kvozel Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Thursday call with some season ticket holders. Anyone here get invited? Link to article Cleveland Browns fans angry about the NFL lockout will soon get an audience with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell will join Browns team president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert on a conference call with some Cleveland season ticket holders on Thursday.Browns VP of ticket sales and service Chris Gallagher announced the call and said Goodell and the Browns officials would "share thoughts on the upcoming season." But the focus of the questions is more likely to be on the uncertainty of the upcoming season due to the lockout. Goodell is no stranger to interaction with fans. He typically tours training camps and teams throughout the season and holds open forums with fans on those stops. Browns season-ticket holder Ken Lanci sued the NFL last month seeking more than $50,000 while challenging the lockout. It's likely Goodell will face questions and potentially hear from angry fans worried that the lockout will spill into the regular season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Will this be an honest open engagement, or will the fans selected to "interact" be plants and shills....and throw nothing but softball that have already been pre-packaged to suit the party line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roach Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Thursday call with some season ticket holders. Anyone here get invited? i got invited via email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffer X Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Get them Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roach Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Get them Ed i didn't sign up for the Browns to call me. BTW, the promo mentioned Holhgren and Heckert, but not Goodell. Was he a late addition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nw220 Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Yeah get Godell 4 me at least Roach it would be much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gafreleets Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Will this be an honest open engagement, or will the fans selected to "interact" be plants and shills....and throw nothing but softball that have already been pre-packaged to suit the party line? come on now gipper, is anything goodell does "honest and open"? glad you guys are getting the opportunity to at least speak your mind. i dont think i could manage to not start shouting random insults at the guy if i were ever face to face with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 come on now gipper, is anything goodell does "honest and open"? glad you guys are getting the opportunity to at least speak your mind. i dont think i could manage to not start shouting random insults at the guy if i were ever face to face with him. Yes, actually I think most everything Goodell does is honest and open. Who here does not support him coming down hard on the aberrant behavior of some of the players in the league? The issues associated with this labor dispute are really issues of the owners, and not issues of Goodell as commissioner per se. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ_Browns Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 http://browns.ohio.com/2011/04/browns-gm-tom-heckert-coach-pat-shurmur-answer-questions-from-fans/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter General Manager Tom Heckert, coach Pat Shurmur and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell participated in a conference call today with the Browns' season-ticket holders, club-level members, suite holders and corporate partners. Browns President Mike Holmgren was originally scheduled to take part in the call, but a spokesman said he is ill. Therefore, Shurmur took his place. Here are some of the highlights from the conference call: Heckert With the NFL Draft two weeks away, Heckert said the Browns' draft board is pretty much set. There will be some maneuvering, but most tweaks will by minor. "Right now, we're just going through different scenarios," Heckert said. "If we trade up, who are we going to trade up for? If we trade back, who can we still get? So those are the types of things that we're really thinking about more now. We've got the players pretty much set." Heckert wouldn't confirm which draft prospects have visited the Browns' headquarters, but he said fans can believe most of the reports that have surfaced about the visits. "You're allowed to bring 30 players into the facility," Heckert said. … "If (there's) somebody that we're probably gonna think about taking at No. 6, it's pretty much safe to say we've had him in here." Prospects' personalities and demeanor are important, Heckert said. He said he has moved prospects up or down his draft board based on interviews. Workouts at the combine aren't always deciding factors, Heckert said. Cornerback Joe Haden had a poor performance in the 40-yard dash at last year's combine, but he showed he had character by running hurt, Heckert said. The Browns, of course, selected Haden seventh overall in last year's draft. Heckert said the Browns will be ready for free agency, even though no one knows when it will start because of the lockout. He said the Browns will make moves to help the team, but they're not going to go crazy and spend a ton of money. Heckert said he wants to draft the best player available, and he's not going to change his draft strategy and pick players solely based on positions of need because free agency has stalled. Winning franchises build through the draft, and sustain success for long periods of time by trying to get as many young, talented players as possible, Heckert said. Heckert said he realizes the team's switch to a 4-3 defense calls for more defensive linemen, but it doesn't mean the Browns need to take a defensive lineman with the sixth overall pick. He said quality defensive linemen can be picked later in