Shaun Smith Knocked Off Of Browns Roster

by Chris Pokorny on Aug 8, 2009 1:43 PM EDT in General News

The Cleveland Browns gave the final knockout blow to defensive lineman Shaun Smith by releasing him Saturday. The move does not come as a shock due to Smith's demeanor as a person. He has always appeared to be a hothead, and last year he punched teammate Brady Quinn in the face, making more of an impact than he had all season.

In the offseason, the new regime reportedly told Smith to "shape up and shut up". Smith showed up to camp with mixed reports from fans and the media about him -- some said he looked lazy and out of shape, while others said he was keeping his attitude in line a little bit more. Smith would have added to our depth on the defensive line, but I don't think we should look at this as a significant loss.

A few things might have led to the early release of Smith:

Mangini might want a reputation that he'll at least give players the respect of playing about a week in camp, rather than assuming their attitude from the past will carry over (he could have cut him before camp if he wanted to).
The play of DE Robaire Smith has been encouraging as he comes off of surgery.
NT Ahtyba Rubin seems to have a grip on the backup nose tackle position.
In acquiring DL Kenyon Coleman and DL C.J. Mosley in the offseason, Mangini would rather use our depth on players who have experience in the system.

There is no word on who the Browns will bring in to take the roster space of Smith. Mangini should comment on the release of Smith a little bit later.

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Don't

let the door hit your big keester on the way out of town.

by vincefitz on Aug 8, 2009 2:18 PM EDT reply actions

Posted earlier but removed

I posted earlier (3 hrs ago) that Smith had been cut, but it was removed for some reason.

by Overlord1976 on Aug 8, 2009 3:00 PM EDT reply actions

I think it has to do with traffic issues, typically SBN wants a front page article over a fanpost. No sense in having a fanpost duel with a front page story

by Roger Dorn on Aug 8, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, there was nothing wrong with what you did, please don’t take offense to it. But as a writer for the network, I need to follow policy on having somewhat “breaking” stories posted to the front page. In the near future, our technical team will make it possible so that I can take a post like yours was, promote it to the front page, and have it be submitted to our RSS feed/other feeds around the Internet as well.

Like Dorn said, I then hid yours so there would be just one place to discuss it rather than two.

Dawgs By Nature - Covering the Cleveland Browns on SB Nation.

by Chris Pokorny on Aug 8, 2009 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions

No problem. Thanks for replying though.

by Overlord1976 on Aug 8, 2009 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Smith actually has been picked up by the Lions. What was that, like a three day span?

by SpecialBrownie on Aug 11, 2009 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Mangenius said in his presser that we cut Smith in order to create a roster spot. Expect a signing in the next day or two

by Roger Dorn on Aug 8, 2009 3:57 PM EDT reply actions

Also had really nice things to say about Rubin

by Roger Dorn on Aug 8, 2009 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Rubin is good. And probably getting better.

by rufio on Aug 8, 2009 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Good

by BradyQuinnisBeast on Aug 8, 2009 4:18 PM EDT reply actions

This is what happens when you get in an argument with D-Line coach Bryan Cox and other coaches, which happened during Friday evenings practice, according to cleveland.com.

http://dawgscooper.blogspot.com/
Dawg Scooper: An Unofficial Cleveland Browns News Source

by theW0LF on Aug 8, 2009 4:39 PM EDT reply actions

Do you have a link…

by BradyQuinnisBeast on Aug 8, 2009 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Remember earlier this offseason when we planned on Shaun being our starter?

by BradyQuinnisBeast on Aug 8, 2009 4:57 PM EDT reply actions

Too bad about Sean Smith, he looks like a real d-line dawg. If I was another club, I would definately grab him. Good roly poly fighter type. And a little attitude can go a long way on the aggressive defensive line. I hope we kept the better players.

by mooncamping on Aug 9, 2009 12:32 PM EDT reply actions

shaun smith

don’t know the man personally,but he hit quinn in the face with a weight last year.this year he mouthed off to coach cox because he was asked to run instead of walk.take that fat ass to detroit and dont try to drag nobody with you,especially a pro-bowler!if he told you that in confidence I bet its different know,you gone have to make new friends in motown chubby.

by lvnlgnd on Aug 12, 2009 12:01 AM EDT reply actions