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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2009 > January > 07 > Entry
Rope symbolized Savage’s tenure
Haven’t been there in a while so I don’t know if it still hangs ominously in the vestibule of team headquarters. But it was always good for a laugh as you entered.
Ex-Browns GM Phil Savage had a length of knotted rope dangling there as a means of encouraging players and other employees to pull together. In an accompanying note taped to a window, he explained that everyone should become a “knot” in the rope and that, by so doing, the team could climb to great heights. Like in gym class, I guess.
Another rope (and note) swung outside the team’s locker room at Cleveland Browns Stadium. So, everywhere they turned, players were confronted with ropes, which had to be somewhat disconcerting, especially given the lack of climbing that was going on in the standings.
Savage had some quirkiness to him, that’s for sure. You can get away with some of this stuff if you win, but when your four-year record as a GM is 24-40, you tend to look kind of foolish.
There were doubts about Savage when the Browns hired him, but I took his side, as did most people, when factions in the front office wanted to run him out of town after a year.
What surprised me, other than his suspect drafting, is how badly Savage handled certain situations.
An early example came during training camp in 2006 when he completely overreacted to being hit with a few questions from reporters a day or two after the first exhibition game. Such queries can be tedious, but these were softballs, and instead of deftly dodging them or, heaven forbid, answering them, he basically flew off the handle. I remember standing there holding a tape recorder, smiling and thinking, “Phil, this is Cleveland. You might work in New York someday. Get a grip.”
To my knowledge, I’m the only one who wrote about Savage’s mini-meltdown that day, earning a stern rebuke from a member of the PR department. To me it was newsworthy because it provided a clue to who this guy was.
What we learned over time was that being out front, being the face of an organization, was not a Savage strong suit.
There was the time he told an audience in Canton that NFL players who believe in Jesus last longer in the league. Who knows? Maybe he did a study. But the Browns were so embarrassed by the comment that they (he?) had it removed from a story on their Web site. I mean, literally it was there one day and gone the next.
Of course, those Savage gaffes were merely precursors to this season’s, which included the Kellen Winslow non-suspension suspension and the infamous f* you e-mail to a fan while he sat on the team bus in Buffalo.
Now the Browns are considering bringing in another general manager, like Savage, who has never been a general manager before. Hope they know what they’re doing.
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