for the throat! )

  • whyimbored

    on the money w/ this entire post – with the exception that you assert there was some infallible logic supporting Mangini's retention.

    Lombardi's ax-to-grind is blatant and his employers should be ashamed.

  • Cleveland Frowns

    An untruth that reflects negatively on someone is by definition a "malicious lie."

    It's an underhanded way to do business.

    Not playing someone because you don't think they're worth an $11 million incentive payment is a lot different.

  • Biki

    underhanded way to do business? obviously you forget about the Josh Cribbs contract negotiations. There was a lot of smoke-screen put out there by BOTH parties.

    again, i really don't see the downside to someone from the Browns leaking this. it actually seems like a no-brainer to me.

    Save a few million: POSITIVE
    Put a chip on Haden's shoulder: POSITIVE

    Regardless, let's just hope this doesn't drag out past this week and he is signed in time for Rookie Camp.

    I know you have an axe to grind with Lombardi, with some merit, but I'm not sure about this one. Smells kinda fishy to me.

  • Cleveland Frowns

    whyimbored: "on the money w/ this entire post – with the exception that you assert there was some infallible logic supporting Mangini's retention."

    You must be new around here.

    Try here: http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/2009/12/word-to-president-holmgren.html

    Here:
    http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/2010/01/you-count-on-this-player-and-something.html

    And here:
    http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/2010/01/browns-dominate-jacksonville-over.html

  • Biki

    i guess it isn't necessary that he sign by this Friday when rookies have to report, but at least by next Friday.

  • nicholas

    Nailed It!

  • rgrunds

    Biki,

    that reflects and accurate view of life. You are correct to think of a Brown's leak as a possibility.

    Organizational relationships are not one sided and contain all the ambiguities of people working for a common goal and as adversaries.

    The world can be a very dangerous place.

  • Chris

    Cribbs was kicking down the "new contract" door before Heckert and Holmgren's seats were warm. They got the deal done, and they didn't say anything bad about Cribbs.

    I can't see Holmgren leaking news that his inaugural first round pick is too slow to play his natural position. I'd hope he's a little more professional than that.

    On a side note, you should think about putting a timer up in the corner with the countdown to training camp, Pete. If you did it for Stupid Time, surely something as momentous as this deserves it, no?

  • Biki

    well i really don't see any harm in it whatsoever. phil jackson does these types of things all the time as a form of inspiration. sure has hurt his success rate. although in his case, he is on record as saying it, whereas this is a leak. but leaks are incredibly commonplace in the NFL, much more than any other league.

    i really don't see the upside of other coaches leaking that Haden is too slow. again it just seems to me that it is only something that will motivate Haden to be the best player he can be to prove the naysayers wrong.

    there's no way to know one way or another, but we may get an idea based on the Signing Bonus of Haden.

    What do you guys say the over/under on his bonus is anyway? $25 million?

    how about the over/under on when he signs? shall we set it at 7/30, which according to his agent they want him to be in by?

    we shall see. of course none of it will prove the Browns did or did not leak this.

  • Cleveland Frowns

    Yes, we know, it's Heart of Darkness starring Biki and Grunds, each of whom has abdicated any responsibility for human evolution as a function of human behavior. Biki does it unintentionally, while Grunds, who acknowledges his choice to give up, cheers Biki on to do the same.

    You guys are caricatures. Grunds, tell us now about how evolution is really a lie, and that if things have gotten better for man at all over time, that it's just an accident.

    "The world can be a dangerous place. DERP."

    Go rape housecats instead of posting here then.

  • Redz.Harvest

    Biki – not sure about most of that, but I do know that Phil Jackson's player quotes are unmistakably, immediately and directly attributed to him. Those are not slow leaks or dribbles coming out of the side of his mouth. That's a very different kind of game, I think.

  • Pittsburgh is for Man Lovers

    That email response was great – he just wanted to let you know he was kind of a big deal.

  • Biki

    yes Redz, i prefaced that Phil does it directly, but the bottom line is the same. at times he has motivated by talking about their deficiencies and then the player has more times than not risen above said deficiencies.

    Frownie, how can you be SO CONVINCED that the Browns would not have leaked this? Again, it seems like a harmless leak to me that is positive all the way around for the Browns, unless of course he is slow, then it doesn't matter who leaked what because it will be obvious on the field.

