Warfield Back In The Fold
Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield is back with the Browns.
Monday, the team announced Warfield had been hired as a scout and career planning consultant.
“There’s been a lot of conversation with (owner) Randy (Lerner) and myself with re-connecting the Browns organization with the community and the alumni and the past,’’ coach Butch Davis said.
Warfield’s hiring represents one step in doing that.
Warfield will work from Cleveland and from his home in West Palm Beach, Fla,, where he will do a lot of scouting of college players and potential free agents. When he’s in Cleveland he will help players with post-football career plans, and be a goodwill ambassador in the community.
“Paul was an enormously charismatic player here,’’ Davis said. “ He’s a legend in the National Football League having an Ohio background. He’s a class individual.’’
Davis said Warfield would evaluate players in the draft and free agency, and would have special assignments during the season. He would join the team at the Scouting Combine and the Senior Bowl, and help in the offseason.
Warfield has always been one of the most popular Browns. He grew up in Warren and went to Warren Harding before playing at Ohio State. As a rookie in 1964, he contributed to Cleveland’s last championship team – leading the team in receptions with 52 catches for 920 yards and nine touchdowns.
He played for the Browns until 1969, when he was traded to Miami for the draft pick that turned into quarterback Mike Phipps. When he returned for a Monday night game as a member of the Dolphins in 1973, fans gave him a rousing ovation – a moment he has called one of the highlights of his career. Warfield finished his career as a Brown in 1976-77.
Warfield tried to team with Calvin Hill to run the Browns when the team returned from a three-year hiatus in 1999, but his potential group was not awarded the team. At the time, Hill said Warfield had more football knowledge than anyone he knew.
Warfield’s first stint as a personnel evaluator with the Browns was in the mid-1980s. A desperate Marty Schottenheimer called on him after the Browns had searched long and hard trying to find a prolific wide receiver to no avail.
They tried big guys like Willis Adams and little guys like Dwight Walker. They tried drafting them, trading for them and signing them off the street.
What they got was a big headache and little satisfaction.
So Schottenheimer, knowing that he had to find some go-to receivers for his young franchise quarterback, Bernie Kosar, gave Warfield one task: Find the top receivers who were going to be available in the 1986 draft.
Warfield had to dig deep because the Browns didn’t have a first-round pick. It had gone to Buffalo for the supplemental draft pick that turned out to be Kosar.
When Warfield brought back the findings from his search and the Browns acted on his recommendation and took a skinny kid named Webster Slaughter from San Diego State, fans scratched their heads, shrugged their shoulders and said, “Who?â€Â
Six seasons, 305 catches (seventh on the Browns’ all-time list), 4.834 receiving yards (sixth), 27 receiving touchdowns (seventh) and three trips to the AFC Championship Game in four years later, the fans knew full well who Webster Slaughter was.
The members of the Browns hierarchy realized then that they should have gone to Warfield long before that. If they had, they would have saved themselves a lot of time, money and embarrassment.
Now the Browns have called upon Warfield again to help them. They didn’t have to call long or hard, however. He was ready, willing and able. Always a Brown, always prepared.
“Paul wants to be involved in football,†Davis said. “This is an opportunity. He’s a legendary great player in the league. Heââ‚â„¢s a Brown. He’s from Ohio.
“For a lot of reasons, it just makes sense.â€Â
http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news_roo ... 746.0.html
Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield is back with the Browns.
Monday, the team announced Warfield had been hired as a scout and career planning consultant.
“There’s been a lot of conversation with (owner) Randy (Lerner) and myself with re-connecting the Browns organization with the community and the alumni and the past,’’ coach Butch Davis said.
Warfield’s hiring represents one step in doing that.
Warfield will work from Cleveland and from his home in West Palm Beach, Fla,, where he will do a lot of scouting of college players and potential free agents. When he’s in Cleveland he will help players with post-football career plans, and be a goodwill ambassador in the community.
“Paul was an enormously charismatic player here,’’ Davis said. “ He’s a legend in the National Football League having an Ohio background. He’s a class individual.’’
Davis said Warfield would evaluate players in the draft and free agency, and would have special assignments during the season. He would join the team at the Scouting Combine and the Senior Bowl, and help in the offseason.
Warfield has always been one of the most popular Browns. He grew up in Warren and went to Warren Harding before playing at Ohio State. As a rookie in 1964, he contributed to Cleveland’s last championship team – leading the team in receptions with 52 catches for 920 yards and nine touchdowns.
He played for the Browns until 1969, when he was traded to Miami for the draft pick that turned into quarterback Mike Phipps. When he returned for a Monday night game as a member of the Dolphins in 1973, fans gave him a rousing ovation – a moment he has called one of the highlights of his career. Warfield finished his career as a Brown in 1976-77.
Warfield tried to team with Calvin Hill to run the Browns when the team returned from a three-year hiatus in 1999, but his potential group was not awarded the team. At the time, Hill said Warfield had more football knowledge than anyone he knew.
Warfield’s first stint as a personnel evaluator with the Browns was in the mid-1980s. A desperate Marty Schottenheimer called on him after the Browns had searched long and hard trying to find a prolific wide receiver to no avail.
They tried big guys like Willis Adams and little guys like Dwight Walker. They tried drafting them, trading for them and signing them off the street.
What they got was a big headache and little satisfaction.
So Schottenheimer, knowing that he had to find some go-to receivers for his young franchise quarterback, Bernie Kosar, gave Warfield one task: Find the top receivers who were going to be available in the 1986 draft.
Warfield had to dig deep because the Browns didn’t have a first-round pick. It had gone to Buffalo for the supplemental draft pick that turned out to be Kosar.
When Warfield brought back the findings from his search and the Browns acted on his recommendation and took a skinny kid named Webster Slaughter from San Diego State, fans scratched their heads, shrugged their shoulders and said, “Who?â€Â
Six seasons, 305 catches (seventh on the Browns’ all-time list), 4.834 receiving yards (sixth), 27 receiving touchdowns (seventh) and three trips to the AFC Championship Game in four years later, the fans knew full well who Webster Slaughter was.
The members of the Browns hierarchy realized then that they should have gone to Warfield long before that. If they had, they would have saved themselves a lot of time, money and embarrassment.
Now the Browns have called upon Warfield again to help them. They didn’t have to call long or hard, however. He was ready, willing and able. Always a Brown, always prepared.
“Paul wants to be involved in football,†Davis said. “This is an opportunity. He’s a legendary great player in the league. Heââ‚â„¢s a Brown. He’s from Ohio.
“For a lot of reasons, it just makes sense.â€Â
http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news_roo ... 746.0.html
: Our first string offense had too many penalties. As has been the pattern in the last few years, this will most likely carry into the regular season. Aside from that, we started to iron things out, a little more time would have been nice.