Hear That Clock? It’s Ticking on Crennel

Whether out of frustration, ignorance or otherwise, the word quit is rarely heard in NFL locker rooms. Why? Because to merely mention it is to insinuate a lot. A lot about a team. A lot about its players. A lot about pride, character, teamwork, loyalty, professionalism and all those those things that are supposed to make a team a team and a pro a pro.

But most of all, for better or worse, the word quit is often a death knell for one individual. It is a foreboding shadow cast down upon he who has been called upon to lead those very same men, to instill those very same values, to ensure, above all else, that no matter how dire the circumstances one thing his team would never do was quit.

So, when veteran players on the Cleveland Browns started using the “q word on Monday it guaranteed one thing. The seat under Romeo Crennel’s rear-end just got a whole lot hotter. Following up a 10-6 2007 season, the coach and his Brownies came into the 2008 campaign with lofty expectations. After a 3-6 start, Coach Crennel is now 23-34 in three-plus seasons with Cleveland.

Cynics will claim that he has been given plenty of talent and has failed failed to get the most out of those players. However, winning in Cleveland is no small task. In fact, you have to go back to 1988 to find a coach who finished his tenure with the Browns above the .500 mark. What have you done for me lately echoes even louder in the sports world 20 years later and patience is no longer a virtue when it comes to NFL front offices.

Claiming Crennel’s job is “in jeopardy” is no longer reaching out on a limb. The limb is already quite shaky. The better questions are around how long he’s got, if such a tenuous situation is “fair” and what Sir Romeo needs to do in order to retain his position with the Cleveland Browns.

So, what say you readers?