Browns coach Eric Mangini said Colt McCoy is making the discussion harder on who to start at quarterback when the other two are healthy.
Cleveland Plain DealerColt McCoy is "making the discussion harder'' on who to start at quarterback.
CLEVELAND -- Browns coach Eric Mangini stopped short of naming Colt McCoy his starter for the time being, but acknowledged that he's "making the discussion harder.''
Mangini said he'll see where Seneca Wallace is this week with his high ankle sprain and then go from there regarding the Jets games on Sunday.
But why even have a discussion when McCoy is coming off back-to-back victories over the defending Super Bowl champion Saints and the Patriots, who came in at 6-1?
"I like discussions,'' said Mangini with a smile. He said he likes to solicit input from everyone before making a decision. "We'll talk about it and see where we are.''
Mangini said Wallace will probably return to practice on Wednesday and that Jake Delhomme might see action on Thursday or Friday if his high ankle sprain will allow it.
But Mangini acknowledged that he was really happy with McCoy's performance during Sunday's 34-14 victory over the Patriots, including his ability to throw on the run, stay away from interceptions and make good decisions. He also scored on a 16-yard run.
Mangini said McCoy's arm strength has been good, the players believe in him and that his football I.Q. is "right up there.''
Jason Garrett waits his time and knows one day he will be an NFL head coach. (Story first published in January 2008.)
This story originally appeared on Jan. 13, 2008, in The Plain Dealer. We're republishing it now because University School alum Jason Garrett on Monday was named interim coach of the Dallas Cowboys, succeeding fired head coach Wade Phillips.
View full sizeFort Worth Star-TelegramJason Garrett, a Princeton grad and product of University School, is the interim head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He was profiled in a 2008 story in The Plain Dealer by reporter Bill Lubinger.
By Bill Lubinger
Jason Garrett was primed for this.
Primed in that every cinder block of Garrett's life has set a foundation that has led him to this point: As the brains behind one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL, he is a hot commodity and likely one of the next head coaches in the NFL.
One by one, the blocks were stacked neatly:
Son of a football lifer and former Browns assistant coach. Brother in a large family of jocks, where all you had to do was roll out of bed in the summer and have enough players for a Wiffle Ball game or one-on-one pass routes.
From CYO leaguer to overachieving University School and Princeton quarterback, to long shot who survived a dozen seasons in the NFL as a backup to and student of some of the top passers and play-callers in the game – in effect, an apprentice coach.
He spent seven years as Troy Aikman's understudy in Dallas.
He played under head coaches Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer and Chan Gailey, and with former offensive coordinators Ernie Zampese and Norv Turner, now head coach of the San Diego Chargers. The team won five division titles and two Super Bowls.
As a backup to Kerry Collins in New York, he learned from coach Jim Fassel and former offensive coordinator Sean Payton, now head coach of the New Orleans Saints. While with New York, the Giants advanced to the Super Bowl.
On the sidelines in Tampa Bay, he learned from coach Jon Gruden. And from coach Nick Saban in Miami.
“When you’re around winning programs,” he said by phone last week, “you see how people do things the right way.”
Now he’s in back in Dallas, directing an offense that was No. 3 in yardage in the NFL this season and No. 2 in points scored, behind only undefeated New England. Expect the red-headed Garrett to get plenty of TV face time when the Cowboys and Giants meet in an NFC division playoff this afternoon.
At 41, with just three years as assistant coach on his résumé — and his first tour of duty as an offensive coordinator — Garrett is regarded as one of the league’s brightest young offensive minds.
Next to New England, Dallas has been the NFL’s most dominant team, and that’s widened Garrett’s spotlight. During the team’s playoff bye week, he was among a handful of candidates contacted to interview for the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens head-coaching jobs.
In fact, the Browns tried to hire him to run their offense this year, but were denied permission to interview him by the Dolphins, for whom he coached quarterbacks.
Miami later eased off, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has known Garrett and his family for years, plucked him to run his team’s offense.
Jones said by e-mail that during the interview he was impressed with Jason’s approach: Build an offense around the talent rather than cram a style down a team’s throat.
“So many times coaches will say, ‘This is what I do and this is our system,’ without having the flexibility to adapt to the players at hand,” Jones wrote.
The owner was so familiar with the family’s character and Garrett’s intellect and ability to communicate that he hired the man even before naming Wade Phillips the head coach. It prompted speculation that Garrett, who’s known to solicit feedback about the offense from his players and assistants, was being groomed for the top job.
“It’s been kind of remarkable,” said Jason’s brother, Jim Garrett III, the oldest of Jim and Jane Garrett’s eight grown children and an English teacher and former football coach at University School in Hunting Valley.
Not only remarkable that Jason may soon be directing an NFL team, but that brother John also coaches tight ends for the Cowboys. And that brother Judd coaches tight ends for the St. Louis Rams.
It’s in the blood But it’s not so remarkable, really, given the pedigree.
