From the Doldrums to Divinity: A Cleveland Browns CCM (Madden 13)

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New Browns owner, Jimmy Haslam, is intent on bringing the Browns back to being competitive.

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In the wake of the 2012 season, yet another disappointing year, the new Browns owner, Jimmy Haslam, decided it was time to clean house. His decree was, "Everyone must go." And go, they did.

Head coach, Pat Shurmur, was fired.

General manager, Tom Heckert, got canned.

Offensive coordinator, Brad Childress, was let go.

Defensive coordinator, Dick Jauron, got the big ugly ax.

Everyone was out.

In the words of the late, Owen Hart, "Enough is enough and it's time for a change."

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In a surprise move that frankly nobody expected, the Browns have named their new head coach:

Spoiler

Former Browns All-Pro cornerback, the Top Dawg himself, Hanford Dixon!

In another surprise move that nobody expected, they have also named a new offensive coordinator:

Spoiler

That's right, after taking a few years off from coaching, former Super Bowl winning head coach, Jon Gruden has left the broadcast booth and taken the job as the new offensive coordinator for the Browns!

In a final surprising move, they have also named a new defensive coordinator:

Spoiler

Reuniting with his former Browns teammate and new Browns head coach, Hanford Dixon, is the new defensive coordinator in Cleveland, Frank Minnifield!

A new GM is expected to be named in the very near future...

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The new general manager of the Cleveland Browns has been named:

Spoiler

The new GM of the Browns is Bill Polian! A year removed from being dismissed from Indianapolis, the prospect of rebuilding a team from scratch was too much for him to pass up. Let's see if he can get a third team to the Super Bowl.

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Before making a big splash in free agency, Polian got together with the rest of the staff and discussed their philosophy for the upcoming draft, in which they hold the 5th overall pick in after posting a 5-11 record the year before.

Gruden: "I'm not big on Weeden. There are two quarterbacks in this year's draft that I think would be a much better fit for the type of offense I want to run here. Now, with a guy like Trent Richardson in our backfield and a solid offensive line up front, now is as good a time as any to grab a young QB that can lead this team for a decade. Weeden will be 30 years old by the time this coming season is over. He is clearly not the guy. We could also use another play maker at the wide receiver position to compliment Josh Gordon and some offensive line depth never hurt."

Minnifield: "I like our defensive line and our linebacker corps for the most part. I think we're good there, for the time being. Joe Haden is an amazing young talent and I really want to pair him up with another shutdown, man-to-man corner to take pressure off of the rest of the defense. Getting a playmaker at the free safety position would also compliment the rest of the secondary as well. What I'm saying is that I mainly want to beef up the secondary with as much talent as possible to help improve the defense overall."

Dixon: "I concur with both of these thought processes. Richardson will be the workhorse he was drafted to be on offense and I will be as hands-off as possible and let Jon handle controlling that side of the ball. I couldn't agree more with what Frank said about the secondary though. I've been watching a lot of tape on those Curtis twins from UCLA and I really see a lot of Frank and myself 25 years ago in them. Now, we already have Haden but if we can pair him with one of those Curtis kids, I think we just might have something special there."

Polian: "Alright, gentlemen. It's time to look at more film and get the ball rolling."

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2013 Cleveland Browns Draft Recap
Pick	Player	College	Pos	Ht	Wt
5	Stacey Knight	Cincinnati	QB	6'3"	225
37	Drew Onkka	North Carolina	RG	6'5"	340
69	Gilbert Black	Oklahoma St.	WR	6'2"	224
101	Khris Curtis	UCLA	CB	6'1"	200
133	Jamari Curtis	UCLA	CB	6'1"	202
165	Aaron Cole	Michigan	K	6'0"	211
197	Jester Collins	Virginia	FS	6'0"	208

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D'Qwell Jackson Demands Trade



Six year Browns veteran, D'Qwell Jackson, announced yesterday to the media that he wanted to be traded. Reportedly, the former second round pick out of Maryland just didn't see eye to eye with either new head coach, Hanford Dixon nor with new defensive coordinator, Frank Minnifield. Jackson led the Browns with 126 tackles last season (good for second in the NFL) and many pundits considered him to be one of the biggest Pro-Bowl snubs on the defensive side of the ball. Jackson is also one of the defensive captains for the Browns so this news does not sit well with many of the Cleveland faithful.

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Laurinaitis Leads Crop of Free Agent Signings



In the wake of internal problems with D'Qwell Jackson, the Browns have agreed to a multi-year deal with four year veteran and former St. Louis Rams star, James Laurinaitis. A three time All-American at Ohio State, Laurinaitis has been a force at middle linebacker for the Rams over the last four seasons and is a familiar face to many Browns fans due to his ties to Ohio State. He wasn't the only former Buckeye to be signed by the Browns this week though, as they also signed Thaddeus Gibson to a one year contract. Gibson, unlike Laurinaitis, has been floating around the NFL for several different teams including the rival, Pittsburgh Steelers. He has never got a chance to solidify himself as a regular, but will have an opportunity to do so with the Browns. Rounding out the free agent signings on the defensive side of the ball is another former All-American linebacker, Keith Rivers. Rivers, who the Browns inked to a one year deal, is a former top 10 pick by the Cincinnati Bengals and has also had a rather underwhelming career thus far and will look to turn it around with a change of scenery.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Browns signed the highly talented yet often injured, Danny Amendola, to a one year deal of his own. Amendola is expected to compete for the starting slot receiver job in Cleveland this year and is the frontrunner to win the job, if he can stay healthy. The Browns also signed former Arizona Cardinals running back, LaRod Stephens-Howling, as a change-of-pace back to compliment Trent Richardson. Stephens-Howling is also a very skilled receiver out of the backfield and can play on third downs to even further ease the pressure on Richardson. Also signed was former Philadelphia Eagles lineman, King Dunlap, who will add depth to an already solid offensive line in Cleveland.

The Browns also signed punter, Daniel Sepulveda, another former Steeler, to fill out the roster.

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Jackson Traded to St. Louis

In the wake of losing star linebacker, James Laurinaitis, to the Browns via free agency, the St. Louis Rams have agreed to a trade with the Browns that will send linebacker, D'Qwell Jackson, to St. Louis. Sources say that the Rams will be giving up their 4th and 5th round picks in the upcoming 2014 draft in exchange for the services of Jackson. In the end, the Browns get a very similar, yet younger and more marketable player in Laurinaitis, while dumping the much higher salary of Jackson's and getting two draft picks as a bonus. Bill Polian strikes again!