In today's Akron Beacon Journal writer Patrick McManamon tells a little story:
There was a time a while back when Dwight Clark didn't like something I had written about the Browns. He was pretty steamed, and while letting me have it, he said something memorable: ``It's the attitude in this town. Everything is negative. There's a culture of negativity.''McManamon then tries to compare Clark's comments to those of second-year wideout Braylon Edwards. The only problem, however, is that Edwards was calling out his teammates while Clark was complaining about the city of Cleveland's -- fans, media, the team -- sports mentality. McManamon admits as much and makes it clear that he's not supporting Edwards, but he understands his frustration. And then he gets to the crux of his argument:
... [T]here was another incident involving another player in another city last Sunday. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Mike Vick did not like being yelled at by Atlanta's fans, so on his way off the field he gave the fans an obscene gesture.Well, ideally, you could have a player who was able to control his anger in the wake of a loss while also not giving fans the finger on the way to the locker room. Call me a dreamer.
I wonder... which is worse... what Vick did or what Edwards did? Would you rather have a guy on your team who gets mad at losing or a guy who casually flips off the hometown fans right in front of a 10-year-old wearing said player's jersey?
Look, I understand losing can wear on a team, but I'm pretty sure going "T.O." on teammates never solved anything. Well, unless you were trying to alienate yourself from your co-workers, fans and the media. Maybe Edwards should do less talking and more, I don't know, playing. Again, call me a dreamer.
