LOMAS Brown always has enjoyed being a football player. He enjoyed the competition, he enjoyed his teammates and he enjoyed the fans. Whether he was blocking for Barry Sanders or Adrian Murrell, football was fun … until he got to Cleveland.
This was last season when the expansion Browns brought in a number of veteran players like himself to promote quick success. But the chemistry never mixed well and eventually created more friction than family between veteran players, who felt they had no voice with their coaches.
Tensions mounted until Brown, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, had a heated exchange with head coach Chris Palmer in front of the team. By then, Brown already was done for the season, sidelined after 12 games with a knee injury. With everything that went on in his 15th NFL season, Brown wasn’t sure he wanted to play a 16th.
“Cleveland left a pretty bad taste in my mouth,” Brown said yesterday while waiting for a take-out order from a restaurant near Giants Stadium. “I didn’t know if I wanted to continue to play. If it weren’t for coach [Jim] Fassel and coach Skip [Jim Skipper], I probably wouldn’t have come here.”
Here is to the Giants, whose 3-0 start is linked largely to two things: solid play by the defense and a rapid jelling of an offensive line that was revamped during the offseason.
With the addition of Brown at left tackle, 11-year veteran Glenn Parker at left guard and five-year veteran Dusty Zeigler at center, the Giants have become a run-oriented ball control offense that can hurt your through the air. The numbers are almost stunning.
The Giants have out-rushed their opponents 562 to 147. Their average of 187.3 yards rushing per game leads the league, as does their average time of possession (36:09). Their 396.3 average total yards is second only to the Rams, with the Redskins still having to play last night.
Needless to say, Brown is enjoying football again. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been 3-0 before,” said Brown, who played 11 years with the Lions and three with the Cardinals before going to Cleveland last year. “I really don’t know how to act. I’m trying to contain myself. But this is all good. I need to get me something before I get out of this league.”
When the Giants decided to revamp their line last year, the general response was, “What took you so long?”
Roman Oben, according to some of his former teammates, thought he was better than he actually was, while Scott Gragg never lived up to the tough-guy reputation that proceeded him. Their self-promoting forward rolls in the end zone following a Giants touchdown became a tired act.
With center Brian Williams re-retiring after a injury-filled year, the Giants decided with go with proven players. Brown, 37, was contacted based on the relationship he had with Fassel during his time as the Cardinals offensive coordinator in 1996.
Some viewed it as a sentimental choice. Just how much the veteran tackle had to offer was questionable, considering he had missed the final six games last year with a knee injury.
“Having to miss the last six games was probably the best thing that happened to me,” said Brown of the sprained medial collateral ligament that required only rest to heal. “I saved a half-season of wear and tear. I did nothing but chill the rest of the year. It has made me much fresher.”
Fresh enough to be in for all 76 plays in the Giants’ 14-7 win over the Bears Sunday in Soldier Field. The winning touchdown came on a six-play, 43-yard drive in the third quarter where all the yardage was gained on the ground.
Brown called it, “laying the blade.” Even more impressive than the drive was the offensive line’s ability to play the entire game without drawing a penalty. That might say something about their frugality as well as their talent.
The linemen voted amongst themselves to institute a fine system where players committing penalties will have to pay money for their miscues. No deposits were made this week, though Brown could afford to make a donation after signing a three-year deal for $5.8 million.
He’s not sure whether he’ll play all three years. At this stage of his life, he’s taking it a season at time. Right now, he’s living in a hotel in Secaucus, N.J., leaving his children in Detroit where he spent most of his career.
After what happened in Cleveland, Brown wasn’t going to put down any permanent roots here especially after hearing about all the dissension that existed on the team last year.
“Everything has been so cool here, it’s hard for me to believe there were problems like that last year,” Brown said. “Maybe it comes from winning.”
And enjoying playing football again.