Patriarch Jim Garrett, a running back on the Giants when Vince Lombardi was his position coach and Tom Landry coached the defense, spent 52 years playing, coaching and scouting in college and the NFL. (As a Cowboys scout, he recommended they draft quarterback Tony Romo. They didn’t, but signed him as a free agent.)
The family bounced from town to town like a military family, landing for seven seasons in Cleveland — on Berkshire Road in Cleveland Heights — in 1978 when Jim was hired by the Browns to coach running backs under Sam Rutigliano.
“Growing up,” Judd Garrett said, “we saw him Fridays and Saturdays bringing home the projector, breaking down film in the dining room. A lot of times we would sit there and watch with him.”
The big back yard of the family home on the Jersey Shore became a summer practice field. When Browns players Dino Hall and Pat Moriarty would visit to work out and run pass patterns, the young Garrett boys asked if they could play with them, and did. Jason would throw passes to Judd against Pro Bowl linebacker Sam Mills, a family friend.
Three of their four daughters graduated from Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights. Two still live in Russell Township in Geauga County. The three younger boys enrolled at University School, where Jason played shortstop on the baseball team and point guard on the basketball team in a backcourt with Derek Rucker, son of former Browns receiver Reggie Rucker.
And Cliff Foust’s football team gained instant offense when the Garrett boys took the field. John was a wide receiver and co-captain. Judd, the youngest, was a running back.
Jason wasn’t the most talented quarterback he’d ever coached, but “he could do the things that a lot of high school quarterbacks didn’t do,” said Foust, who coached high school football for 50 years.
The kid could read defenses. He knew exactly where to throw the ball. He fired the sideline strike better than any quarterback he’d ever had. The boy was reserved, but quietly commanded respect in the huddle.
“He was the boss and everybody knew he was the boss out there,” Foust said. “The thing is, the kids respected him.”
Foust recalled a big game against unbeaten Ashtabula St. John and its star player, Urban Meyer, now head coach at the University of Florida. Jason had a huge night, running and passing, to lead the upset.
Working his way up But only one Division I college expressed interest. Instead, all three younger Garrett brothers eventually wound up at Division I-AA Princeton, where Jason still runs a summer football camp for kids.
Even before official practices began, Jason organized workouts and drills and got a bunch of the guys together.
Former Princeton teammate and good friend Tom Criqui has known him since the day Garrett arrived for his freshman year sporting a big red “almost Julius Erving-like” afro. “He’s a person that people gravitate to,” said Criqui, son of veteran sportscaster Don Criqui. “He’s the guy at the bar who can milk one beer all night and people still want to be around.”
Dean Cain, the actor who played Superman on “Lois & Clark” in the 1990s, was among Garrett’s Princeton teammates. Nelson Rockefeller’s son, Mark, was his tight end.
Steve Tosches, his former college coach who now works with an executive search firm in the Princeton area, remembered the fifth game of Garrett’s junior season in 1987. Garrett led the team from its own 2-yard-line — after Cain’s third interception of the game — down the field with five passes to brother Judd to set up a game-winning field goal with no time left to beat Lehigh.
“It’s his field awareness,” Tosches said. “When he was a player, he knew where all 10 people were or where all 10 people were supposed to be. Now, you can teach awareness, but with Jason, it was absolutely, positively 100 percent natural. Jason was truly born in a huddle.”
As a Princeton senior, Garrett completed 203 of 299 passes with just three interceptions and was unanimously voted the Ivy League’s top player.
And yet he wasn’t drafted by the NFL.
Over 12 years in the NFL, Garrett started just nine of the 39 regular-season games he played. The most memorable came on Thanksgiving Day in 1994, when he got the start against Green Bay because Aikman and second-stringer Rodney Peete were hurt. It was Lehigh, the sequel, as Garrett led Dallas to a thrilling 42-31 come-from-behind victory on a club-record 36 second-half points.
Garrett said playing quarterback helped hone an ability as a coach to set an urgent tone for the players while staying calm. Observers say his years on the field, sidelines included, also helped polish an effective play-calling rhythm.
As the huddle breaks on the Cowboys’ Super Bowl run and Garrett surveys the field of NFL head-coaching vacancies, his next call may be his biggest yet.
"If we'd had this coach instead of Mike Brown when LeBron was here, I think we could have won it all. Byron Scott and his style of play is so exciting to watch." - sportsnut32
"If we'd had this coach instead of Mike Brown when LeBron was here, I think we could have won it all. Byron Scott and his style of play is so exciting to watch."
"Let's just hope a 1/2 dozen or so of the kids we've received in these trades develop into quality Major Leaguers. I'm pretty excited about the most recent draft - guys like Drew Pomeranz and LeVon Washington. Consider that it all could be worse - we could be the Pirates or the Royals." - cleveinnyc
View full sizeChuck Crow | The Plain DealerFans are hoping the Indians' braintrust of president Mark Shapiro, manager Manny Acta and general manager Chris Antonetti can turn the team into a contender.
