CLEVELAND — Every now and then I feel the need to address carnival barking when it becomes too loud and obnoxious.
Friday's Browns rant by Colin Cowherd on his 'The Herd' show on FS1 and Fox Sports Radio was definitely one of those times.
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The Browns are 5-2 heading into Sunday's home game with the Las Vegas Raiders. And while we all are feeling good about the team's fast start, I haven't gotten the sense that anyone here in Browns Nation is going overboard with the belief that this team is heading to the Super Bowl. Not after two blowout losses to Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
Apparently, Cowherd's radar is picking up hype that I'm not seeing here.
"Cleveland is the most overdiscussed team in professional sports," said Cowherd to begin his rant. "The most overdiscussed lousy team."
He pointed to a graphic that showed that since 2000, the Steelers and Ravens have four Super Bowl wins and 30 playoff victories to their credit, while, of course, the Browns have none.
"In the last two decades, Cleveland has the worst winning percentage in the entire sport. And they're constantly upset we don't give them more press, more respect, more talk," Cowherd added.
Really? One nice thing about this season compared to 2019 is that we haven't heard a lot of outside noise coming from Berea. Kevin Stefanski has had the Browns focused and disciplined. They're far from a finished product, but I haven't heard anyone complain about a lack of talk or press.
I think in the entire four-minute rant, there was one point that I agreed with "The Herd" about. The Browns have to be thinking constantly about Pittsburgh and Baltimore because they are the class of the AFC North, as well as being two of the league's signature franchises.
Do the Ravens and Steelers think about the Browns? Or if they do, do they laugh? That's fair. When you've been as poor as the team has been over the years, you can't call Browns-Steelers or Browns-Ravens a 'rivalry.'
But let's be real here, Cowherd has had a feud with Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield for years. He's never like Baker's energy and swagger and has constantly chided him on the air.
I went back and looked in our archives. We literally have written a dozen pieces or more in the last two years about Cowherd and the things he's said about Baker Mayfield.
So when Cowherd says "the Cleveland Browns are rare. They're pathetic and they have a swagger," does he really mean the Browns? Or is he just focused on the quarterback?
Watch the Herd in the player below.