Browns Go Bright Black, And that may be what they need.

My Cleveland Browns have come a long way from the time when Coach Paul Browns policy was that the limit for black players on the roster was 13. Paul Brown gave Willie Davis to Green Bay to stay with his no more than 13 blacks on the 36 player Browns roster. On our first road trip, our Rookie year, John Wooten and I were scheduled as roomates at the hotel we were staying. John and I checked in and didn't give it a thought. A few minutes after we had settled into our room there was a knock on the door. It was Mike Brown, Paul Browns son and now owner of the Cincinnati Bengals who said "There has been a mistake. Bernie get your bag and come along with me." At first being a naive rookie I got my bag and didn't think anything about it. Then it dawned on me. John my friend and teammate was black and I was white, from the University of Florida where at that point in time there were no black athletes. On the other hand before I came to the Browns I had been in training camp with the Cincinnati Reds and my teammates included pitcher Don Newcome, Frank Robinson, centerfielder Vada Pinson and other great black players. I immedeately went to John and told him I didn't realize what was going on when Mike Brown appeared at our door. I told him that I had nothing to do with what was going on and his being black or white meant nothing to me. "John we are teammates and friends and we will always remain friends." John said he felt the same way. Now we have been through many years of football wars including winning a World Championship together and John has always made me proud to be his friend. After returning home in 2004 from the 40th reunion in Cleveland of our 1964 World Championship team I felt the need to call John and remind him "That we will always be friends."

The Browns new head coach Romeo Crennel being Black resolves some troublesome issues from the beginning that I think trouble the Browns current personnel. Now they can get on with the business of building a football "team." When Coach Crennel tells one of his secondary that his tackling is fundamentally unsound (and GUTLESS) the black/white issue will not enter the players mind, the player might even try to learn how to tackle. He may even be able to suggest to his receivers and running backs to quit running out of bounds and try to get some extra yardage. Crennel's being Black can be a great asset to the Browns, so can his past involvement with the unselfish group of dedicated men that make up the New England Patriots football "team." I would like to see him bring linebackers Tedy Bruschi and or Vrable and safety Rodney Harrison to the Browns.

If I were the Eagles I would be hoping the Browns would let QB Jeff Garcia go. Garcia would fit the Eagles offense to a tee and in my opinion he wouldn't get sick in the last 1:46 seconds of any game, especially not the Big One.