"Let's just hope a 1/2 dozen or so of the kids we've received in these trades develop into quality Major Leaguers. I'm pretty excited about the most recent draft - guys like Drew Pomeranz and LeVon Washington. Consider that it all could be worse - we could be the Pirates or the Royals."
Cleveland Indians unveil their look for the 2011 season.
View full sizeCourtesy of the Cleveland IndiansThe Indians will be wearing these uniforms at home and away games in the 2011 season.
What was old is new again: The Indians today announced a plan for four sets of uniforms -- two for home games and two for road games -- that will feature some minor enhancements and changes. Chief among them are "vintage" caps of either red or blue featuring a block C and a retro road uniform.
Here's what the Indians' Curtis Danburg said in a release announcing the new uniforms:
The home alternate uniform will showcase a new home alternate red cap with a midnight navy block “C” that is vintage Indians baseball. This new cap will team up with the crème colored uniform, unveiled in 2008, which includes block “Indians” lettering on the front chest, Chief Wahoo on left sleeve and “midnight” navy blue piping on the pant. Finally, the uniform will still include a red player number on the back with navy blue outline and does not include the player name.
The new traditional road gray uniform will showcase a new block “CLEVELAND”” lettering on the front of the chest, similar in style to block “Indians” on home alternate, to replace the previous script “Cleveland”. This will be combined with the midnight navy blue cap with a red block “C” that was previously used with home alternate uniform since 2008. The uniform will include a blue player name and number on the back with red outline. This uniform is reminiscent of the uniform of 1901 as block “Cleveland” was present on the road uniform when the club became one of the American League’s charter members.
The traditional home white uniform and blue “Wahoo” cap with red bill will remain.
The alternate road navy uniform with “Script Indians” will now be combined with the navy blue “Wahoo” cap, previously worn with the traditional road gray uniform.
The new uniforms are on sale at the Indians team shops and online at indians.com.
"Ohio State has one of the two or three best coaching tandems (football and basketball) in the country. We have five straight Big Ten football championships and a coach in basketball that has won 20 or more games in every season of his career." - hoovie70
View full sizeAP Photo | Morry GashThad Matta (above) and Jim Tressel have turned Ohio State into a football and basketball powerhouse.
"Ohio State has one of the two or three best coaching tandems (football and basketball) in the country. We have five straight Big Ten football championships and a coach in basketball that has won 20 or more games in every season of his career."
Videos: Browns of Leroy Kelly, Bill Nelsen and Gary Collins top Joe Namath's Jets, 31-21, on Monday night, Sept. 21, 1970, on ABC.
Plain Dealer file photoBrowns quarterback Bill Nelsen, with tackle Dick Schafrath trailing, scrambles against the Jets during the Sept. 21, 1970 Monday Night Football game.
The teams first met on Sept. 21, 1970, in the first telecast of the landmark "Monday Night Football" series. Previously, there had been a few Monday night games played in the NFL, some of them televised, but this game was the first scheduled as part of the weekly series on, then, ABC.
It was also the first season of the merger between the National Football League and American Football League. The leagues had given up their separate identities, in effect after the 1969 season.
The Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts moved from the former NFL to join former AFL teams in the American Football Conference. It was assumed the Browns would dominate the AFC Central Division, but age and injuries contributed to their 7-7 finish to the 1970 campaign. The passing game was stung by the loss of future Hall of Famer, receiver Paul Warfield. He had been traded to the Miami Dolphins for, essentially, the draft rights to Purdue All-American quarterback Mike Phipps.
Agonizingly for owner Art Modell, Cleveland finished one game behind the upstart Cincinnati Bengals in the Central. The Bengals were in just their third season, and were owned and coached by Paul Brown, who coached the Browns for their first 17 years before being fired by Modell following the 1962 season.
The Jets went on to a worse season than the Browns, going 4-10.
But, that Sept. 21, the Browns-Jets matchup made total sense as Monday Night Football's kickoff game. The Browns were coming off two straight NFL championship game appearances, though both were defeats, and were regarded as a flagship franchise.
The Jets had established the legitimacy of all AFL teams in the 1968 Super Bowl, upsetting Baltimore, 16-7, after the Colts had routed the Browns, 34-0, in the NFL title game. And, they were led by football's biggest personality at the time, quarterback Joe Namath.
ABC announcers for the first Monday Night Football season were Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and former Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Don Meredith, who had retired after the Browns upset Dallas, 31-20, in a 1968 playoff game.
Following are videos, from youtube.com, from the Browns-Jets game. Following the videos, from The Plain Dealer's Browns history database, reporter Chuck Heaton's game story.
Video: The Browns' first scoring drive, capped by Bill Nelsen's 8-yard touchdown pass to Gary Collins.
Video: The Browns' second touchdown drive, ending with Bo Scott's 2-yard run, for a 14-0 lead.
