The Cleveland Browns' reputation suffered multiple blows this week. Of course, zero times zero is still zero, so perhaps desperate decades called for what-the-heck?! measures such as starting No. 3 quarterback Brian Hoyer and trading No. 1 running back Trent Richardson 18 games after moving up to select him third overall in the 2012 draft.
If indeed the Browns are tanking the season, as many have accused them of repeatedly since Wednesday, the Vikings are fine and dandy with that. Both teams are 0-2, but one of them for sure isn't looking to 2014 heading into the Vikings' home opener at Mall of America Field on Sunday.
"I played against the Browns in Cleveland and you definitely can feel the frustration level in what they call the 'Dawg Pound,' " said Vikings receiver and former Cincinnati Bengal Jerome Simpson. "Those people really want their team to win. But it's going to be tough on them this week. We're in the same boat. One team is going to be 1-2 and one team is going to be 0-3. I believe the Minnesota Vikings are going to be the team that's 1-2."
If the Vikings win, it won't be the first time they've reaped the rewards of a decision the Browns made regarding Richardson. A year ago, Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman convinced then-Browns President Mike Holmgren and then-Browns General Manager Tom Heckert that he had other teams interested in trading up to the No. 3 spot for Richardson. Not wanting to risk losing Richardson, Holm- gren and Heckert sent the Vikings picks in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds to move up one spot.
After picking Matt Kalil, the player they wanted all along, at No. 4, the Vikings used the fourth-rounder on receiver Jarius Wright, the fifth-rounder on special teamer Robert Blanton and traded the seventh-rounder to Tennessee for a seventh-rounder this season. Spielman then used that seventh-rounder this season in a package deal to move back into the first round and select receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who opened last week's game at Chicago with a franchise-record 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Glum in Cleveland
Not a bad haul. Especially for a running back who fell out of favor immediately when the Browns once again changed decision-makers, bringing in CEO Joe Banner and General Manager Michael Lombardi after last season. Banner is the sixth person with final say on personnel that the Browns have had since they returned to the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1999 after a three-season hiatus. First-year NFL coach Rob Chudzinski is the seventh head coach in those 15 seasons, while Jimmy Haslam III, embattled CEO of the Pilot Flying J travel center company that's fighting a legal battle over fraud accusations, is the team's third owner in that time.
"I think the mood in this town is frustration; total frustration," said Doug Dieken, who played left tackle for the Browns from 1971 to 1984 and has served as the team's radio analyst ever since. "The Browns got a pass for a couple years when they came back. But it's been one coach after another. One quarterback after another.
"There's no consistency. We try something for a couple years. It doesn't work. Then we go someplace else. A lot of times, there have been rightful reasons we've bailed on a plan. But by the same token, at some point you've got to find the right combination of coach and general manager and stick with it."