Cleveland Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway learned a valuable lesson about doing drugs. South Park school counselor Mr. Mackey would’ve stated it like this:
Don’t do drugs or you’ll play more snaps for the Cleveland Browns, mmmkay?”
…Maybe the lesson isn’t about doing drugs as to why his new team has, since 2016-17, won one game in their last 32 attempts. Last season was a perfect 0-for-16.
On Aug. 5, Antonio Callaway was cited on suspicion of driving with a suspended license and possession of a small amount of marijuana after a traffic stop. Callaway has a long history of law-enforcement matters dating back to his days at the University of Florida. Those issues are carrying over into the NFL.
For Cleveland’s Aug. 9 preseason opener, head coach Hue Jackson had to decide on one of two punishments:
- No Playing Time
- More Playing Time
It appears like playing time won out.
“…I was trying to make him play the whole game if we could. I did not want him to come out. . . . That was part of the consequence of what he has been through, and he knows it. That is what it was. Either you sit him or make him play. I thought it was better to make him play. Make him play as long as he could. There were a couple of times he kept waving to come out, and we said, ‘No, stay in.’”
Jackson continues,
“…There were times he had his hands — I am sure you saw it — he had his hands on his head like this, and he was ready to go to the sideline. We said, ‘[No], you are back in there.’ He fought through it, came out the other side of it and made some plays. That was good.”
That’ll show him. If you can’t do the playing time, don’t do the crime. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning would have zero chance of winning a starting job in Cleveland. Zero.
Give a player more playing time as punishment for a legal infraction? Play a rookie wide receiver in his first ever preseason contest to near-exhaustion? I thought that’s what gassers were for. Callaway suffered a rib injury that has limited him during practice throughout this week.
Is Coach Jackson trying to get his player injured? Stipe Miocic just lost his UFC Heavyweight Championship. He’s probably available. Just have him come in and beat Antonio Callaway’s ass. Losing to Daniel Cormier, losing out on a rematch because someone who hasn’t won a fight in nearly a decade jumps in front of him, the Cleveland Cavaliers losing LeBron James…Miocic probably needs to release some steam.
My only guess is that Jackson didn’t want to punish him for something as trivial as a small amount of marijuana. So Jackson created a logic where his punishment was actually a strategy to get his rookie wide receiver more reps. Seems unfair to the remaining 10 players who must compete with a gassed receiver.
Aren’t you glad the Tennessee Titans don’t have to deal with this type of nonsense anymore?
You know, Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones is still a free agent. Maybe Cleveland is the perfect situation for him?
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Joshua Huffman was born and collegiately edumacated in Middle Tennessee. That said, Huffman spent 13-plus years with the type of Northern Wisconsinites and Yoopers who turn Nashville bars into alcohol wastelands whenever NFC North teams travel to play the Tennessee Titans. This makes him the NoBro of SoBros. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Check out more of his musings at his blog, Millennial on Maple Street.