Video: Former Giants great Frank Gifford, who joined Monday Night Football's broadcasting team in 1971, introducing a Monday night game this season with video of Browns linebacker Billy Andrews returning his interception of a Joe Namath pass 25 yards for the game-clinching touchdown.
Plain Dealer reporter Chuck Heaton's game story follows:
Browns 31, New York Jets 21
Cleveland Municipal Stadium
September 21, 1970
By Chuck Heaton
Plain Dealer Reporter
The battling Browns survived the heroics of Broadway Joe last night and supplied enough of their own to defeat the New York Jets, 31-21, at the stadium.
Blanton Collier's team jumped off to a two-touchdown lead to the delight of home rooters in the all-time club record crowd of 85,703 and then held on to win this getaway game of the 1970 season.
The decision still was in doubt with less than a minute to play as the Jets had the ball and Cleveland led by only three points. Then Billy Andrews, who had replaced Dale Lindsey at linebacker, intercepted one of Joe Namath's passes and raced 25 yards for a touchdown that put the game out of reach of the Super Bowl champions of 1969.
Broadway Joe more than lived up to his notices as a pinpoint passer. He simply took the Cleveland defense apart through much of the game.
THERE WERE THREE big Cleveland interceptions. Earlier ones by Walt Sumner and Jim Houston stopped threats. And then the one by Andrews climaxed things.
The third Cleveland touchdown-the one that actually put the Browns ahead for good- was scored on a 91-yard runback of the second-half kickoff by Homer Jones. The fleet former star of the New York Giants went up the right sideline, moved to the middle near midfield and outran the last two defenders.
That gave the Browns a 21-7 lead. Then a 10-yard dash up the middle by Emerson Boozer put the Jets back in the running.
Don Cockroft kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 24-14 as the third quarter ended. Don had a chance to practically clinch matters early in the fourth quarter but missed a field goal from 18 yards out.
Then Broadway Joe began his late dramatics. He moved the Jets 80 yards in just four plays. All were passes. The last to George Sauer was good for 33 yards and a touchdown.
JIM TURNER CONVERTED and the former American Football League rulers trailed by only three points. Over three minutes remained and the Browns couldn't move the football.
So Cockroft punted and the Browns got a big break. Mike Battle called for a fair catch but let the ball bounce about the New York 30. It rolled all the way back to the Jets' four-yard line for a 65-yard boot.
Namath managed one first down to the 18-yard line. Then Andrews intercepted.
Cleveland also got a big break early in that last quarter when the Jets drove to a first down on the seven-yard line.
Matt Snell, who had a great night with 17 carries for 108 yards, fumbled as he went into the line.
JACK GREGORY FELL on the football at the seven and the threat was ended. And the Browns' offense, which clicked well at the start but had trouble in the last three periods, used up about six minutes of the clock.
The Browns didn't get a score out of that march but used up six minutes. That helped to make time run out on Namath.
It was the third-straight opening victory for the Browns and one of the wildest in the team's history. Both clubs had rookies playing and there were mistakes.
Bill Nelsen, who completed only 12 of 27 passes but had none intercepted, took early advantage of rookie cornerbacks Steve Tannen and Earlie Thomas. And the Jets seemed to be picking on Cleveland's newcomer-defensive tackle Jerry Sherk.
BOTH CLUBS WERE heavily penalized. The Jets were assessed 13 times at a cost of 161 yards. The Browns had eight infractions for 101 yards.
That the final score doesn't tell the whole story is underlined by the statistics. The Jets had 31 first downs to 20 for Cleveland.
Total yardage was 455 to 221 in the New Yorkers' favor. And they got off 70 offensive plays to 57 for the Browns.
The Jets didn't move the football after taking the opening kickoff. So they punted and Nelsen led the Browns 55 yards in nine plays. The touchdown payoff was a pass of eight yards from Nelsen to Gary Collins in the end zone.
The second time the Browns took the ball they went 84 yards in 11 plays. There were successive pass interference calls against the Jets in this drive.
BO SCOTT WENT around left end for two yards and the touchdown. So Cleveland led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Sparked by a 38-yard kickoff return by Battle, the Jets moved back into contention in the second quarter. Namath needed only eight plays to go the 61 yards, with Boozer going the last two.
The Jets moved to the Cleveland 17 later in the period but that thrust was blunted by Sumner's interception. He leaped high to pick off a pass intended for Sauer.
There was still time for a touchdown before the half when Houston also made a great grab of a throw intended for Pete Lammons. Thus Cleveland had its 14-7 halftime bulge and the lead was hiked to two touchdowns on Homer Jones' touchdown return of the second-half kickoff.
THEN CAME THE BATTLE against the clock, the Jets threatening and the Browns for the most part giving ground but somehow still making the big play.
And the biggest ones of the second half were Gregory's recovery of Snell's fumble and Andrews' interception and touchdown return.
The crowd of 85,703 bettered the old mark of 85,532, who saw the doubleheader in 1969. And no matter which team they were rooting for, they saw quite a football game.