the draft. The character of prospects is extremely important, Heckert said. The Browns talk to prospects' trainers, coaches and teammates to find out as much as they can about character. Heckert said it's important to separate prospects who have consistently had character issues from prospects who might have made dumb mistakes because they were young. Heckert said he's mindful of prospects' past injuries. He said the Browns must decide if a player with injury concerns is worth taking a risk on. Last year, he thought running back Montario Hardesty, who was a second-round pick, was worth it. Shurmur Shurmur said he has used recent visits to get to know prospects. He said the Browns' evaluators try to ask prospects questions to find out they'll respond to adversity, and how they'll behave after receiving lucrative contracts. Hardesty has progressed extremely well while rehabilitating his left knee (torn ACL last year), Shurmur said. The team's communication with Hardesty and other injured players, however, has been cut off as a result of the lockout. Shurmur said the Browns will switch to a 4-3 defensive because it's the scheme he and Heckert are most comfortable with. He also said new defensive coordinator Dick Jauron has used a 4-3 scheme for most of his career. Once again, Shurmur expressed his faith in quarterback Colt McCoy. "I really am a Colt McCoy guy, so to speak," he said. Shurmur said he looks forward to working on fundamental with McCoy, so he can turn the success McCoy experienced as a rookie into consistent success. Shurmur said he expects to be aggressive in his decision making on game days. It's never wrong to take points by kicking a field goal, he said, but he wants his entire coaching staff to know the appropriate situations in which to gamble. Goodell Goodell said he couldn't reveal any specifics about the second round of mediation between players and owners because the mediator requested confidentiality. He also said the owners' proposed collective bargaining agreement before the lockout was responsive to the issues the players raised. The NFL is still planning to have a full 2011 season, Goodell said. He said a full schedule will be released in the next 10 days. Goodell said the owners have not in any way discussed using replacement players if the labor dispute is not resolved. The NFL has the flexibility to push back the Super Bowl in Indianapolis one week, Goodell said. The flexibility exists because the league was preparing for the possibility of imposing an 18-game regular season schedule when it planned the Super Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ_Browns Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 Workouts at the combine aren't always deciding factors, Heckert said. Cornerback Joe Haden had a poor performance in the 40-yard dash at last year's combine, but he showed he had character by running hurt, Heckert said. Shurmur said he expects to be aggressive in his decision making on game days. It's never wrong to take points by kicking a field goal, he said, but he wants his entire coaching staff to know the appropriate situations in which to gamble. The NFL is still planning to have a full 2011 season, Goodell said. He said a full schedule will be released in the next 10 days. these are a couple of quotes that stood out to me. well, the last one is just something to be on the lookout for. the quote about haden is interesting. i never looked at it like that. heckert brought up a really good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ_Browns Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 this is a similar article from clevelandbrowns.com, but it's a lil more in depth and it has some additional info. http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-1/Browns-hold-Fan-Forum/55c2c2e9-6b77-4206-a1ad-fe8603039002 Commissioner Roger Goodell, general manager Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur held a conference call with ticket holders on Thursday afternoon. Browns head coach Pat Shurmur, general manager Tom Heckert and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell held an exclusive teleconference with season ticket and suite holders, club level members and corporate partners on Thursday afternoon. Heckert and Shurmur sat side-by-side in the Dino Lucarelli Media Center at the Browns training facility in Berea throughout the call while Goodell phoned in during a break from mediation taking place in St. Paul, Minnesota. During the hour-long teleconference hosted by Mike Snyder, over 5,200 participants connected in and had the opportunity to ask questions regarding many subjects, including what the Browns have in terms of players, the 2011 NFL Draft and evaluating prospects. “We try to ask questions to see how they’ll respond to adversity,” Shurmur said of the pre-draft evaluations. “We try to find out all the things about that player that indicate if he’s going to be a success in this league. Then, it’s generally just getting to know the player. As much as you find out about a player, there are some things that you find out in our conversation that would lead you to believe he may or may not be a guy that you want. We try to have as many people in the building talk to them and get a different perspective.” “It’s pretty much set,” Heckert added about his Draft board. “There’s some tweaks; we’re not exactly sure who we’re going to take with the first pick, but it all depends on what happens in front of us. Right now, we’re just going through different scenarios. We have the players pretty much set. The coaches have done a great job; they’ve watched a lot of players for us. For the most part, it’s pretty set.” One of the callers asked about the team’s switch to a West Coast offense and how the players currently on the roster fit that system. Quarterback Colt McCoy will be in a new offensive scheme after completing 135-of-222 attempts for 1,576 yards and six touchdowns with another 136 yards and one touchdown running the football. “I’m pretty pleased with some of the players that we have here,” Shurmur said. “I like