The thing about sports talk radio is you never know who’s listening.
That includes in Cleveland, where one former NFL coach called into a local sports talk station on Thursday to weigh in on the Browns’ quarterback situation.
Despite Joe Flacco playing admirably in the Browns’ Week 13 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski has yet to commit to the 38-year-old veteran as his starter for Sunday’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Stefanski’s lack of commitment to Flacco has confused many in Cleveland. That includes long-time NFL assistant Al Saunders, who coached Flacco in Baltimore (as a senior offensive assistant with the Ravens from 2009-10) called into 92.3 The Fan’s The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima Thursday to voice his opinion.
“I had to pull over and stop at a rest stop to call you guys,” said Saunders, who lives in Virginia but happened to be listening to the show while driving through Cleveland. “There is no decision here. I coached Joe Flacco in Baltimore. When the Browns signed Joe, I sent [Browns GM] Andrew Berry and the coaching staff [a text] and said what a great move that was. Because the time to win for Cleveland is now.”
“At 7-5 and you’re going into the stretch run of the season, [quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson] is a great young prospect and you can’t teach experience. And Joe Flacco, his personality, his demeanor, his ability to run an offense in that short period of time was incredible. He’s the perfect guy for the Cleveland Browns to capitalize on where they are in a playoff hunt.”
Saunders, who served as a senior offensive assistant with the Browns from 2016-2018 (and also their wide receivers coach for those last two years), continued to opine about the state of Cleveland’s once-dominant defense. That defense has shown cracks in recent weeks. The former San Diego Chargers head coach also proceeded to take a shot at Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, who resides in San Diego.
“DePodesta’s still gonna drink his margaritas out on the West Coast,” the 76-year-old Saunders replied when asked what he would think if the Browns’ front office called for Thompson-Robinson to start. “He’ll fly in on Friday and watch the game and go back. I don’t know that he has an active decision on playing… if they don’t give this decision exclusively to Stefanski, then he ought to look to coach somewhere else next year.”
This isn’t the first time that The Ken Carman Show has been joined by an unexpected guest, as legendary Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar called into the show in October to discuss his encounter with Taylor Swift. While co-host Anthony Lima has previously threatened to stop taking calls because fans couldn’t stop calling for Stefanski to be fired (even after wins), the decision to keep the phone lines open on Thursday resulted in some unexpected insight from a longtime NFL coach — and more importantly, a memorable moment for the show.