The Jets, a team Collier believes could be the toughest the Browns will face all season, will be better once their rookies get some experience. So maybe it's well to have caught them at the start.
THE BROWNS GAVE a spotty performance but get a gold star for effort. And they didn't quit even when Namath continued to pick them apart the second half.
So now Namath is out of the way for the regular season. The way the two teams battled, though, it's just possible there could be a rematch with the American Football Conference honors at stake.
That's a long way off, however.
Right now the Browns must think about a visit to San Francisco next Sunday. A fellow named John Brodie will be doing the flinging for the 49ers and the Cleveland defense needs some work before meeting him.
A 2008 profile looks at the life and career of University School alum Jason Garrett, who on Friday became the Dallas Cowboys interim coach when Wade Phillips was fired.
This story originally appeared on Jan. 13, 2008, in The Plain Dealer. We're republishing it now because University School alum Jason Garrett on Monday was named interim coach of the Dallas Cowboys, succeeding fired head coach Wade Phillips.
View full sizeFort Worth Star-TelegramJason Garrett, a Princeton grad and product of University School, is the interim head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He was profiled in a 2008 story in The Plain Dealer by reporter Bill Lubinger.
By Bill Lubinger
Jason Garrett was primed for this.
Primed in that every cinder block of Garrett's life has set a foundation that has led him to this point: As the brains behind one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL, he is a hot commodity and likely one of the next head coaches in the NFL.
One by one, the blocks were stacked neatly:
Son of a football lifer and former Browns assistant coach. Brother in a large family of jocks, where all you had to do was roll out of bed in the summer and have enough players for a Wiffle Ball game or one-on-one pass routes.
From CYO leaguer to overachieving University School and Princeton quarterback, to long shot who survived a dozen seasons in the NFL as a backup to and student of some of the top passers and play-callers in the game – in effect, an apprentice coach.
He spent seven years as Troy Aikman's understudy in Dallas.
He played under head coaches Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer and Chan Gailey, and with former offensive coordinators Ernie Zampese and Norv Turner, now head coach of the San Diego Chargers. The team won five division titles and two Super Bowls.
As a backup to Kerry Collins in New York, he learned from coach Jim Fassel and former offensive coordinator Sean Payton, now head coach of the New Orleans Saints. While with New York, the Giants advanced to the Super Bowl.
On the sidelines in Tampa Bay, he learned from coach Jon Gruden. And from coach Nick Saban in Miami.
“When you’re around winning programs,” he said by phone last week, “you see how people do things the right way.”
Now he’s in back in Dallas, directing an offense that was No. 3 in yardage in the NFL this season and No. 2 in points scored, behind only undefeated New England. Expect the red-headed Garrett to get plenty of TV face time when the Cowboys and Giants meet in an NFC division playoff this afternoon.
At 41, with just three years as assistant coach on his résumé — and his first tour of duty as an offensive coordinator — Garrett is regarded as one of the league’s brightest young offensive minds.
Next to New England, Dallas has been the NFL’s most dominant team, and that’s widened Garrett’s spotlight. During the team’s playoff bye week, he was among a handful of candidates contacted to interview for the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens head-coaching jobs.
In fact, the Browns tried to hire him to run their offense this year, but were denied permission to interview him by the Dolphins, for whom he coached quarterbacks.
Miami later eased off, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has known Garrett and his family for years, plucked him to run his team’s offense.
Jones said by e-mail that during the interview he was impressed with Jason’s approach: Build an offense around the talent rather than cram a style down a team’s throat.
“So many times coaches will say, ‘This is what I do and this is our system,’ without having the flexibility to adapt to the players at hand,” Jones wrote.
The owner was so familiar with the family’s character and Garrett’s intellect and ability to communicate that he hired the man even before naming Wade Phillips the head coach. It prompted speculation that Garrett, who’s known to solicit feedback about the offense from his players and assistants, was being groomed for the top job.
“It’s been kind of remarkable,” said Jason’s brother, Jim Garrett III, the oldest of Jim and Jane Garrett’s eight grown children and an English teacher and former football coach at University School in Hunting Valley.
Not only remarkable that Jason may soon be directing an NFL team, but that brother John also coaches tight ends for the Cowboys. And that brother Judd coaches tight ends for the St. Louis Rams.
It’s in the blood But it’s not so remarkable, really, given the pedigree.
Patriarch Jim Garrett, a running back on the Giants when Vince Lombardi was his position coach and Tom Landry coached the defense, spent 52 years playing, coaching and scouting in college and the NFL. (As a Cowboys scout, he recommended they draft quarterback Tony Romo. They didn’t, but signed him as a free agent.)
The family bounced from town to town like a military family, landing for seven seasons in Cleveland — on Berkshire Road in Cleveland Heights — in 1978 when Jim was hired by the Browns to coach running backs under Sam Rutigliano.
