Browns owner sees promise in his team
What a long, strange trip the last five years have been for Randy Lerner.
<p class="MsoNormal">He attended his father's funeral at this time in 2002, then began a new life as owner of the Cleveland Browns.
<p class="MsoNormal">His first game as owner was a road win over the Jets. His first season ended with a dramatic run to the playoffs.
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a mirage. The Browns went no better than 6-10 the next four seasons.
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, he faces the flickering promise of a 3-3 start to 2007.
<p class="MsoNormal">As the Browns take stock of their whereabouts heading into the bye week, the 44-year-old Lerner walked into an upstairs room wearing a smile and a casual gray sweater. A styrofoam cup full of coffee in hand, he hunkered down to answer a variety of questions.
<p class="MsoNormal">Some excerpts:
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: What got the organization to a point of optimism?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: I don't know about optimism necessarily. We're at a good point, hanging in there with the plan to build a foundation, to get core players in place, to continue to repair having gone five years with no core foundation, foundational players or what have you.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: When the Indians are in the ALCS and the Cavs are a few months removed from a trip to the NBA Finals, what does it do to the equilibrium of the town's other major pro sports owner?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: I think it makes it a lot easier. When you pull for Cleveland teams and you see a game like (Tuesday) night and see your kid going absolutely berserko, not going to bed on time ... I think it's amazing. I understand the implication, which is you don't want to be the team that's not doing as well as the other team. I get it very clearly.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: Is the team lucky to have gotten breakout play from quarterback Derek Anderson but unlucky in not knowing that would happen before investing so much in Brady Quinn?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: I don't think luck played any part in it. While it might not have looked like the smartest thing on a given day in training camp, the coaches, the coordinators, what have you, decided to effectively split the practice time, the reps (between Anderson and Charlie Frye). It paid off having two prepared guys, because the coaching staff was not clearly terribly sure about either one. Having Derek ready to go was less a matter of luck and more a matter of being as prepared as you could get a guy who started the season as the No. 2 quarterback.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: As a longtime Browns fan, are you eager to see what Quinn can do in a game?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: Not right now. It's so much more important to get Brady as much observation and experience as possible. ... I think that Derek Anderson has been inspired, and I'm pretty caught up in that, frankly. He's got some pretty impressive rankings right now.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: How tense a time is this, going into the bye on an uptick but having no way of knowing if progress can be sustained?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: (Weighs his response and laughs) I wouldn't say it's necessarily a tense time. It's the least tense time since the season started. There's a reasonable level of optimism. I don't think you can overstate how good it feels to be 3-3, having been 1-5, so I think it has a lot to do with our sanity.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: What about some of your players talking playoffs?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: I don't know that I would necessarily jump on that bandwagon. That always should be your goal.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: Your goals for the rest of the season?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: To have players make the Pro Bowl, for us to play in a way where people who know football and support the Browns feel like we're playing well. We've got to win games, hopefully a lot of games, and in a way that creates the sense we are continuing to build and move forward.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: What were you thinking after the opening loss to the Steelers?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: Nothing very good, frankly. Probably nothing different than what anybody else who loves the Browns was thinking.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: What role did you play in keeping things together after that game?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: I spoke at length with Romeo (Crennel) and Phil (Savage) and Mike Keenan (business executive). ... Everybody, I think, pitched in. We talked about everything from practices, timing, players, team leaders, how the team gets together the night before games in a hotel, whether or not there was anything we could do to encourage or inspire. In the end, if I were to point to one thing that came out of those discussions, it was the head coach's reliance on team captains. They probably did step up and communicate, maybe in a way that was more direct than they had.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: In retrospect, how did the team get from 4-12 last year to a bad opener to 3-3?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: Staying the course. I would also attribute it to moving to Derek Anderson. That's a hindsight observation, but that is clear. It was a difficult, conspicuous, high-profile move, and it worked.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: Did you have a part in the Charlie Frye trade and the sudden move to Anderson?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: No. I was updated. I was made to be involved the way we would do anything with players, but no.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: Has it been difficult to stay the course?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: There are times when it's difficult. We've tried to create some strong voices in our organization. The point of doing that is it allows for debate and different points of view to guide the collective opinion.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: Might the Browns play a game at Europe anytime soon?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: It's more or less voluntary in the near term, and I wouldn't volunteer the Browns. The Browns spent enough years out of Cleveland in the '90s.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: What's your sense for how General Manager Phil Savage has grown into his job?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: The results speak for themselves. We have the foundations in place. We're in strong financial shape in terms of the cap. And we have an organization that's communicative internally. I think that's, in the simplest terms, what Phil set out to do, and I think he's accomplished it.
<p class="MsoNormal">Q: Does Bernie Kosar have a presence in the organization?
<p class="MsoNormal">Lerner: He has strong relationships in the building. He's very, very well liked. I've been close to Bernie for a long time. I probably know Bernie more outside football than inside. We're essentially the same age. He shares his insights. He's supportive. He's therefore very effective.
<p class="MsoNormal">Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com