Advertisement

Attention Johnny: Browns owner won't tolerate 'irresponsible' players

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

The Cleveland Browns finish the 2014 season as a total mess, with three of their key young players getting in trouble days before the regular-season finale.

And owner Jimmy Haslam said he's not going to tolerate it.

Receiver Josh Gordon was suspended for missing a walk-through practice on Saturday. Cornerback Justin Gilbert, who apparently has a habit of being late for team meetings, was deactivated for the season finale after being late for a team meeting. And the one that will draw the most headlines: Quarterback Johnny Manziel was a no show for treatment on his injured hamstring an Saturday morning after reportedly throwing a big Friday night party, and team security was sent to his home to find out where he was. Manziel was fined.

It has long been said that Haslam was the driving force in the Browns drafting Manziel 22nd overall this past May. But he sounds as fed up as the rest of the organization after a pretty poor rookie season for Manziel on and off the field (and with Gilbert and Gordon too). Here's his full quote from the Akron Beacon Journal:

"I think is the ultimate team game and I think a player who can't show up for meetings, can't make practice, can't make weight lifting, disrespects himself," Haslam said. "But I think more importantly, and I think this is what these young guys miss -- they disrespect the team, the coaches, the staff, the fans. There's a lot of people in our organization whose livelihood depends on how well we do, and we're not going to tolerate people who are irresponsible no matter what round they're drafted in.

"So these young guys, we're going to give them a chance. They're young kids. We're going to work with them. Hopefully they'll grow up, but if they can't grow up and they can't be responsible to their teammates and the coaches and our great fans, then they won't be with the Cleveland Browns."

He did not call out Manziel by name, and there are so many knuckleheads on the Browns he could have been talking about any of them. But when asked about quarterback Haslam said, "Clearly quarterback is important and we've got to figure it out," according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. That's not a vote of confidence. Neither was All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas saying the Browns had some "bad apples," according to the Beacon Journal.

Manziel started the week by giving a long speech about how he figured things out as a rookie and how he understood he needed to work harder this offseason. Now he seems to be under some fire from the owner who was his biggest supporter on draft day.

- - - - - - -

Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!