“Growing up,” Judd Garrett said, “we saw him Fridays and Saturdays bringing home the projector, breaking down film in the dining room. A lot of times we would sit there and watch with him.”
The big back yard of the family home on the Jersey Shore became a summer practice field. When Browns players Dino Hall and Pat Moriarty would visit to work out and run pass patterns, the young Garrett boys asked if they could play with them, and did. Jason would throw passes to Judd against Pro Bowl linebacker Sam Mills, a family friend.
Three of their four daughters graduated from Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights. Two still live in Russell Township in Geauga County. The three younger boys enrolled at University School, where Jason played shortstop on the baseball team and point guard on the basketball team in a backcourt with Derek Rucker, son of former Browns receiver Reggie Rucker.
And Cliff Foust’s football team gained instant offense when the Garrett boys took the field. John was a wide receiver and co-captain. Judd, the youngest, was a running back.
Jason wasn’t the most talented quarterback he’d ever coached, but “he could do the things that a lot of high school quarterbacks didn’t do,” said Foust, who coached high school football for 50 years.
The kid could read defenses. He knew exactly where to throw the ball. He fired the sideline strike better than any quarterback he’d ever had. The boy was reserved, but quietly commanded respect in the huddle.
“He was the boss and everybody knew he was the boss out there,” Foust said. “The thing is, the kids respected him.”
Foust recalled a big game against unbeaten Ashtabula St. John and its star player, Urban Meyer, now head coach at the University of Florida. Jason had a huge night, running and passing, to lead the upset.
Working his way up But only one Division I college expressed interest. Instead, all three younger Garrett brothers eventually wound up at Division I-AA Princeton, where Jason still runs a summer football camp for kids.
Even before official practices began, Jason organized workouts and drills and got a bunch of the guys together.
Former Princeton teammate and good friend Tom Criqui has known him since the day Garrett arrived for his freshman year sporting a big red “almost Julius Erving-like” afro. “He’s a person that people gravitate to,” said Criqui, son of veteran sportscaster Don Criqui. “He’s the guy at the bar who can milk one beer all night and people still want to be around.”
Dean Cain, the actor who played Superman on “Lois & Clark” in the 1990s, was among Garrett’s Princeton teammates. Nelson Rockefeller’s son, Mark, was his tight end.
Steve Tosches, his former college coach who now works with an executive search firm in the Princeton area, remembered the fifth game of Garrett’s junior season in 1987. Garrett led the team from its own 2-yard-line — after Cain’s third interception of the game — down the field with five passes to brother Judd to set up a game-winning field goal with no time left to beat Lehigh.
“It’s his field awareness,” Tosches said. “When he was a player, he knew where all 10 people were or where all 10 people were supposed to be. Now, you can teach awareness, but with Jason, it was absolutely, positively 100 percent natural. Jason was truly born in a huddle.”
As a Princeton senior, Garrett completed 203 of 299 passes with just three interceptions and was unanimously voted the Ivy League’s top player.
And yet he wasn’t drafted by the NFL.
Over 12 years in the NFL, Garrett started just nine of the 39 regular-season games he played. The most memorable came on Thanksgiving Day in 1994, when he got the start against Green Bay because Aikman and second-stringer Rodney Peete were hurt. It was Lehigh, the sequel, as Garrett led Dallas to a thrilling 42-31 come-from-behind victory on a club-record 36 second-half points.
Garrett said playing quarterback helped hone an ability as a coach to set an urgent tone for the players while staying calm. Observers say his years on the field, sidelines included, also helped polish an effective play-calling rhythm.
As the huddle breaks on the Cowboys’ Super Bowl run and Garrett surveys the field of NFL head-coaching vacancies, his next call may be his biggest yet.
Green Bay's Nick Collins takes a $50,000 hit in the checkbook for helmet-to-helmet hit on Dallas receiver Roy Williams.
View full sizeFort Worth Star-TelegramGreen Bay defensive back Nick Collins was fined $50,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Cowboys receiver Roy Williams. The NFL is cracking down -- with fines and threats of suspension -- on such hits.
Green Bay, Wis. -- The NFL fined Green Bay Packers safety Nick Collins $50,000 on Monday for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams.
In a statement, league officials said Collins "violently and unnecessarily struck a defenseless receiver" in the neck and head area with his helmet during Sunday night's game at Lambeau Field and called it a "flagrant violation of player safety rules."
NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson told Collins that further offenses "will result in an escalation of fines up to and including suspension."
The NFL is cracking down on illegal hits, and players who violate the rules are subject to increased fines or even suspensions.
Collins went helmet-to-helmet with Williams after an incompletion in the third quarter of the Packers' 45-7 victory over the Cowboys Sunday night. Collins was flagged for unnecessary roughness.
Williams said after the game that he didn't think NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell should punish Collins for the hit.
"Commissioner Goodell, don't fine the guy," Williams said. "It wasn't that bad of a deal, he shouldn't get fined. It was a football play, a football player making a football play. No injury, no harm."
