Jim Nantz called in to the Bull and Fox show on 92.3 The Fan and delivered an epic rant about the new Browns organization. You can listen to it here.

His basic message was simple – Jimmy Haslam has assembled an impressive group of people to turn the Browns around, and that Browns fans will soon realize it as they get to work and start winning. He strongly defended his friend Mike Lombardi and took some tough shots at Tony Grossi without mentioning him by name regarding his harsh criticism of Lombardi.

Let’s consider some of the things Nantz said.

First, I agree with him that the overall team assembled by Haslam is impressive, and I’m optimistic about the future direction. This is coming from someone who thought Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert did a ton of the dirty work in turning around the franchise and were heading in the right direction despite some mistakes. Rob Chudzinski is an excellent coordinator, and he seems to have the charisma and leadership qualities necessary to make him a good head coach. I like Haslam’s general style and think he’s looking for the right qualities when considering head coached. Chud has also assembled a very impressive staff, with Norv Turner and Ray Horton leading the pack.

As for Mike Lombardi, I understand both the concerns expressed by people like Grossi along with the praise coming from people like Nantz. Still, Grossi’s comment on the radio the other day that Lombardi was not qualified for the job is ridiculous. People can question past draft picks but he’s certainly developed a resume that prepares him for this job. I also like the fact that Lombardi has been with the NFL Network for 5 years. Anyone with a brain would gain some excellent perspective from that job and would leave there knowing practically every coach and personnel guy in the league.

Also, it’s not like Haslam has handed Lombardi the keys to the organization. The biggest problem with Randy Lerner wasn’t necessarily the people he hired, but the total lack of oversight and accountability that existed after the introductory press conference. Guys like Butch Davis and Eric Mangini desperately needed a strong owner and GM to push back when their desire to control everything led to silly decisions. With Joe Banner and his “team” approach to decision making, no one person can make rash decisions without intense oversight, and you can bet Haslam will be in the room to make sure everyone knows they’ll have to answer for mistakes.

So I know Lombardi isn’t perfect, but I have no problem with a guy like him in the brain trust. Of course Jim Nantz is totally biased in arguing that Lombardi is a football genius. Nantz worships at the Bill Belichick alter, so he’s seems to see everything through that filter. Still, I’m more than comfortable giving Lombardi and the rest of the team a chance.

On the other hand, I think Nantz took some cheap shots at Tom Heckert. Of course Bull and Fox just gushed and didn’t push back on that, which is disappointing given that Heckert rebuilt an old, pathetic roster.

Now, there are legitimate debates on some of Heckert’s picks, and Nantz did raise good points as well. Taking Trent Richardson with the third pick after trading up is certainly debatable, as many believe drafting a running back that high is a mistake. Nance points out late round picks that did well, but pointing out a running back that scores touchdowns in the potent New England offense like Shane Vereen is ridiculous. The question is how would a guy like Vereen have fared with the Browns, who were desperate for some weapons on an offense that didn’t have a great quarterback. I think his point was more persuasive when he brought up Doug Martin who went to Tampa Bay. The Browns could have gotten him at the 22nd pick, and you could argue that young QB Ryan Tannehill at #4 and Martin at #22 would have been better than Richardson and a much older Brandon Weeden.

The real cheap shot was bringing up Russell Wilson, who was passed over by everyone and frankly dropped into the perfect situation. Wilson had a great first year, but he really didn’t flourish until Pete Carroll started running him, and that style of play doesn’t necessarily lead to long-term success.

These are all debatable points, and Nantz brings up a good point that Heckert’s record isn’t pristine. Still, he fairly noted that Richardson could be incredible under Norv Turner, and many think Weeden could flourish there as well. So it will take time to flush out Heckert’s record.

At least the Browns recognize that a foundation has been built, and hopefully the new brain trust can build on it. Overall, I’m glad to hear that Lombardi has guys like Nantz will to speak up on his behalf.

As for Tony Grossi, I understand his reservations, and it will be interesting to see how the soap opera plays out now with Lombardi, Grossi and Nantz. To his credit Grossi has said he’s giving Lombardi a clean slate. Let’s see if he lives up to it.

Photo source: Browns Facebook page

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future for this young Browns team, and Josh Gordon certainly has emerged as a real weapon on offense. Tony Grossi elaborates on this in his latest column, where he also takes the opportunity to repeat his opposition to the absurd notion of having Mike Lombardi replace Tom Heckert.