the starting point for this team. I feel good about trying to develop Colt. Some of the receivers we have here have size, can separate and can catch the football. We had a tight end in Ben Watson that had one of his best years as a pass-catcher. I like where we’re starting with the offensive line. “I didn’t even mention the running backs,” he added. “We’ve got a couple running backs on our roster that can carry the ball when you hand it to them and yet, have good hands, so we could throw them the ball as well. We have the starting point for us to be successful on offense and I feel good about that.” This was the second consecutive year Heckert took part in a conference call with season ticket holders. Along with team president Mike Holmgren, Heckert participated in a teleconference last spring. READY FOR FOOTBALL Joe from Cleveland was the first Browns fan to ask a question of Commissioner Goodell and he wanted to know what was happening with the collective bargaining agreement. “I think it’s a positive step when the parties are talking,” Goodell said. “I said that a month ago when the players pushed away from the collective bargaining process and decided to move into this litigation stage. We need to solve this by talking. By being here, we’re having the opportunity to talk to the players union and their counsel. We’re trying to work through the issues. “We are planning on a full season,” he added. “We are preparing and in the final stages of getting the regular season schedule out. I hope to be able to do that in the next ten days. We’re preparing for a full 2011 season and we intend to do that. Our entire focus is on getting this deal done, making it fair for everybody and continue to bring the great game of football to the fans.” LEADING UP TO APRIL 28 The 2011 NFL Draft takes place from April 28-30 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Building a roster through the draft is the key to a successful run like Heckert and Shurmur had during their time with the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Browns are putting together their final draft boards after completing evaluations on players, they are also preparing for when the teams return to practice. “You’re building through the draft,” Heckert said. “We would like to build everything through the draft. Obviously, you need some pieces in free agency or a trade, but the younger you can get, the better off you are going to be to sustain it. Pat and I were in Philadelphia and unfortunately, we didn’t win a Super Bowl, but we were successful to a certain extent and I think we did that by having pretty successful drafts and acquiring young players.” “We’re in the part of the year now where we’re preparing for the draft,” said Shurmur. “Behind the scenes, our coaches are also working on implementing the systems, basically lesson plans so that when we’re working with the players, we can teach them properly and quickly. We’re working behind the scenes to put this thing together so that we’re winning games come September. We’re very fortunate here. We have many, many Super Bowl victories amongst the coaches and some of the players. I feel really good about that. Your best way to succeed is looking at how you did it in the past.” WORKING WITH HOLMGREN The Browns coach and GM were asked about working with Holmgren, who has been in the NFL as a coach or front office member for nearly 25 years. “With Mike in the building, it’s been great for me,” Shurmur said. “There’s times during the day where I’ll walk down and we’ll talk everything other than football. There’s times where as I’m putting the schedules and calendar together, we’ll sit down and talk. Every once in a while, we’ll talk about football and players. For me, it’s been very, very valuable. I said it when I was hired, ‘We kind of have a collective vision. We know what we want this thing to look like.’ We learned things in Philadelphia that were taught to Coach (Andy) Reid by Coach Holmgren.” “He always comes by at the end of the day, walks by my office and says, ‘Who are we taking?’” Heckert added. “He’s been a part of this process. Yesterday, we had some guys in here and he spent time with each player that was here. He comes in and we talk about the guys, especially the guys we’re thinking about taking at the top of the draft.” UPDATE ON HARDESTY Bob from Dallas asked Coach Shurmur about the progression running back Montario Hardesty has made since being injured in the team’s preseason finale against the Chicago Bears last September. “Prior to the date a month ago, he has been in here,” Shurmur said. “He’s progressed extremely well. He’s on track to be able to perform in the fall and we’re very pleased with his progress and we feel as though he’ll make a total recovery and be out there to compete.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 It seems that Goodell's participation in this was exceedingly minimal, based on the info that was reported here. Was his "conference call" with season ticket holders private...not open to reporters? Perhaps Roach can fill us in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickers Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 To Me...It looks like the same coporate drivel we've grown accustomed to from the NFL....nothing new really learned here...same ol bull dip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roach Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 It seems that Goodell's participation in this was exceedingly minimal, based on the info that was reported here. Was his "conference call" with season ticket holders private...not open to reporters? Perhaps Roach can fill us in. i didn't sign up. The way it worked was that at the designated time (i think 3:00) the Browns called the fan based on the phone number that they have on file for you. So, to a limited extent, the team controlled the audience. However, with speakerphones and other technology, i doubt that is why they picked this format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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