    Again, it's just a theory and there really is no way to prove it one way or the other. I guess one sign would be to see if this contract negotiation drags out or if he gets in on time, and for what number? Like I said, I'm guessing Haden's camp wants $25million+. We shall see where the Browns stand on that.

    Not sure how this anything to do with the evolution of human behavior. NFL contract negotations is big business with millions of dollars on the line and every year we see heated negotiations and holdouts and public statements, blah, blah, blah. If you're telling me the NFL sets the standard for evolution of human behavior.. it's a business, BIG business. and when there are dozens of millions of dollars involved IN ONE CONTRACT, there is a possibility of gamesmanship to get the best VALUE.

    of course because of your little tiff with Lombardi, you have to be 1000% right on this, although you have no evidence otherwise to contradict Lombardi other than your 10-1 run in the playoffs. LOL

  • El Capitan

    Its amazing that the guy has spent that long in the NFL and doesn't understand it. Actually, its sad.

    [sic]!

  • rgrunds

    Frowns you poor sport bad loser,

    You're having a tizzy. Your panties are in an uproar. Now you calm down……

    Biki's right…me too…

    Evolution is not necessarily enhanced by moral behavior. The question is not why man is not more moral, but why is he as moral as he is or moral at all?

    Take it from a moralist, (pretty, little me) that utilitarian relations run the world and the moralist stands alone, subject to aggregate violence. See Solzhenitsyn. Maintenance values have priority over all others.

    But, Biki's point stands and reflects the ambiguities of commercial relations. You can't have an organization without at least minor deceits and maneuvering. The parties just have to maneuver at a level that doesn't spoil the fundamental benefit of a mutual relation.

    Nothing new.

    Now you calm down until you can play with the other children without name calling…..

  • Cleveland Frowns

    Let me see if I can simplify this for you, Grund. Utilitarianism is morality. The only worthy morals are those that are useful, and useful morals maintain (thus, your reference to "maintenance values" is useless here). The moralist who stands alone is the moralist without useful morals.

    Biki's point doesn't stand because Biki is arguing that maliciously lying about one's employees in the press is a good idea, at least in this case. Anyone who establishes a reputation for maliciously lying about his employees will eventually stand alone, as lying fosters a fundamental lack of trust, which serves to undermine any relationship, mutually beneficial or not. This lying tactic is only useful if the liar doesn't get caught, and/or the relationship doesn't otherwise erode from being based on false principles. The problem there is that it's really hard to see that any speculative upside (The idea that Haden will get a chip on his shoulder and the team would save money signing him for less than market value) is worth the risk here. Why even go into this murk?

    Try speaking English next time.

  • rgrunds

    FrOrange,

    you are absolutely right, morality is a murk. Is not a legitimate expectation in a business setting.

    The Browns leaked as a negotiating strategy.

    You are so right. Good job.

  • Biki

    how does not my point stand? all i'm saying is that it is POSSIBLE. you think it is IMPOSSIBLE??? it is definitely a possibility. don't you think the timing of this story is a little peculiar? the week of rookies are supposed to show up and probably the most heated time of rookie contract negotiations?

    you seem to hope and expect the Browns not to negotiate this way, but how do you know that they don't? just like Lombardi asked you, have you've ever been in an NFL front office personnel's office, let alone worked for one ? have you worked on and NFL player contract negotations? have you worked on a rookie contract where there is a lot of speculation built into the contract?

    neither have I, so I don't claim to know one way or the other. i'm just pointing out that it COULD be a possibility.

    furthermore, it isn't a "malicious lie", Lombardi is not fabricating Haden's 40 times at the combine. i believe in the 4.5+ range. that clearly is on the slower end for top-flight CB's.

    again, the proof will be in the pudding. if we get him signed for less than a $25 million dollar bonus, i think there COULD be some merit to someone from the Browns leaking it.

    or who knows, maybe there is a competitor agency who is trying to make Haden's agent look bad and is trying to drive Haden's price down???

    there are a lot of possibilites, but you seem to think that the only thing in play here is Lombardi doing another hit piece on the Browns. that may very well be true, but i just don't see what evidence you have to prove it.

