Well, this is awkward. Everyone was doped. The hype was overwhelming. You couldn't see a team with so much coverage seem to buckle and implode in record time. It's sad considering the "legacy" of bad luck and malaise tied to this franchise. But this season was supposed to be different. The trend was supposed to change. The media gobbled it up as did the football experts. This.....was THEIR TIME!

Then, it wasn't. 

The 2019 Cleveland Browns had momentum going into the season after posting a 7-9 record in 2018. If this was any other team, this would be a down year. For Cleveland, this was a HUGE improvement. After 1 win in the last two seasons, the Browns seemed to have the pendulum swing in their favor. They figured to have the right GM in place with John Dorsey. They figured to have the right QB in place with Baker Mayfield and the right head coach in Freddie Kitchens, despite not having any head coaching experience, but hey! In the 2018 off-season, the Browns traded for Dolphins WR Jarvis Landry and Packers S Jamarious Russell. Despite a slow start and the firing of Hue Jackson and OC Todd Haley, Cleveland righted the ship as Kitchens became the OC and Gregg "Bountygate" Williams as HC. Mayfield improved to break the rookie record in passing touchdowns. Rookie RB Nick Chubb busted out and the defense rapidly stopped opposing offenses. 

The 2019 off-season saw more moves to make the team a playoff contender. They acquired DE Olivier Vernon, RB Kareem Hunt, and DT Sheldon Richardson. But one acquisition was the envy of the league. The Browns traded for Odell Beckham Jr. (Play the song "Hallelujah!"). They gave up a first round pick and budding safety Jabril Peppers for the electrifying wideout to complement Landry and Mayfield. The sports media went wild and some declared the Browns as not only AFC favorites, but SUPER BOWL FAVORITES! They received more media attention than the Dallas Cowboys. Think about that, the Cowboys are the supposed epicenter of the NFL and they were upstaged by the Browns. Bet you Jarrah wasn't cool about that. As the season approached, every Brown fan was salivating as their faux Super Bowl championship was nearly theirs. In week 1 against Tennessee, this is the start of this memorable season.

Right here. The Tennessee game is when I realized that this was not going to be a memorable season.

Mayfield went from hot prospect to a unconfident mess. Every interview he did during a loss seemed to cause him to be triggered. His confidence and moxie was the reason why Cleveland picked him as the #1 pick in the '18 draft. He did have some moments, but honestly, Mayfield regressed, BADLY.

Everyone had a hearty laugh when the New York Giants traded OBJ. It was a huge mistake, they said. The Giants are going to suck bad.....which they did, but at least they wouldn't have to deal with him. (By the way, the Daniel Jones pick looks like a smart pick now.) Beckham Jr. became more agitated and argued with Kitchens on the sideline and supposedly said he wanted out, which he denied. OBJ didn't have the impact that Cleveland wanted for him.

Kitchens was the senior frat boy in charge of the underclass frat boys. This hiring scratched a lot of heads as many thought the Browns should have hired a more experienced coach. Let's make note that the players wanted Kitchens to be the head coach for the 2019 season. 

Entering the 2017 draft, I watched a video about the projected #1 pick in Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett. The video stated that Garrett was mature beyond his years with his only focus on getting better at football and as a person. Which makes what happened on Thursday Night Football against the Steelers very, very damming. As a mini scuffle ensued, Garrett swung his helmet at the head of Pittsburgh QB Mason Rudolph and was suspended indefinitely because of it. Things were made worse when a photo of Freddie Kitchens wearing a shirt saying "Pittsburgh Started It" appeared on social media. This causes a red flag about discipline when it comes to the Browns.

The season ended with a loss to Cincinnati, but let's be real, the Browns' disappointing season ended on a Sunday in central Arizona. Against the Cardinals with their slim playoff hopes on the line, Cleveland decided to show up physically.....just not mentally. Arizona manhandled a battered remains of a supposed Super Bowl contender and took them to the woodshed. Cleveland, on the other hand, imploded. Kareem Hunt said that certain players weren't playing hard enough, which explains a lot.

As the Browns close this 6-10 campaign, Kitchens would be ousted as they, once again, are in search of another head coach and fans would have to go into another off-season of disappointment in hope of a better season next year.

Hype is such a dirty word in sports.

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