Grossi points out that Lombardi mocked Heckert’s selection of Gordon in the supplemental draft, and Grossi is leading the charge for those of us who believe that Heckert has done an excellent job of rebuilding the Browns roster.

It will be fascinating to see if the reactions of Grossi, other writers in Cleveland and the fans will have any impact on decisions made by Joe Banner and new owner Jimmy Haslam regarding Heckert’s future. I’m taking them at their word, and assuming they will in fact wait until the end of the season to evaluate Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur.

Grossi has argued that there is little Heckert can do at this point to affect his status, and thus Banner and Haslam should have stated their intentions regarding the GM. I don’t buy that. First, they don’t want to treat Heckert any differently than Pat Shurmur in terms of deciding his future before the end of the season, so I don’t read anything into their silence. Also, Heckert is preparing for next year’s draft and free agency, so they are observing how he works in that lead role. And finally, Heckert’s resume evolves as young players like Gordon improve their performance through the season.

I don’t have much to say about this. I’ve always been a huge Browns fan and I was a big supporter of Art Modell. He loved Cleveland and said he’d never move the team. Then he ripped out the heart of every Browns fan. It’s a permanent stain on his legacy and he shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame.

Others have had much more to say. Here are links to some great articles from Jeff Passan and Joe Posnanski, who both grew up as Browns fans.

Mary Kay Cabot has a great article on how Modell’s decision haunted him for the rest of his life. I’m not surprised, and frankly he deserved that. But the article offers some interesting insight on how Modell was nudged and possibly pushed into this tragic decision by a nagging wife. It’s pathetic just thinking about it. Tony Grossi also offers great insight in his article about Modell’s passing.

Watching the Browns/Packers preseason game, many of us noticed rookie defensive tackle Ronnie Cameron right away. He was playing against backups but he seems to have a knack for making plays.

Tony Grossi just published a fascinating profile of Cameron, who seems to be very intelligent along with having some serious skills. I hope this kid makes the team, as the Browns have the opportunity to build a special group of young defensive linemen.

Here’s the explanation from The Plain Dealer about why Tony Grossi was reassigned from the Browns beat.

Here’s one part that’s worth noting:

• The Browns had nothing to do with the decision. None of the editors involved talked with anyone connected with the team before making the call. In fact, the Browns’ first communication with the paper’s leadership was not until Wednesday, after the decision had been made, when Egger met with Browns President Mike Holmgren and Lerner.

• The Browns did not threaten to remove Grossi’s media credential, nor did such a consideration play any role in the decision, as a radio talk-show host alleged last week.

What a shock! A radio talk-show host speculated that the Browns had something to do with this . . .

I think it was a bad decision. If I were working in Berea, I would argue that the Browns should come out and accept Grossi’s apology. But that’s their decision.

I’m not a fan of Randy Lerner. In many ways, I think he’s clueless on how to manage people. That said, he does spend money, and he’s at least trying to bring in experts to run the show. I think Mike Holmgren is his best hire, and I believe that Holmgren is building an organization that can be successful for the long term.

I also think that Grossi has been doing a good job. Most of the loud voices on Twitter seem to disagree, but everyone will have their own opinion. Grossi screwed up, but this change seems like an overreaction.

This story is just bizarre. Tony Grossi accidentally sent out a Tweet that he intended as a private message, insulting Browns owner Randy Lerner with the following statement: “He is a pathetic figure, the most irrelevant billionaire in the world.” Grossi quickly realized his mistake and took down the Tweet, but some saw it and copied it.

I like Grossi’s work, though I also understand that other Browns fans don’t, and many think he’s biased against the Browns. I think in the past year he was one of the few rational voices discussing the Browns. Many on the radio sounded liked emotional buffoons when discussing topics like Mike Holmgren and Pat Shurmer.

Now The Plain Dealer is confirming they have removed Grossi from the Browns beat. This seems like overkill to me – a short suspension would have been more appropriate.

As Mike Florio suggests in the link above, the Browns should make it clear that they didn’t ask for this and encourage the PD to reinstate him.

Greg Little has had some struggles in training camp with some drops, but Pat Shurmer keeps pushing him and Little put on a show for the fans on Sunday in the practice at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Tony Grossi was impressed:

Little, who may have the most inapt name of all the new Browns, plays taller than his listed height of 6-2 and stronger than his listed weight of 220 pounds. An announced crowd of 11,965 may have come away a little more convinced of the team’s argument against pursuing a No. 1 receiver in free agency.