  • Cleveland Frowns

    WHERE'S BALLA?

  • Chris

    I'll just stand in the "Lombardi is full of sh.." corner and assume he made it up. That certainly COULD be the case.

  • Biki

    i like Lombardi, he was around when the Browns were actually a good team. whether he was making this up or not, i have no clue, and it definitely COULD be a possibility, but my aunt COULD be my uncle if she had balls.

  • Believelander

    yo dawg it be time fo Haden an dem Browns to come togetha and put it to the MAN dawg

    All Together!

    …no, seriously, I'm with Frowns today. I've been gingerly tiptoeing around the issue of discussing the posts of the last few days, so I am going to digress right now really quick.

    Frowns, you're wrong. LeBron's decision was his own damn fault. He's a grown up, the same age as I am, and he screwed up big time and hurt a lot of people for a shot at personal glorification. It was wrong on his part, not on the part of Dan Gilbert, a businessman, and he and we have nobody to blame but LeBron. Don't forget, it was LeBron who decided to rid himself of legitimate agents or other counsel in the NBA to be represented by a group of street thug hooligan sycophants with names like Maverick. It's just this simple, and there's no reading into it. A grown man screwed up, and it was his own fault. That's now off my chest, moving on.

    Today, Frowns, you're completely correct. There's no way that there's any top guy in the Browns who would leak this, especially for the paper-thin reasoning that Biki gives. Let's break it down into two sections.

    1) Coach Mangini: Yeah, right. The guy whose entire coaching philosophy is centered around character, dedication, honesty, etcetera. Because even if he's a complete sociopath who comments on clevelandfrowns.com, he has to know that if he leaked this sort of thing to influence a player and it got out, it ruins his credibility with a whole city and his entire team. Not a risk-reward intelligent play.

    2) Heckert and Holmgren: So let's be honest. If this rumor catches on that Joe Haden is a slow cornerback, it's not going to deter his agent one bit from negotiating using all the pressure the Browns have on themselves to sign this pick. There is an expectation that this pick will play, and perform, and the Browns look bad if he doesn't. So clearly, it's wise to make the pick, and the Browns, to look bad before ever proving that your pick is good and can play. It has no means of decreasing Haden's market price. Sorry, Biki, but that's just not how professional player agents operate. So let's break down the risk/reward analysis and scenarios for the front office to espouse this rumor.

    a) The rumor succeeds, Sneaky Holmgren doesn't get caught. They gain zero leverage against Haden's agent and make their pick (themselves?) look bad. Net gain: $0. Joe Haden hypothetically achieves a shoulder chip. This chip increases his speed by 0.00%, as it has a 0% increase on his cardiovascular potential and a 0% increase to the power of his lower body muscles. Perhaps the anger at this branding makes him go after players harder? So he either hits people harder, possibly beneficial, unless it causes him to injure himself, or he misses tackles going after the big hit. Or he misses tackles because he's distracted due to said chip. I don't think there'll be any chip on Joe's shoulder, but since you made it seem like it's going to have such a noticeable impact, Bik, I wanted to go into the effects of playing angry and distracted. No matter what, this scenario is a zero sum risk.

    b) The rumor gets out and succeeds, and even after all this, the Browns can't get Haden's price down where they want it and decide to trade his rights to someone who wants to deal with it. You have now created a rumor that your headcase pick you couldn't sign for smaller money is too slow to play corner in the NFL. Good idea.

    c) the fact that you created this rumor leaks. You have now damaged the relationship between front office and coach, player and organization, player and coach, and team and organization, and city and front office. What an amazing plan.

  • Believelander

    It just doesn't track. Maybe your organization saves a few million in bonuses in an uncapped salary year where you simply frontload guaranteed money so it doesn't appear on the player's salary cap quota in future capped years, when you have an owner who is willing to spend money to get the job done. This is how Ben Watson's contract was negotiated. And I don't see this level of potentially PR and trust-damaging arm-twisting to have any sort of real value to the organization, even in a world bereft of any moral considerations, such as is dwelt in by some of our fellow commenters here at Frowns.

