Josh Cribbs: Forever A Brown

Three former Cleveland Browns players likely at the end of their careers were released by their respective teams yesterday. The New York Jets cut Braylon Edwards, the Washington Redskins did the same with Donte’ Stallworth, and the Oakland Raiders let go of Joshua Cribbs. Edwards and Stallworth will likely have no place in Browns lore. Edwards pushed his way out the door (both with Browns fans and members of LeBron James’s entourage) and Stallworth inexplicably is not still in prison. But, Cribbs was the polar opposite to Browns fans.

Terry Pluto wrote an excellent column on Cribbs following his release. It details just how hard Cribbs worked to get on the team and the sacrifices he took to his body on his way to three Pro Bowl appearances as a special teamer during his tenure with the Browns. It was this type of work ethic that won him over with Browns fans.

Since 1999, the Browns haven’t lived up to the legacy that they established prior to their move. There has been a general disconnect between the team’s carousel of front offices and the fan base. Of the mountain of players that have come through the Berea training facility, only Cribbs and Phil Dawson have been admired at the level of players from the 1980s Browns teams. That’s because Cribbs and Dawson got it. They understood that the Browns were about being a community. They understood that the fans liked hard work, putting the team and city first, and laying their absolute best out on to the field. While the rest of the league’s fans laughed at the Browns faithful gushing over a couple special teamers, Clevelanders were just happy that someone understood them and played their hearts out for them on Sunday.

Cribbs played his heart out for teams that didn’t even deserve that. At best, a return specialist on a better team and functioning organization, Cribbs did that along with being a gunner on special teams, a second/deep threat wide receiver, and a potential quarterback in the Wildcat offense. Such use led to some scary moments and potential major injuries, and yet, as Pluto’s article points out, Cribbs only missed two games in the last seven years. He was this generation’s Eric Metcalf for Browns fans, an entertaining lightning rod overused at a position he wouldn’t play on any other team in the league.

Time may have run out on Cribbs’s athletic career. The Raiders, an organization that could play the game, “Who’s More Dysfunctional?” with the Browns over the past several years, released him, which likely means there won’t be much of a market for a special teamer with diminished skills. This is the time for the current Browns organization to reach out to Cribbs with an understanding of what he means for this community. Plenty of former Browns players have been welcomed back, and if it interests Cribbs, he should be offered some type of position in the organization that stresses his social and communal strengths that made him so loved by Clevelanders.

Cleveland is a loyal city. It loves the people that have been faithful to them (Bernie Kosar), and are even forgiving of the ones who brought great memories and left (Jim Thome). If his career is over and there isn’t a place for Cribbs on any other roster, there will always be a place for him in Cleveland. It’s time to bring #16 back home.