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he spoke to side judge Rick Patterson immediately after the play.
"It was a bang-bang play and I felt that really when I saw the replay on the Jumbotron, it looked like Nick hit Roy in the back and came up to the helmet," McCarthy said Monday. "I understand why Rick threw the flag and we actually talked about the mechanics of it. That's a tough call.
"I think the referees are doing a very good job with the awareness of player safety, but I was standing right there and I can see what Nick Collins saw, too. The ball was in the air and he was trying to run through the proper target line and I think he hit Roy in the top of the pads and went up into the helmet."
The NFL did not hand out any discipline for the hit that gave Indianapolis wide receiver Austin Collie a concussion in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Collie was hit by safety Quintin Mikell, then took a shot to the helmet from fellow safety Kurt Coleman's helmet in the second quarter. Collie briefly lost consciousness and was taken off the field by stretcher.
Coleman was penalized for unnecessary roughness.
The NFL said because the helmet-to-helmet contact was a result of Collie being driven toward Coleman by Mikell's legal hit, there will be no fine. The league said game officials have been instructed to err on the side of player safety, and when in doubt, "penalize in situations such as this for unnecessary roughness."
Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini would not name a starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, but said that the play of Colt McCoy has made the discussion harder.
Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini would not name a starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the New York Jets, but said that the play of Colt McCoy has made the discussion harder. He also said during his availability with the media on Monday that Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme should both practice this week.
Can't stop talking about the Browns? Veteran NFL reporter, host and editor Ray Yannucci joins Kendall Lewis and Daryl Ruiter for the debut of Monday Evening Quarterback, a weekly look back at the Browns game every Monday from 6-8 p.m. on Digital Sports Network.
Talk Browns with Ray Yannucci on Monday Evening Quarterback from 6-8 p.m.
Can't stop talking about the Browns? Veteran NFL reporter, host and editor Ray Yannucci joins Kendall Lewis and Daryl Ruiter for the debut of Monday Evening Quarterback, a weekly look back at the Browns game every Monday from 6-8 p.m. on Digital Sports Network.
You can watch the live video stream or listen to the live audio stream as the guys break down the game and take your calls, read your chat room comments and field your e-mails and Tweets.
You can also catch The BSK and The DR every weekday from 6-8 p.m. on Gametime. Be sure to check out our show archives in case you miss a live show.
You Pick the Winners football contest for Week 10 is now open. Make your picks for a chance to win!
Week 10 of our You-Pick-the-Winners pro football contest is now open for entries!
The contest is simple. We're asking for straight-up picks, no point
spreads.
Whoever picks the most games correctly gets the $25 gas card and becomes a finalist for a $250 gift card to be awarded at the end of the regular season. The finalist also will be invited to appear on our weekly predictions show, hosted by Branson
Wright and Chuck Yarborough.
If there's a tie, whoever guesses closest to the total score of
the Browns' game without going over will become the finalist.
Twins Rex Ryan and Rob Ryan will battle in Jets vs. Browns on Sunday.
Thomas Ondrey, The Plain DealerRob Ryan
Sunday's game between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets has so many subplots. Braylon Edwards will return to Cleveland for the first time (not counting the time he was here for court) since he was traded. And coach Eric Mangini will face the team that fired him.
But another interesting storyline is the battle between Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and his twin bother Rex Ryan, coach of the New York Jets.
The brothers have been sports rivals since they were kids. That rivalry continued when they were on the opposite sides of the field as college and pro coaches.
On Sunday they will continue to take part in an interesting triangle, because Rob works under Coach Eric Mangini, whom Rex replaced when the Jets fired Mangini after the 2008 season. Mangini is as reserved as the Ryans are outspoken, but he called Rob “a great counterbalance” and “the minister of trash talking.”
Soon, the latest installment of Ryan versus Ryan will commence, writes Greg Bishop. For all the talk, Weeks predicted the twins would embrace afterward, perhaps even shed a tear. Until then, they will continue talking.
Rob said: “I got a lot to look forward to. All I hear is this mess about how he kicks my butt all the time. We’re ready. We’re going to beat him.”
Rex said: “He’s drinking too many beers. I’m losing count of all my wins. I’ve always been able to whip him, and this year will be no different.”
Matt Smith of Massillon is the Week 9 winner of the Pro Football You-Pick-the-Winners Contest. The Week 10 contest is now open
Matt Smith of Massillon is the Week 9 winner of the Pro Football You-Pick-the-Winners Contest.
Smith correctly picked 12 out of 13 games this past weekend, missing only when he predicted Indianapolis would defeat Philadelphia.
He won a tiebreaker to become the Week 9 winner.
Twenty-two players in the contest correctly picked 12 of 13 games. Seventeen of those players, including Smith, predicted Cleveland would defeat New England.
PD reporter says Browns will beat the New York Jets on Sunday.
