49er East
New Browns starting to take on familiar look
Posted: Saturday February 13, 1999 09:15 PM
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Irv Smith: "When it's time to block, I can block as good as the best of them." AP |
BEREA, Ohio (AP) -- The NFL's newest team is already being called the
Cleveland 49ers, and for good reason.
Nine players on the new Browns' roster have San Francisco connections,
and former 49ers president Carmen Policy and director of football
operations Dwight Clark now run the show in Cleveland.
Irv Smith is one of
the Browns' arrivals via the California-to-Cleveland pipeline, and he
doesn't think he'll be the last.
"It wouldn't surprise me," said Smith, a tight end acquired in a trade
along with defensive end Roy Barker from the 49ers
on Friday.
When Policy, and then Clark left the 49ers for Cleveland, Smith said many
of San Francisco's players often thought of doing the same.
"There were times where, in the hot tubs, in the sauna, you're just
hanging out being guys, and you're talking," Smith said Saturday. "And
you're talking about down the road. I can't tell you how many ears and how
many lips I heard it from, but I do know there are quite a few guys who had
their eyeballs pointed like, 'You know what? That would be a great place to
play.'"
Cleveland has yet to dip into its nearly $40 million reserve for free
agents, but could add another 49er in wide receiver J.J. Stokes. Stokes is one
of the premier unrestricted free agents on the market and is known to be
high on the Browns' wish list.
Smith's comfort with working under both Policy and Clark was the biggest
reason he asked his agent to work out a deal -- for one year -- with the
Browns, and he knows that should give the Browns an inside advantage in
luring Stokes.
"I know he's going to demand a lot of attention from a lot of teams,"
said Smith, 27. "Who knows? But I know if Cleveland puts its best foot
forward, they can probably get him. He believes in what Carmen Policy
believes in, and because of that, I think they have a good opportunity.
There are some teams who won't have an opportunity."
Smith spent one season with the 49ers after leaving the New Orleans Saints a year
ago as a free agent. The Browns got Smith and Barker from the 49ers for
taking cornerback Antonio
Langham and his huge contract in Tuesday's expansion draft.
Quarterback Ty Detmer
was also included in an initial deal between the clubs, but Detmer's
refusal to waive the no-trade clause in his contract kept him in San
Francisco.
While Smith met the Cleveland media on Saturday, Clark was upstairs on a
conference call and was unavailable to comment on the trade or about
Buffalo linebacker Chris
Spielman's situation.
Spielman, who hasn't played in more than a year, worked out and had a
physical for the Browns on Friday. Spielman sat out last season with the
Bills to be with his wife, Stephanie, as she recovered from breast cancer
surgery. In 1997, he had neck surgery in the middle of the season.
Also, the Browns met for a second day with New England center Dave
Wohlbaugh. Wohlbaugh went to dinner with coach Chris Palmer on Friday but
has not yet been signed by Cleveland.
A former first-round draft pick from Notre Dame, Smith caught 25 passes
for 266 yards and five TDs last season. Not bad numbers for a tight end,
especially one competing with Jerry Rice, Stokes and Terrell Owens for
quarterback Steve
Young's attention.
Smith thinks his numbers can get better, and he takes as much pride in
delivering a pancake block on a linebacker as making a diving catch near
the sideline.
"When it's time to block, I can block as good as the best of them," he
said. "And when I catch the ball, I can run with it after I catch it. My
career high is 45 balls, and I think I can blow that out of the water."
Smith's hard work in the trenches didn't go unnoticed last season. After
he was selected to the Pro Bowl, running back Garrison Hearst rewarded
his offensive lineman -- and Smith -- with Rolex watches.
"He showed me something the coaches didn't," said Smith. "Some
appreciation."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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