    3) Mike Lombardi clearly dislikes Eric Mangini and will say anything to discredit him, even if his anonymous source ACTUALLY DOESN'T EXIST, because there is NO way to prove that the source doesn't exist, any more than there is to prove that the Browns didn't leak this info. All you can do in these sort of things is go by what makes sense, and options 1 and 2 make no sense, whereas option 3 tracks pretty well. As stated by Pete.

  • Biki

    @Believelander – 5 in a row baby! let's go for 6 tonight.

    in terms of NFL leaks, when have you EVER heard of someone getting fingerpointed for leaks??? no one ever gets pinched and it seems to happen all the time. it's just the nature of the beast.

    How does anyone know that Lombardi made this up or not, without just going on a leap of faith of assuming the guy ALWAYS has it out for the Browns (which I disagree with).

    I mean i'm not saying I'm right, but it is something to be considered AS A POSSIBILITY.

    again, i think it will be interesting to see how this whole negotiation process plays out. everyone can speculate all they want but the time it takes to get Haden in and the number he signs for will all be things to keep an eye on.

  • Chris

    This columnist has demonstrated and confessed an unmistakable intent to exercise "his right not to like Eric Mangini,"

    With Mangini employed as the head coach of the Browns, it's really easy to make the connection. Anything positive he says about the Browns will reflect on Mangini directly. It's not rocket surgery here.

  • Bryan

    This is destructive. Well done.

  • Carl

    Here is my experience with Michael Lombardi…..

    About 4-5 months ago I sent a question to him and two other guys at The National Football Post.

    This was because an anti-Brown guy on a blog told me that Heckert didn't do anything in Philly (I wanted Heckert 2 years ago as GM once they passed on Scott Pioli) other then be Reid's gopher. That's kind of dumb because of all the work a GM has to do, but I went ahead and emailed the 3 guys.

    Lombardi's response was that Heckert didn't really do much and was being phased out. The other two responses were that Heckert was the GM — he hired and headed up the scouts, put the draft board together, negotiated contracts, worked to stay under the cap, etc.

    Lombardi has it in for all things Browns. He appears to be a political player that quotes a lot of inspirational phrases.

    Wilson may be a better CB then Haden, who knows. But I very much doubt that Haden will prove to be a washout.

  • Carl

    Take it from a moralist, (pretty, little me) that utilitarian relations run the world and the moralist stands alone, subject to aggregate violence. See Solzhenitsyn. Maintenance values have priority over all others.
    _____________

    Bless you rgrunds!

    Goodness, I haven't run into anyone talking about Alexander in maybe 30 years.

    WHAT A WRITER!

    I read all his books in the 70's, except for 'The Gulag Archipelago' which I tried to read but couldn't follow because I was not up enough on the old USSR's history….actually, the book tried to explain their real history to their own citizens that had it withheld from them (by Solzhenitsyn interviewing former leaders in Stalin's gulag camps).

    I learned two important lessons from the man:

    1. From some Russian Jews I met in Cleveland in the 70's I realized that the man was "no friend of the Jews". He spoke so lovingly of so many groups of people in the USSR, but I realized I'd never read him say something nice about the Jewish people in the USSR.

    and

    2. He helped me understand why the Berlin Wall fell.

    Back around 1981 I read an article in a computer journal by a science/history writer that taught
    at MIT. She had gone over to Moscow that summer as she had every summer for years, and suddenly realized that all the billboards encouraging the population to learn to use PC's had been removed. And the display's of PC's in bookstores had been removed as well.

    I thought back to how 'The Gulag Archipelago' had been published (in the early 70's). Solzhenitsyn had a network of dissidents that helped transcribe chapters of the book on toilet paper — because toilet paper was the thinnest paper available. They made multiple copies of the chapters, had a complex scheme to load them into hundreds of small boxes, and smuggled the boxes out of the country at numerous sites over a period of time. Some of the boxes did not get through security, but enough did to have the book reassembled in another country (forget which one), and subsequently to have it published.

    Yet if the guy had a computer 10 years later, he could have put the entire book on one or two of the old 5" floppies, instead of hundreds of boxes. So I began to wonder — how does a totalitarian country that wants to control the flow of information allow its citizens to uses computers? And if it's citizens do not use computers, how does it stay competitive in the modern world.

    The USSR government couldn't figure it out. Sure the county collapsed. It was like in WWI when hordes of Russians holding rocks and sticks attacked enemies that had automatic weapons.

