The e-mail Phil Savage sent that contained an implied obscenity makes no sense on several fronts:
1) Savage is on record stating he wants players with Christian values, and Savage does have a strong religious foundation. I guess being religious does not preclude anger, but it seems odd to send that kind of e-mail with that kind of foundation.
2) Considering that, it either seemed like a joke or that Savage was set up or that someone else grabbed his blackberry and wrote that e-mail and he's taking the fall for whoever did it. It just doesn't make sense. That being said, Savage very plainly said it happened and the Browns said he did it … so … I guess it happened and he did it.
3) What purpose does that serve other than venting? As a friend said to me, someone has to be the final arbiter on what is tasteful and what is appropriate. There are sports teams out there that will give a free T-shirt for the home team to someone wearing one with an obscenity on it about the other team. There are teams that ban fans from chanting the other team sucks. Someone has to stand up for what is appropriate, and you'd think the leader of a team would decide that kind of statement is not appropriate. Because it isn't.
4) Reaction around the league bordered on absolute shock and disbelief. "Phil would never use that word," was a response I got. ProFootballTalk.com quoted someone saying he learns something every time something happens in Cleveland. This is not the scenario that sets a real positive example, though.
5) Savage has shown signs of wear and tear this season, and of the pressure and criticism bothering him. Nobody believes he likes losing, but the sad fact is criticism goes with the job. It happens. It happens to players, coaches and GMs. Fans get angry and say stuff that makes a GM angry. That's understandable. But the fan makes $30,000 or $40,000 per year, spends an inordinate amount of money to watch guys with valet parking play poorly year after year (Browns record since 1999: 54-100) and the fan gets mad. Plenty mad. And who can blame him. The GM and the coach and player have to be above it all.
Embarrassing. Just plain embarrassing. Think about it … the guy dropped an F-bomb on a fan. A rude, obnoxious fan, but a fan just the same. Sheesh.
The thing I wonder: When does this $@&!$ end.
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the $@&!$ is endless with this team.
savage was essentially telling every fan who is unhappy with the browns circus "f@#* you". honestly, i don't care all that much. they have been f@#*ing every fan since rebirth. maybe savage was just giving that fan a reminder.
i don't think it's odd at all that a "christian" would do such a thing. as mark, don and mel of grand funk once said, "sin's a good man's brother".
I don't see a scintilla of hard evidence he was referring to that thing that dogs and Paris Hilton sometimes do. OK, so he admitted he sent it. So what? Prove he wasn't specifically referring to a piece of white trash when he sent it. Even Christians sometimes have to take out the trash.
This is what he wrote verbatim: Go root for Buffalo-f#@* you-
So? Where is the proof he was being vulgar? It could mean anything or everything.
FEMA you.
Grow up people. This is men's tackle football we're playing here…
The only reason anyone cares about this nonsense is because the media won't let it go. Just like every other bull$@&!$ story that gets dragged around this town. I can't entirely blame the sports writers in Cleveland because you can only recount the ways in which the Browns are so disapointing so many times in a given season. Pat, I wish you would lead by example and start to leave some of these stories where they belong, in the pile labeled "irrelevant".
these stories are NOT irrelevant. they cut right to the heart of the matter. this is exactly why the browns are a joke of an organization. leadership, discipline and accountability are all lacking with the browns. and that translates to the play on the field. want to know why romeo gets to endlessly screw up the clock management while his immature players bark at each other in the huddle? because phil savage is too busy playing the dozens online and insinuating that winslow's testes are about to explode.
rich and john, you guys have fun concentrating on the great football being played by the browns. keep your eyes on the body for me but i'm pretty sure the team i grew up watching is DEAD.
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