Sunday Dawg Chow: Browns news (5/15/22)

Cleveland Browns:

• Perrion Winfrey sees Browns as destiny due to Oklahoma pals, crazy fans, LeBron James ties (Beacon Journal) - As soon as Perrion Winfrey arrived in Cleveland, about 10 Browns fans greeted him at the airport with orange helmets they wanted autographed. When Winfrey went to pick up a pizza earlier this week, a couple started barking, and he returned the gesture.
• Browns rookie cornerback Martin Emerson brings size, physicality to the position (cleveland.com) - Browns rookie cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. made his presence felt early in rookie minicamp. “Were you guys paying attention to the first drill?” head coach Kevin Stefanski asked the assembled media following practice on a muggy day. “He put one of our coaches on his butt.”
• Cade York settling into big role as newest Browns kicker (clevelandbrowns.com) - If Cade York had been just a little less good at soccer, he probably never would’ve become an NFL kicker, one just drafted 124th overall by the Browns. York was on a super competitive soccer team, one that went on a trip to Europe, competed in world youth cups and prevented him from playing high school soccer. Growing up in Texas, where everyone is part of some sort of high school activity, he figured he’d try kicking for the football team.
• Browns installed as betting favorites to win AFC North (Browns Wire) - For many years, the AFC North has been run by the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers with the Cincinnati Bengals having a good year every once in a while. In 2021, the Bengals not only won the division but made it to the Super Bowl before falling to the Los Angeles Rams. Despite that, and the return of Lamar Jackson to health, Tipico Sportsbook has installed the Cleveland Browns as the favorites to win the division.

NFL:

• Colts’ Darius Leonard rejuvenated after he ‘fell out of love with the game’ (ESPN) - Darius Leonard was in a dark place late last season, as what had been a promising Indianapolis Colts season was collapsing around the linebacker and the rest of the organization. Some four-plus months later, Leonard, who often tries to keep his best game face on in front of the camera, acknowledged things weren’t right with him last season.
• Panthers QB Matt Corral: Chip on shoulder ‘got even bigger’ after falling to third round (NFL.com) - While Matt Corral had a tumultuous draft experience, he’s ready to settle down and get to the work of proving himself. Corral was one of the projected top QBs in the 2022 NFL Draft due to his dual-threat abilities, and many mock drafts had him drafted in the first round. He even attended the draft in person as one of only 21 players invited to Las Vegas. But Corral instead saw a draft slide that ended in the third round after the Carolina Panthers selected him No. 94 overall.
• The disarray and ‘Stone Age’ dysfunction of the Las Vegas Raiders (New York Times) - Former employees described an NFL franchise bedeviled by executive departures, poor financial management, unpaid electric bills and a raft of firings, payouts and NDAs.
• Gino Cappelletti, longtime Patriots player and broadcaster, dead at 89 (Boston.com) - Legendary Patriots player and broadcaster Gino Cappelletti is dead at 89, the team announced. Cappelletti passed away Thursday morning with his family, per the team.