    Along the same lines — I haven't kept up with the spat between Google and the government of China that started last winter. The European Information Minister came down on the side of Google saying they had the right to keep information tied to ID's confidential. The Chinese Government wanted the right to view Google email accounts from people it determined to be dissidents. Last I heard, Google shut down their servers in China and was negotiating with the government.

    Anyone know the current status?

  • rgrunds

    Carl,

    yeah, Solzhenitsyn.

    He is not crazy about the Jews, but is not necessarily a racist or virulent anti-semite. He supported the state of Israel and described many Jews he respected in his books.

    His book on the Jews in Russia, "200 Years Together" may not be in English yet. I want to read it. It may be fair comment. My people are a complex group…..kinda like the Greeks. Actually, a LOT like the Greeks.

  • Carl

    Back to the important stuff….

    Lombardi and Grossi (PD) have been friends professionally for years. They seem to use one another as sources a lot.

    Lot's of people hate Mangini, and they have very good reasons to (what can you say about a guy that was flying back from a playoff loss with the team, and on the way he tried recruiting Belichick's coaches telling them he had the Jets job. No wonder Belichick had the locks changed on the Patriot offices when the plane touched down).

    Now Mangini is a brilliant guy. And hopefully Holmgren gets the rough edges off. I've heard him interviewed at length, and find him to be a delightful, likeable person.
    ___________

    By the way, I haven't see this anywhere else…..

    Terry Pluto showed up on Les Levine's program last Thursday night (he's usually on on Thursday's), and said that Holmgren had talked to the coaching staff a few weeks earlier and told them they were talking last week off as a paid vacation. Said they were working too many hours, it wasn't necessary at this point in the summer. Explained that security would not let them in their offices, and that he was commanding them to take a week off, and he highly recommended they take their families somewhere.

    Ah, leadership.

  • Biki

    Our beloved Defensive Coordinator, Rob Ryan, was with Lombardi for 4 seasons with the Raiders.. maybe Rob Ryan is the leak!

  • Biki

    btw, Bron down from 3rd most popular athlete to 6th..

  • Carl

    Tweet From Brian Windhurst
    _______________

    # As an aside, set up my entire summer schedule around tonight's Tom Petty show and it was just postponed. 3rd row. Major bummer.

    about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
    _______________

    Hasn't been a good summer for Brian.

  • Believelander

    Biki, I'll give you Rob Ryan straight up, if only for shoulder-chip mechanics. If such a thing got out that Rob Ryan was the source, he could (truthfully) say he was just trying to ramp his guy up to get him to put a whipping on some bad guys. It's also possible that Ryan confided in Lombardi, not intending to have the information reported on, and Lombardi broke that confidence, albeit leaving the source unnamed.

  • the commenter formerly known as p

    i don't know carl – this might end up being the best summer of brian's life. he got tons of national exposure during this whole lebron spectacle. i'm sure he wished that he could have gotten that exposure in some other way, but still.

  • Biki

    yeah i can't recall a time anyone got revealed as a source. most of these journalists take this stuff to the grave if they ever want to get another piece of inside scoop again. just doesn't make sense for the leaker to get outed, by the journalist at least.

    let's just get the kid signed and get him in so that we can find out ourselves as to how quick he is in pads, etc.

  • Believelander

    It's definitely the best summer of Brian Windhorst's career.

  • Believelander

    The WFNY post mentions the 'ant-like strength' that people have described Haden as having – being extremely strong for his weight and stature, which lends to good game speed when dealing with full equipment. And of course Frowns didn't mention from the WFNY article the unofficial pro-day sub 4.4 he ran after the Combine, probably after the high school quarterback turned walk-on Florida cornerback (?) got some tips on running the 40, something that wouldn't have been important to him pre-NFL combine.

  • Biki

    best hafl of a summer maybe, but can't imagine it's any fun from here on out, especially with missing Tom Petty tongiht.

    i'm sure he'll have a book written about the process of LBJ leavin

  • Believelander

    I'm just saying, his career is going to +++ with the sheer level of national attention that the kid's gotten. I guess we in Cleveland can all feel good for our new Global Icon, Brian Windhorst.

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