The Browns will soon announce plans to create a Ring of Honor to commemorate their franchise greats inside Cleveland Browns Stadium.
In 2007, Browns Hall of Famers (standing, from left) Leroy Kelly, Bobby Mitchell and Jim Brown escorted an ailing Gene Hickerson to the stage at Fawcett Stadium when Hickerson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Next month, all of the Browns' 16 Hall of Famers are expected to be included when the team unveils a Ring of Honor at Cleveland Browns Stadium.GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Browns have made a decision that some think was long overdue. The organization, now headed by President Mike Holmgren, is creating a Ring of Honor to commemorate the great names of the franchise's storied past. An announcement could come as early as this week.
Tradition has kept the Browns relevant as they and their fans suffer through the expansion era. Tradition is what Cleveland politicians, diehard fans and Browns alumni fought to keep when Art Modell moved his Browns to Baltimore in 1996. But there has never been any permanent reminder of that tradition inside the seating bowl of Cleveland Browns Stadium.
That will change when the first class of franchise greats is inducted into the Browns Ring of Honor.
Plans are for the 16 Browns enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame to be the natural first inductees. Their names will be inscribed on the upper ring of Browns Stadium, clearly visible at least to spectators on the opposite side of the seating bowl. The unveiling of the Ring of Honor will be done at the home opener on Sept. 19.
All seven living honorees and family members of the deceased ones have been invited to attend various events planned for the opening weekend.
At least two members of the class are not expected to attend the unveiling on Sept. 19. The Paul Brown family, operators of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Ozzie Newsome, GM of the Baltimore Ravens, will be in Cincinnati for the Bengals-Ravens game. The Browns are hoping to have both at a gala dinner the night before.
About one-half the 32 NFL teams have a ring of honor displayed in their stadiums, though they all aren't named as such. Dino Lucarelli, the long-time Cleveland sports PR aficionado and former Browns alumni director, always felt it was a void in Browns Stadium.
Holmgren agreed. He developed an appreciation of team tradition while coaching the Green Bay Packers. Every day he went to work, Holmgren saw the hallowed names of Packers greats emblazoned on the facade of Lambeau Field. The display of the names of 21 Packers in the Hall of Fame helped stamp Lambeau Field as a football shrine.
The Browns intend to add members to its Ring of Honor on a regular basis. A committee within the organization will outline criteria for consideration and be the sole authority to decide future members. Exclusivity is what will make the Ring special and it's unlikely that future classes will number more than a few.
And that's not all: Holmgren's dedication to Browns tradition also will result in the re-institution of the Browns Legends program.
The Legends, which was started in 2001 to honor Browns greats, was suspended last year. There are currently 31 Browns players, plus the 16 Hall of Famers, in the Legends.
The program will be modified so that voters will not be restricted to choosing honorees based on the decade in which they played.
The Ryan Express: Leftovers from a recent sitdown with outspoken Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan ...
• On whether he was concerned about not returning for 2010 as Holmgren mulled the future of coach Eric Mangini in January:
"I wasn't concerned about it. Mike had the big decision, not me. I love these guys. The bottom line is, [expletive], I can coach. [Expletive], I'd be hired in one second. I ain't worried about that [expletive]. Honest to God, I wasn't."
• On whether he would watch HBO's "Hard Knocks," which is featuring the New York Jets' training camp coached by his twin brother, Rex:
"I'm going to watch it. Hell, I wanna see my brother. I know one thing, he's a great [expletive] coach. I think he took [the Jets] somewhere last year. The only guy not surprised was him. Great coach, finally got his chance."
• On when he thinks he'll get his chance to be an NFL head coach:
"I don't know. Should've happened a long time ago in Oakland. But, hell, if that happens, so be it. I'm happy where I'm at."
Rookie wage scale: Is St. Louis rookie quarterback Sam Bradford worth more than Peyton Manning or Tom Brady? Of course not. But Bradford's deal with the Rams guarantees him $50 million -- more than Manning and Brady currently have in their contracts.
Is Browns rookie cornerback Joe Haden better right now than any cornerback in the team's history? Of course not. But Haden is guaranteed a franchise-record $25 million in his deal.
"I think our rookie compensation system is broken," Commissioner Roger Goodell said during his visit to Browns camp on Aug. 5. "I think our compensation system should reward the players for their performance on an NFL field [and not on potential]. It's something I've heard from our players about it. It's something we have to address in the collective bargaining agreement."
Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, who sits on the executive committee of the players union, has an interesting take on this conference room debate.
"Teams can pay players whatever they want," Fujita said. "Is it [the players union's] issue to clean it up? Not necessarily. For whatever reasons, they keep looking at us to fix this thing."
In other words, nobody's forcing owners to pay untested rookies outlandish sums.