{"id":30903,"date":"2025-08-20T14:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903"},"modified":"2025-08-20T14:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:19:08","slug":"cleveland-browns-news-and-rumors-8-20-the-dreadful-lure-of-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Cleveland<\/p>\n

CLEVELAND, Ohio (TheOBR.com) Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans! The Browns edge closer to Saturday\u2019s final pre-season game as Joe Flacco talks to the press, the team\u2019s secondary dodges a bullet (apparently), and practice goes into regular-season mode.<\/p>\n

THE DAILY BLOVIATION<\/h2>\n

Is it time for a this-and-that day on the OBR Daily Newswire? It\u2019s time for a this-and-that day on the OBR Daily Newswire!<\/p>\n

MY VIBE CONCERNING THE CLEVELAND BROWNS<\/b>: We got a question in Ask the Insiders concerning our outlook on the season yesterday. I\u2019m not a historically unstoppable prognosticator, but I screwed up my courage and answered the question, which I\u2019ll discuss in the Newswire as well.<\/p>\n

My expectations for the Browns in 2025 are not extravagant. The schedule is quite brutal, especially the first six games; the division is tough as always, and the team\u2019s offense remains unproven. If we come out of those first six games with a 2-4 record, I\u2019ll be happy. If they break even, I\u2019ll be ecstatic.<\/p>\n

But the vibe is generally good as we head into the season. Allowing me to knock on wood furiously, aside from the injury to M.J. Emerson, the team hasn\u2019t received the usual dose of horrible pre-season injury news. The rookie class looks promising – and we haven\u2019t seen Quinshon Judkins yet – and I\u2019m very intrigued with the development of what looks to be a challenging pass rush.<\/p>\n

Just yesterday, Denzel Ward walked off the field with a shoulder injury. My first thought was \u201chere we go again\u201d, of course. I\u2019m a Browns fan. But the injury does not appear to be serious, and the Browns dodged a bullet. Hopefully, that bullet doesn\u2019t ricochet back at us.<\/p>\n

This season could be a lot of fun if you come into it with reasonable expectations. There is a lot of young talent that will have its ups and downs this season, but the early returns are promising. The Browns\u2019 receiver corps could surprise with the emergence of young players like Ced Tillman and Jamari Thrash.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s promise. The team will be interesting to watch, and, in what looks like a rebuilding year, the team could play some good football. I\u2019m anxious for the start of the season, with the note that NO ONE is allowed to get hurt this weekend. It\u2019s simply not permitted.<\/p>\n

ADIOS, AMIGOS<\/b>: Last night, some of our YouTube viewers were disappointed to hear that Brad Ward, a constant presence on our site, has moved to another platform. We\u2019ll certainly miss Brad. He\u2019s a good guy. He\u2019ll still be a good guy even if he\u2019s not working here. However, this gives us a chance to refresh our video lineup and apply what we\u2019ve learned these last few years. Change means opportunity. You can watch some of that change in action tonight at 7PM as the new \u201cInside the Browns Beat\u201d show welcomes the Beacon-Journal\u2019s Chris Easterling.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the OBR has been a place where new talent is discovered and mentored. We take pride in the fact that alumni of our site have grown here and gone on to roles at notable organizations such as NBC, Cleveland.com, Bleacher Report, ESPN, 247Sports, and others. Even companies like CBS Sports and FOX Sports have employed your bloviator at various times. Part of our team has remained intact for decades, but many talented individuals have come and gone.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re used to it. We look at it this way: The OBR is the top independent site for Browns news, and has been since 1999. We\u2019re aligned with CBS Sports, credentialed, and constantly working to improve our product. Whether you\u2019re a championship football team or a good website, it\u2019s only natural that people will want to sign away your talent. You reload. You move on.<\/p>\n

We wish Brad the best of luck and are excited about our future and the talent we\u2019ve assembled here. Back here at your everyday base of Browns news, views and analysis, there are many new and exciting developments ahead.<\/p>\n

READ THE DAMN ROOM<\/b>: I\u2019m not sure I can say more than T-Dog did in his Watercooler post, but it\u2019s come to my attention that the despicable Ratbirds of Baltimore intend to have themselves a “30th season celebration” built around their home opener against the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n

Um, guys, well…<\/p>\n

Even Baltimore Ratbird marketing people should be aware of the fact that the Cleveland Browns were a team they stole from their loyal fans by making a deal with a despicable man who was summarily booted out of the league several years later.<\/p>\n

There were victims here: Browns fans. We went three years without football, and dedicated fans who loved their team had to fight like hell to get back their franchise name, colors, and history. Jimmy Haslam didn\u2019t do that. Nor did the Lerner family. The fans did.<\/p>\n

The lack of awareness on the part of the Baltimore organization is staggering. They can go ahead and celebrate their ignoble actions if they want, but doing so with the Browns in town is unaware of the history, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it will be a good time to remember not the Rats, but what the fans who did, accomplished, achieved, something that no other group of fans has been able to do. Note to Ratbirds: Browns are still here.<\/p>\n

Have a good one! GO BROWNS!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Watch out! Our bloviator is falling into the trap of optimism again as he looks forward to the season. This, and other stunning positive things about in today\u2019s Newswire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[517,202,1875,1876,1874,1878,42,1877],"class_list":["post-30903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns","tag-browns","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-cleveland-football","tag-cleveland-nfl","tag-cleveland-sports","tag-dawgpound","tag-denzel-ward","tag-haslams"],"yoast_head":"\nCleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Watch out! Our bloviator is falling into the trap of optimism again as he looks forward to the season. This, and other stunning positive things about in today\u2019s Newswire.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-20T14:19:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903\",\"name\":\"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-20T14:19:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-20T14:19:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism - Breaking News","og_description":"Watch out! Our bloviator is falling into the trap of optimism again as he looks forward to the season. This, and other stunning positive things about in today\u2019s Newswire.","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-08-20T14:19:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903","name":"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png","datePublished":"2025-08-20T14:19:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-20T14:19:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/browns-38.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=30903#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 8\/20: The Dreadful Lure of Optimism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30905,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30903\/revisions\/30905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}