BLOG
Toward the End: Readings, Writings, Football

Mayfield Memorandum 18: Bad Baker, Bad Browns
New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones bettered the Browns' Baker Mayfield Michael Dwyer/AP from patriots.com Early on in the Cleveland Browns’ disintegration at the New England Patriots, it became apparent that Baker Mayfield was neither the healthiest nor...

Mayfield Memorandum 17: The Line on Extensions
Heart of the Browns' O-Line: RG Wyatt Teller (77), RG Joel Bitonio (75), Center JC Tretter (64) Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns Even in the midst of celebrating the richly deserved contract extensions of Cleveland Browns guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, the...

Mayfield Memorandum 16: Now, It’s Baker’s Team
Quarterback Baker Mayfield talks to and takes command of HIS team Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns Ever had one of those weeks at work when everything went wrong? Baker Mayfield’s was worse. He Who Will Remain Nameless but is readily identifiable by his initials...

Mayfield Memorandum 15: OBJ Didn’t Change
Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns Odell Beckham Jr. leaves Cleveland having improved at least one part of the game he plays: It took him only half the time to prompt his second NFL team to give up on him as it did his first—2½ years to 5. He’s getting better, yet one...

Mayfield Memorandum 14: Catch this Song & Dance
Odell Beckham Jr. was a show-stopper . . . at least before the Steelers game Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns The Kabuki Dance is all but over. When Odell Beckham Jr.’s father took to social media near the deadline for National Football League teams to make trades and...

Mayfield Memorandum 13: Beaten Up/Dropping
When Jarvis Landry fails to catch the ball, the Browns are in trouble Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns The last-place Cleveland Browns have turned into a beat-up, beaten-down illusion. They aren’t what anyone thought they would be—probably including themselves. The...

Mayfield Memorandum 12: To Play or Not to Play
Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns Since his left-shoulder injury forced an end to Baker Mayfield’s string of 53 consecutive games behind center, To Play or Not to Play, that is THE Question has been on an endless reel. He had never missed a game since taking over for...

Dorothy Jackson: Warm Heart and a Spine of Steel
City of Akron Former Akron Deputy Mayor Dorothy Jackson wore many hats and put on many faces during the course of a life that ended on the cusp of 88 years. She could separate the chaff from the wheat but had trouble differentiating between the two Akron mayors for...

What a Devil of a Mess The Devil Strip Has Made
In the 1950s, small-town newspapers that practiced community journalism seemed not only larger than life but also life itself to us paperboys who delivered them. Readers and advertisers and most of those who ended up on its pages valued newspapers. They were part and...

Mayfield Memorandum 11: A Case in Point
QB Case Keenum made his point but D'Ernest Johnson took flight in Browns win Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns The plot of the Cleveland Browns’ season thickened with revelations surrounding their 17-14 victory over the Denver Broncos at FirstEnergy Stadium. Some of the...