That was before the Browns announced the release of the only veteran wide receiver looked to be safe entering training camp as former Dolphin (and Buckeye) Brian Hartline was given his release.
Hartline broke his collarbone late last season after catching 46 passes for 523 yards,which was decent production,but not tremendous numbers.
The release comes right after mini-camp and the Browns drafting four wideouts to the roster.
I'm mildly surprised only by the timing.
Hartline would have been a veteran pass catcher that might been useful with rookies,but the writing was on the wall for the future and the money savings was likely a factor.
The main thing that I take issue with was once again,the Browns waited far too long to release a veteran player and as a result hindered his chances of finding another team.
After the Donte Whitner waiving,I would have thought that the Browns might have learned a lesson in how to handle players-Apparently that lesson hasn't take hold yet....
Another Browns note from the inbox as the Browns made an unusual move in their search to challenge incumbent kicker Travis Coons.
I wrote a while back about the signing of Maryland kicker Brad Craddock as that challenger,but after camp,the Browns released Craddock and claimed another rookie undrafted free agent in TCU's Jaden Oberkrom off the wire from Jacksonville.
Oberkrom must have been really impressed with Cleveland,the Browns or pro football in general as he promptly retired and left the Browns still looking for another kicking contender...
We are still loaded with inbox notes,so I'm going to slide a few in here!
From the feel good department,Donnell Alexander,the son of former Chief Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas,went undrafted and was given a tryout by his dad's team.
The former Akron Zip runner was invited by the team and the odds are against him,I have no word on whether he was given an invitation to the full camp or not....
The Canadian Football League has left Nike and went with Adidas as its apparel source and announced their uniform changes.
Some I like as Winnipeg went back to its classic royal blue,some was meh as Hamilton went all black (I like black jerseys,yellow pants),some stayed the same and some revamped helmets that were pretty bad (British Columbia)....
Howie Rose,the long time voice of the Mets and Islanders has trimmed his responsibilities down to one as Rose will not be returning to the Islanders next year.
Rose has always been one of my favorite hockey announcers and back in the days before Rachel cared about hockey,I would watch the Devils games on occasion on the opponents networks,if the announcers were of quality.
The Islanders were one of those teams.
Rose will still remain in his role as the TV voice of the Mets.
We wrap up with an article from SABR on Santo Alcala,who went 11-4 in 1976 with the World Champion Reds as a rookie and would win just three more games in his career afterward.
Guys like Alcala were a big deal to stat hungry kids like me in the 70's because you had to dig his information out from obscure sources and he was one of many "common" players that their names are memorable to me from this day from the "wonder years" of baseball that everyone has from childhood.
Podcast tonight-Hope you enjoy it!
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