Colt McCoy and Brett Ratliff celebrate after a video review confirmed McCoy's TD run during Sunday's win over New England.
Welcome to today's edition of Starting Blocks TV, our Web video show about what's going on in Cleveland sports. Today's show is hosted by Branson Wright. Chuck Yarborough is on assignment.
Today's guest, Plain Dealer reporter Dennis Manoloff, has three players in mind, and their names might surprise you.
D-Man last week predicted that the Browns would win 6-7 games this season, and he says that after Sunday's win, he may bump that up to eight wins. If that happens, he says Eric Mangini will keep his job as coach.
D-Man also predicts the Browns will beat the New York Jets on Sunday.
SBTV will be back Wednesday. Don't forget to play our You-Pick-the-Winners Contest where you can outpick Branson and Chuck each week and earn an appearance on SBTV, a $25 gas card and a chance at a $250 gift card.
The Cleveland Browns are having success with trick plays. Which trick play should they try next?
TRACY BOULIAN / THE PLAIN DEALERBrowns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll
The Cleveland Browns are one of the hottest teams in the NFL, and they owe some of that success to a few trick plays.
Against the New Orleans Saints, the Browns successfully ran a fake punt and a lateral from Josh Cribbs to Eric Wright on a punt return. Last Sunday, the Browns went back into their bag of tricks against the New England Patriots.
So what will the Browns do next? Which of these plays (see below) should the Browns run against the New York Jets?
What three Browns are the top contenders for Pro Bowl berths?
View full sizeTracy Boulian, The Plain DealerLast year, fullback Lawrence Vickers led the way for Jerome Harrison's season-ending surge; this year, the Browns fullback has helped open the holes that are making Peyton HIllis a star. His he one of your Pro Bowl picks?
Cleveland, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns are 3-5, kicking tail and taking names. Had a couple of early season games gone a bit differently, the Browns easily could have been 5-3. As it is, the team has hung tough with the Steelers, beaten the defending Super Bowl champion Saints and just waylaid the New England Patriots. It's not a bad guess to suspect that the Browns are the team most responsible for a spike in Pepto-Bismol sales in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati ... well, you get the idea.
Clearly, the emergence of rookie quarterback Colt McCoy is the most visible cause for all this, but the Browns have been fairly solid all year long. A large part of that is the success of running back Peyton Hillis, who ran for 184 yards last Sunday against the Pats. And the reason for Hillis' success could be Lawrence Vickers. Really, look at it this way: In the last five games last year, Jerome Harrison ran for 570 yards; thus far, Hillis has run for 644. The common factor? Both were led into the breech by fullback Vickers.
On the other side of the ball, the infusion of guys like linebackers Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong and cornerback T.J. Ward have strengthened coordinator Rob Ryan's defense. Granted, it's not the "Steel Curtain" of Pittsburgh's heyday, nor the Doomsday Defense of Dallas'. But it's a serviceable unit that's getting better every week. With a couple of (Eric Wright) exceptions, of course.
So, Browns fans, Starting Blocks wants to know: At this stage of the season, who are your nominees for the Pro Bowl? Pick three, and use the comments section to say why you chose whomever you did.
And hey, isn't it FUN having a bunch of choices for a change?
(By the way, to vote for REAL, go to this link on nfl.com.
Can the Browns make a run at the playoffs? Is Colt McCoy the guy? What's Eric Mangini and Mike Holmgren's futures in Cleveland? Can the Cavaliers keep on winning with their style of play? Find out when we talk with Terry in his weekly podcast.
Terry Pluto tackles your questions live every Tuesday at noon.
With the Browns and Cavaliers both winning, there should be plenty to talk about in today's chat with Terry Pluto, award-winning sports columnist for The Plain Dealer.
In his weekly chat on cleveland.com, Terry Pluto tackled these questions:
- Can the Browns contend for the playoffs?
- Should Colt McCoy be named the starter for the rest of the season?
- Eric Mangini is doing well. Mike Holmgren has hinted about returning to coaching. So.....????
- Can the Cavaliers continue to win playing like the way they have?
- Can you see the Cavs adding players at the deadline or before?
- Tell us about your new book, "What I've Learned From Watching the Browns"
"As much as I love how the Cavs are ranked #1 in their division, while the Heat are #3 in theirs, you all have to keep in mind that they have Orlanda and Atlanta, while the Cavs just have Chicago." -bwoh0525
Joshua Gunter | The Plain DealerCleveland Cavaliers' Byron Scott gets pumped up by his teams play against the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter of play Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland won the game 95-87. (Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer)
In response to an article in today's Plain Dealer reporting the Cavs being in first place in their division, cleveland.com user bwoh0525 comments:
As much as I love how the Cavs are ranked #1 in their division, while the Heat are #3 in theirs, you all have to keep in mind that they have Orlanda and Atlanta, while the Cavs just have Chicago.
Colt McCoy is "making the discussion harder'' on who to start at quarterback. 
