Best by the Number - Cleveland Edition

Below is a list of Cleveland sports players according to their jersey number. By some players I will be writing some stuff like other players who had a chance of being in that spot, or some information about the player. Please also note that since some players had multiple numbers in their tenure in Cleveland, there may be players next to numbers that don't seem to fit, but they do!

1. Terrell Brandon
2. Jhonny Peralta
3. Craig Ehlo - Also considered were Bob Sura, Matt Stover & Derek Anderson
4. Phil Dawson - The current Brown who has been on the team the longest
5. Steve Kerr - Many people are unaware that Kerr even played for the Cavaliers
6. Larry Nance - Also wore # 22
7. Kenny Lofton
8. Albert Belle
9. Dan Marjele - Also considered was Carlos Baerga
10. Brady Quinn - Never considered was Eric Zeier
11. Zydrunas Illguaskus - "Big Z" 'nuff said
12. Roberto Alomar
13. Omar Vizquel
14. Larry Doby - Most people here might put Browns QB Otto Graham, but Doby deserves to be on this list more than anyone else. Larry Doby was the first African American to play in the American League, and while it's true he started playing after Jackie Robinson he was the first African American to play in American League ball-parks
15. Sandy Alomar Jr.
16. Josh Cribbs - probably the most exciting player the Browns have had since Eric Metcalf
17. Brian Sipe - Even with "Red Right 88" he makes this list ahead of Braylon Edwards
18. John "Hot Rod" Williams
19. Bernie Kosar
20. Eric Snow
21. Eric Metcalf
22. Chris Dudley - No list would be complete without the worst free-throw shooter of all-time
23. LeBron James
24. Manny Ramirez - ManRam is still my favorite all-time Indian
25. Jim Thome - Others considered include Mark Price
26. Sean Jones
27. Jaret Wright
28. Leigh Bodden
29. Hanford Dixon
30. Andy Marte
31. Frank Minnifield - "Created" the Dawg Pound with Hanford Dixon
32. Jim Brown
33. Luke Jackson
34. Austin Carr
35. Danny Ferry - Former Cavalier is current GM
36. Paul Byrd
37. Jake Westbrook
38. Franklin Gutierez
39. Daven Holly
40. Bartolo Colon - Was traded to Montreal for Lee Stevens, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips & Cliff Lee
41. Charles Nagy
42. Paul Warfield
43. Brad Daugherty - My favorite Cavalier. I wore # 43 when I was on the Ashar Basketball team in honor of Daugherty.
44. Leroy Kelley
45. Jeremy Sowers
46. Lou "The Toe" Groza - Also wore # 76
47. Joe Borowski
48. Travis Hafner - "Pronk"
49. Edward Mujica
50. Tom Cousineu
51. Michael Doleac
52. C.C. Sabathia
53. Bill Cowher - Cowher was also an assistant coach under Marty Schottenheimer
54. Andra Davis
55. Orel Herschieser - "Bulldog"
56. Antwan Peek
57. Clay Matthews - Played in 232 games for the Browns between 1978-1993
58. D'Qwell Jackson
59. Mike Johnson
60. Shaun O'hara
61. Steve Everitt
62. Lennie Friedman
63. Rafael Bentacourt
64. Joe Delamielleure - Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003
65. Chuck Noll
66. Hank Fraley
67. John Jurkovic - Played for the Browns when they came back in '99
68. Gene Hickerson
69. J'vonne Parker
70. Alvin Mckinley
71. Walter Johnson - Not "The Big Train"
72. Jerry Sherk
73. Joe Thomas - Played well as a rookie
74. Andrew Hoffman
75. Simon Fraser
76. Marion Motley
77. Dick Shafrath
78. Dan Footman
79. Bob Golic
80. Kellen Winslow Jr.
81. Jack Gregory
82. Ozzie Newsome - One of the greatest TE
83. Mark Bavaro
84. Webster Slaughter
85. Kevin Johnson
86. Brian Brennan
87. Keenan McCardell
88. JaJaun Dawson
89. Gerald McNeil
90. Drew Gooden
91. Sam Clancy
92. Ted Washington
93. Jerry Ball
94. Gerard Warren
95. Kameron Wimbley - Lead the team in sacks during the '07 season
96. Don Shula
97. Ryan Kuehl
98. Anthony Pleasant
99. Orpheus Roye

The 2007 Cleveland Browns: A Look Back

This season the Browns took a big step forward and won 10 games. Although they did not make the playoffs, this season was amazing. This season basically started during the last off-season when the Browns were able to pick up a couple of players from division rivals in RB Jamal Lewis (formerly of the Ravens) and OL Eric Steinbach (formerly of the Bengals). Then on Draft day they picked up 3 excellent players in the first 2 rounds in LT Joe Thomas (from Wisconsin), QB Brady Quinn (from Notre Dame) and CB Eric Wright (from UNLV).

Early in the season many were calling for Brady Quinn to start especially after the opening day game against Pittsburgh when Charlie Frye looked horrible. During that week Frye got traded to Seattle and Derek Anderson was named the starter. Everyone speculated that Anderson would just start until their Bye Week and the Quinn would get to start from that point on. But Anderson stepped up big time and began to lead the Browns to their best season since 1994 when the Browns went 11-5. Anderson had a QB rating of 82.5, racking up 3787 yards and 29 TDs. His two main targets were WR Braylon Edwards and TE Kellen Winslow. Edwards caught 80 balls for 1289 yards with 16 TDs to have his first great season since he was drafted out of the University of Michigan. His 16 TDs were a Browns record formerly held by Gary Collins (whose former team high was 13). For Kellen Winslow his issues have been primarily injury based, but this season he stepped up and recorded 82 receptions for 1106 yards and 5 TDs. Jamal Lewis gained 1304 yards on 298 attempts and 9 TDs and a large part of their excellent numbers were due to the offensive line of Joe Thomas, Eric Steinbach, Hank Fraley, Ryan Tucker and Kevin Shaffer.

The Defense took a step in the right direction but still has a lot of improving to do. LB D'Qwell Jackson had 101 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception while OLB Kamerion Wimbley had 51 tackles and a team high 5 sacks. Of course the team did give up a total of 2072 yards rushing and that was a large reason as to why the Browns did not win more games than they did.

Of course there was the Special Teams. Phil Dawson had many big game-winning field-goals this season including going 2 for 2 in overtime. Josh Cribbs has also had a great season and was rewarded with a trip to the Pro Bowl. Cribbs returned 2 kickoffs and 1 punt for touchdowns this season and had many other returns that led to many scoring drives.

Hopefully this was a season that the Browns can build on, but they will need to improve. Here are a few things that the Browns should/could do to help themselves:

1. Keep Derek Anderson: let Brady Quinn get another year of learning on the bench.
2. Re-sign Jamal Lewis: Lewis played well for the Browns this season and he has plenty left in the tank.
3. Pick up a #2 type WR: After Braylon's 80 receptions and Joe Jurevicius' 50 receptions the next highest reception amount by a WR was 8 by Tim Carter. If the Browns can get a good #2 receiver then they could move Joe Jurevicius to their #3 receiver and they could have a better offensive output.
4. Sign Albert Haynesworth from the Tennessee Titans: DT Shaun Smith played well while recording 62 tackles and 2 sacks, but the defense does need a run-stopper which is exactly what Haynesworth is.
5. Add depth: there are many positions where the Browns are young and inexperienced. Adding depth could help keep some of the older guys healthier and hopefully the Browns will be able to go back to the playoffs and eventually to their first Super Bowl.