Round 'em up, ride 'em in (or however that song goes)

• On this morning's SportsCenter, Cleveland athletes were at the center of the top two plays of the week. The number-two play was by Browns tight end Benjamin Watson, wearing Ozzie Newsome's #82, and making a Newsomesque play in Saturday's 19-17 loss to St. Louis. (Don't Google to find out whether I invented the word "Newsomesque," just assume I did.) On a pass from Jake Delhomme to the back of the end zone, Watson went up and caught it with one hand, then came down and managed to get both feet down even as his momentum was carrying him out of the end zone. The officials originally called it incomplete, but on replay, it was overturned and called a touchdown.

• The number-one top play of the week was from the Indians' 8-1 loss to the Tigers yesterday, courtesy of Jayson Nix, a second baseman by trade who was playing third base. He made two great plays off the bat of Detroit's Don Kelly, but the second was far more spectacular than the first. Kelly hit a pop foul that was headed for the camera bay down the third-base line. Nix got there in plenty of time to make the play, but it appeared to be out of his reach. But he gave it his all, and managed to make the catch even as he toppled head-first into the camera pit, risking concussion or worse. It says something very good about a player who's willing to put forth that kind of effort while playing on a team that's on the bad end of an 8-1 score and is about to fall to 50-74.

• Despite being from two different sports, those plays have quite a lot in common: They were both spectacular catches that seemed impossible until they actually happened; neither would have cost the team very much of they hadn't been made (the Browns not only were playing a preseason game, but would still have had the ball third-and-goal from the 6; Kelly would have still been batting), and both were made in a losing effort. I'm not trying to make some grand point about this, I just found it interesting.

• Remember former Ohio State star Maurice Clarett? How he led the Buckeyes to the 2002 National Championship, then was declared ineligible the following season, ran into legal trouble and then sucked in his tryout with the Broncos? Remember? Well, he wants to try out for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League; the league will be playing its second season in 2010, the Nighthawks in their first. He has to get permission from a judge to leave Ohio, and it would seem difficult to try out for a team in Nebraska without leaving Ohio. He has a hearing a week from today, and I hope he gets permission. He's 26 years old, which is pretty old for a running back, and he obviously will never become the superstar we all had him figured for; still, it would be nice to see him suit up again, even if it is in a joke league.

• Jim Brown's wife says he tried to move some things around so he could attend the Browns' first-ever "Ring of Honor" ceremony at the home opener on Sept. 19. Word is, she was lying. Brown doesn't want to have anything to do with the Browns anymore, since they stripped him of his role as an "executive advisor" (whatever the hell that means) and stopped funding his Amer-I-Can program. I don't know the details of either decision, but I don't think the team owes him either of those things. They were both undoubtedly goodwill gestures. On the other hand, stopping them would appear to signal an end to the goodwill, so I can understand why Brown would be miffed. Still, it would be nice to see him rise above that for the sake of the Browns' legion of fans who would love to see their greatest player honored in this manner.

• The Cavaliers. I don't have anything much to say about them, it just seems like I should mention them.

Of jerseys and men

This past weekend, I attended Roverfest in downtown Cleveland along with my wife and several members of our extended family on her side. This post is not about Roverfest, but about something I noticed there. We all know this is Browns Town, and I saw numerous people wearing Browns paraphernalia at the show. The ones that I noticed in particular were the Browns jerseys with the numbers and names of individual players on them: 38, Langham; 10, Quinn; 16, Cribbs; and 32, Brown.

This got me to thinking about the mentality of buying a team jersey with a player's name on it. It's the closest thing you can get to wearing the same thing an actual player wears, short of putting on the entire uniform, with helmet, pads and all. But what of the player you're honoring?

• Antonio Langham was a decent player for the Browns, a first-round draft pick in 1994 as a cornerback out of Alabama. He went with the team to Baltimore, then wandered about the NFL a bit, even coming back to Cleveland in 1999. This makes him one of only two players who played both for the original Browns and the expansion Browns (the other is Orlando Brown). He finished his career in New England in 2000. So he's been out of the league for a full decade, and only spent three years in Cleveland.

• Brady Quinn, we all remember, was supposed to be our savior as quarterback of the future. He grew up in Ohio as a Browns fan, and that endeared him to us that much more. Only problem is, when he got a shot as the starter, he wasn't very good. We can argue about whether he got a true opportunity, as many quarterbacks struggle in their early careers before finding their way later; it won't change the fact that he got traded to Denver last off-season. So that guy was wearing the Browns jersey of a guy who currently plays for the Broncos.

• Joshua Cribbs is another guy with a Northeast Ohio background, having played his college ball at Kent State; and he's one of the favorite players of every Browns fan I've ever talked to. He has been with the Browns since they signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2005, and has done absolutely everything that's been asked of him on the field. His primary job is returning kicks—and he is sensational at that, holding the NFL record for touchdowns on kick returns—but he also covers kicks and has shown absolutely no hesitation to make a tackle; and plays wide receiver and occasionally wildcat quarterback on the offense. I remember when he was a rookie, and said words to the effect that he would play on the line if he was asked. If I were to wear any jersey worn by a member of the current Browns roster, it would be this guy's. ... But who's to say that in 2014, you won't be wearing the jersey of someone who plays for the Jets or the Titans or the Ravens or Steelers or anybody else? Remember that Cribbs and the Browns had a contract dispute just this past offseason, before the Browns got him to sign a three-year deal worth $20 million. There's no guarantee he'll finish his career here.

• And that brings us to Jim Brown, the greatest Brown of them all, and in fact the greatest athlete ever to play for a Cleveland team. (LeBron's departure ensures that Brown will keep that title for the foreseeable future.) He was the NFL's all-time leading rusher for 19 years after he retired, until Walter Payton broke his record in 1984. He has now been passed by several other running backs in terms of total yards, but none have topped his career average of 5.2 yards per rush. And he'd have certainly held that record longer if he'd played longer — the dude retired at age 29 to become an actor. In 2002, the Sporting News named him the greatest football player of all time, at any position. And best of all, he played his entire career, 1957 to 1965, with the Cleveland Browns. The team paraphernalia I wear is usually limited to a team T-shirt or sweatshirt, with the occasional team hat thrown in, because I root for the name on the front of the uniform, not the back. But if you're going to wear a jersey for an individual player from Cleveland, this is the guy whose jersey you want to wear. He will never, ever be anything else but a Cleveland Brown, and he will probably always be the greatest ever to wear that jersey. I have not always liked him as a person, but at least he never killed anybody, and I did enjoy his performance in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

In case anyone's wondering, I didn't see any Cavaliers jerseys at all. Probably a number of attendees used to have #23 jerseys with James on the back, but got rid of them a few weeks ago. And that only proves my point. Cheer for the uniform, not the player. And if you're going to try to identify with a player, make sure it's one who can't break your heart.