Uh oh.Wayne informed me today that early this morning the Jets signed star wide receiver Braylon Edwards from the Cleveland Browns.
Newsday.com reports, "He's a tall, fast receiver, with the kind of prototype size-speed ratio NFL scouts covet. Edwards had a breakout year in 2007, with 80 catches for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns."
This sounds good, yes? We've been without a star receiver for Sanchez to throw to. Braylon clearly is the answer.
But here's the rub. No, it's not the fact, "Edwards is...prone to dropping a ton of passes - way, way too many for a receiver with his kind of raw talent."
Or, "The other downside is Edwards' off-field behavior. Early Monday morning, he allegedly punched a friend of [NBA basketball star] LeBron James outside a Cleveland nightclub. The NFL is investigating the incident, and could impose sanctions if it is determined Edwards violated the league's personal conduct policy."
Or, "Edwards was also partying with receiver Donte Stallworth in the hours before Stallworth struck and killed a man in Miami last March. Stallworth pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges."
None of these things bother me as much as this: I have reason to believe that the Cleveland Browns football team bears its OWN curse, and that Braylon Edwards may be bringing a piece of it with him to the Jets.
Here's my theory:
The Browns are cursed. Evidence? "Cleveland is one of the five NFL teams that has yet to qualify for the Super Bowl. Cleveland has not hosted a Super Bowl, making it the only NFL city to have neither hosted nor sent a team to the Super Bowl." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Browns
For more evidence, just look at their rocky history since the merger in 1970, and the last few years as a team, including this year's 0-4 start under OUR former coach Eric "Mangenious" Mangini. (and any Cleveland fan can tell you Mangini didn't bring a Jets Curse with him. Cleveland suffered long before he got there.)Who cursed the Browns? The Cleveland fans themselves.
From 1946 to 1995 the Browns played in Cleveland. In 1996, the owner, Art Modell, moved the team to Baltimore. And BOY were the Browns fans PISSED OFF. The city went from 39 years with a football team they loved, to three years with NO team at all.
I believe hundreds, maybe THOUSANDS of Cleveland fans cursed the Browns name, creating one HUGE curse so the "Baltimore Browns" would SUCK and NEVER win a championship.Problem is, owner Art Modell changed the name from the "Browns" to the "Ravens". (After the title of Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "The Raven", and Poe is buried in Baltimore).
As no one in Cleveland cursed a Raven, the Baltimore Ravens went on to win the Superbowl in 2000, while the Browns have "nevermore" been to any championship.
With the "Browns" curse having no team called the "Browns" to affix itself to, it hovered over the city of Cleveland like the Smog Monster from the Godzilla movies.
Until 1999 when...THE BROWNS WERE BORN AGAIN. New owner, old Browns name, which the curse was DESIGNED for, and it smogged from the sky to embed itself in every fiber of the new organization. They've known heart-ache ever since.(You're welcome, Cleveland fans. Now you know.)
And Braylon Edwards may still be contaminated. Perhaps the Browns Curse is the reason he dropped all those passes despite his immense talent, and why he's been involved in so many off-field shenanigans.
If so, maybe he's free from that Brown cloud and is the Jets newest hope. Maybe the Jets Curse (if there is one), being the older curse, will out-weigh the Browns Curse, and he'll be cured like the rest of the Jets when I break the curse myself. (full moon attempt failed - see post) Or does the Browns Curse COMPOUND the Jets Curse???
The curse-jury is out for the moment. We'll see how it plays out on the field of battle.
Like all Jet fans, I'm hopeful. But cautious...
Until next time.
GO JETS. BEAT MIAMI.
Mark J. Williamson
Newsday.com article
http://www.newsday.com/blogs/sports/glauber-s-nfl-hot-reads-1.811959/does-braylon-edwards-make-the-jets-a-better-team-1.1506715
Edwards Photo
totalprosports.com
Mangini Photo
midwestsportsfans.com
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