In red-zone drills on plays starting inside the 20, Little displayed the talent that attracted him to the Browns in the second round of the draft. On one Colt McCoy throw to the left corner of the end zone, Little leaped above cornerback Dimitri Patterson and safety Usama Young to snare the touchdown. A few plays later, he cradled a pass from Seneca Wallace on a skinny route to the post.

It’s very early, so let’s not jump to any conclusions. That said, the reports on Little described him as a great athlete, and it’s always encouraging to hear stories in camp that the expectations match the hype. This kid had some off-the-field issues, but many described him as having first-round talent. The Browns might have a steal with with guy. They need someone to emerge as a #1 receiver, and Little just might fit the bill.

I really wanted to see the Browns draft Rey Maualuga last spring, and I was very surprised when they passed on him twice with their first round pick and then with their first pick in the second round. Maualuga went two picks after the Browns drafted Brian Robiskie.

Tony Grossi asks the obvious question – will the Browns be sorry they passed on him? The Browns have to face Maualuga twice per year, starting this weekend against the Bengals.

Maualuga has looked good so far. The kid can tackle and he puts pressure on the quarterback. The Browns obviously could use some play-makers on defense. Meanwhile Robiskie is not even active for most Browns games.

It is, however, way too early to make any sort of judgment on this trade. Robiskie clearly has talent, and the Browns may lose Braylon Edwards next season, so the two rookies taken this year in the second round could be the starters by next season. Also, Maualuga is not a three-down player yet, and that was one of the concerns when he entered the draft.

That said, it will really suck if Maualuga has a monster game this Sunday. The Browns are desperate for good news, and a big game by Maualuga would be another headache for a regime that has gotten off to a terrible start.

Yesterday’s loss was naturally disappointing, but hearing guys like Tony Grossi say that these are the “same old Browns” is just ridiculous.

First, it’s one game against a team that has Super Bowl talent. They got beat by the best running back in the NFL, and they held him in check in the first half. The Vikings made good adjustments and with the Browns offense folding in the second half the defense was put in a tough spot.

Next, the defense is completely new. The Browns got great pressure and they got four sacks. The vanilla defense from the Crennel years is gone. Kamerion Wimbley looks like a real player again, and Shaun Rogers was also a stud again. Also, we saw the cornerbacks playing the receivers very tightly. I thought I was looking at Dixon and Minnifield from the 1980′s. That was very refreshing.

The offense was a problem, and Brady Quinn looked terrible. We can’t draw too many conclusions after just one game, particularly against a tough Vikings defense. That said, he needs to bounce back and start looking like a pro quarterback very quickly. Hopefully he’ll get better with time, but if he doesn’t make real progress by week 4, they need to take a look at Anderson.

It was, however, refreshing to see them run the no-huddle offense. They also introduced a Wildcat formation with Josh Cribbs, though they made a mistake running it twice in the red zone, particularly on the one yard line. Why couldn’t they run a QB sneak with Quinn?

Things change dramatically from week to week on the NFL. The Browns have a new regime and a new starting quarterback, so drawing the Vikings in week one was a tough one. Next week they have the Broncos, we were lucky to beat the lowly Bengals yesterday, so the Browns have a chance to show what they can do next week.

It seems like everyone in Cleveland wants Rey Maualuga in the NFL draft for the Browns, from Tony Grossi to Kenny Roda and most of the other talk radio hosts at WKNR.

Intensity escapes the best of us. The amount of focus required to sustain a level appropriate for something as aggressive as collegiate football defense is hardly something to write off. Where does it come from? Can it be taught or learned? I�d like to hope so, though it seems a bit of a catch-22 in that in order to be intense enough to learn to be intense we must first be intense enough not to need to learn at all.

In any case, for those lucky enough to have it, raises seem to drop out of the sky and skirts appear to fly up into it. Rey Maualuga has it, and that�s gonna have to suffice for now since I am unaware of every single thing he does in his personal time (probably getting that 10% increase I should have had after landing the Gibson account). He�s been using that, along with his considerable speed and strength, to run roughshod over offensive lines and make tackles that look like Cthulu versus Howdy-Doody.

I have to agree here. Maualuga would give the Browns a physical presence in the middle of their defense. Maybe we all just want the Browns to have someone on their team as tough as Troy Polamalu or Ray Lewis, but we need someone like that in this division.

It looks like Aaron Curry might fall to the Browns with the #5 pick, and that would probably be a steal. Curry is a more complete player. That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing them trade down to grab the more physical player.