At least one Yahoo! Sports blogger seems to think that way in his latest column. Michael Silver, take it away:
Unless you are young, self-employed or incredibly blessed, you’ve probably had a boss like Browns general manager Phil Savage.
You know, a guy who cares only about his own hide, perpetually blames organizational underperformance on his employees and acts like everything he does is above reproach.
Oh, and in this case, a GM who goes on the radio the day before Thanksgiving to undercut the head coach he hired in 2005 and signed to a two-year extension last January.
In other words: A real horse’s ass.
Between Savage's F-Bomb detonation, Derek Anderson calling reporters crackheads and Silver dropping this booty blast, what in the wide, wide world of sports is going on around here?
I mostly agree with Silver that Savage should be doing a better job of taking accountability for the team's poor play. It can't all be the coaches and players. For instance:
- Savage is the sole reason Baltimore has Haloti Ngata and we have an outside linebacker who can't pressure quarterbacks.
- Domenik Hixon isn't a Brown. Savage personally came to the University of Akron's Pro Day a few years ago to check out Charlie Frye. He could have just as easily come down I-77 the next year to see Hixon impress.
- No veteran cornerbacks were added before this season. The one added during the year, Travis Daniels, hasn't even played.
- The overpaying for Corey Williams. No one is really mentioning this one yet, but he's been bad. Savage gave up a second round pick for him.
But still, the team overall is more talented now than anytime since it came back in 1999. It seems some forget how bad those teams were, how many offensive linemen the Browns went through, how many awful picks they had.
So, Savage should (and probably will) have his job with the Browns in 2009, but maybe it's about time he performs it with a little more humility.
Horse's ass? No, but partly thanks to Savage, this season sure has been a stinker.
"But still, the team overall is more talented now than anytime since it came back in 1999. It seems some forget how bad those teams were, how many offensive linemen the Browns went through, how many awful picks they had."
they had their share of bad players but this statement is not completely accurate. as someone posted on the peedee earlier today….."jeff faine snaps the ball to jeff garcia who throws a touchdown to antonio bryant". that is a 9-3 team.
and let's not forget shaun o'hara who anchors the o-line for the world champion new york giants.
Jeff Faine and Shaun O'Hara are so good they've never made the Pro Bowl. And O'Hara isn't even the Giants' best or second best lineman.
Honestly, would you rather have Jeff Garcia than either Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn, or Antonio Bryant instead of any of the Browns' top three receivers?
And Garcia is starting now after being benched for Brian Griese. He's only starting because Griese is injured.
I won't complain, I loved O'Hara here, but he was out of position at Guard.
DA is wrong to blame the media–it is the idiot fans who cheered when he was injured that he should blame. With fans like these the Browns don't deserve to win anyway.