Todd Monken is 'Giddy' About the Browns' Character Draft

0:00I think it's a little bit overblown because if you've got good players and you've done a great job during the week in your preparation, so the players and you've created a system that lets their talent shine. I think that's really the most critical part of it is during the week and developing a system and getting really good players. So then Sunday's just a byproduct of the work you put in. Todd Munkin with us in studio just moments ago, that was the cat's ass. They still tell stories. We had to usher him out of here so we could get the segment going. He's sire him out of it. He is great. Um, loves the horses. I can listen to that guy talk all day. I can listen to coaches talk all day. Um, that was awesome. That was awesome. I'm looking to the reaction. A lot of people are excited. A lot of people are excited by honestly like hearing him. I want to know if he made a difference in how people feel about how the season is going to go. Well, I know we're in the afterglow and I know that I'm an idiot and I will be and I'm an emotional person.

1:02So I will be like that. But I'm like, you know, when we're all sitting here and I'm going, you know, because I'm, I remember last year and I kept it down and I kept it down and then the week started right before week one and people are like, can you be a kind of a downer? And I, I got mad and so I decided to go overboard. But I want to hear that. I'm like, man, it's, it's hard for me to not start saying eight, nine, ten wins, things like that. Does that make a difference to you? Because there's just a lot of common sense in there. Now, there's a lot of things that have to work out. He ain't no dummy. There's a lot of things that have to go their way. But there's just, there is a lot of common sense. And got to listen to him talk all day. Well, just, just listening to him talking about how we, we had the comments before about how much he hates bad football, but he says because it makes you look dumb. And he was, he made sure to point out ahead of time. He goes, hey, Stefansky's a good coach. You know, it's not going to say anything bad about Stefansky. But we all know it. Like when you pull up the film from the last few years, everybody looked dumb.

2:02And he knows that if they come up, don't play well, he and his coaching staff are going to look dumb. And so they are obviously determined. But, you know, it's tough league. 32 coaches are trying to do that. He loves to draft. You could tell there, there are guys, you know, there's lip service. You pay because you want to, you want to make sure to play nice with an organization. He loves his draft. I mean, he's giddy about it even off air. He is giddy about this draft just as much as everybody is at home. And all the, the guys who do this for a living. So that gives you a start. And then the character thing. And he said, yeah, in a perfect world, you'd like to have a whole team full of orange dots that are also freak athletes and are experienced and have a wife and kids and sit down and watch a voice is what he said. Meaning, guys aren't going to get into trouble. You'd love to do that. But it's, it's not always easy. But in this draft, I mean, they clearly prioritized it. And I do think we use, we throw the term culture around. Hey, maybe when you're winning games and then you could take some chances on some guys like that.

3:02But this draft, to me, Kenny, that was one of my big takeaways. That, that was something they wanted to help shape the identity of this football team. Well, because you're going to have to come out. When you have, when you have a kind of weaker draft as we saw, right? You are going to have to look at character. You're going to have to look at again. I wanted to use the term solid, which somebody from the Browns asked me yesterday at the ground breaking. Give me three adjectives. And I had to ask what an adjective was because I don't remember any of that stuff. But when you have what the draft gave you, which again, I think they're really excited about Parker Brailsford. And I know people, he brought up the side. The first thing he brought up was people's concern about the size. And I know that it's technically a different era tour from a bygone era. Like Mark Stepnobski, Mark Stepnobski is one of my favorite centers ever from the Cowboys. The late great Mike Webster, who was one of the greatest do it. If not the greatest center to ever do it, those were both undersized guys. I know that was a different line or a different era of football. I think that you don't have to be six, eight to be a center in the lead.

4:04Now we'll see where he goes. Obviously, like there's Luke Whitpler that's there that I know that they still like. But if you were able to find five or six, excuse me, four or five guys that can end up being starters, not just starters, because they have to start for you. But also guys who are starters that are going to be able to contribute to being a better football team. Well, it goes without saying how much better that this has been over the last couple of years. And it goes without saying that we still have a question of quarterback. But if we have to pick that quarterback going into 2027, I think a lot of people are going to be feeling a lot better about the guy making the choices. That all said, he's the guy who's got to be the one to put him in position. And there have been situations where I think that, I mean, we have seen a guy flat out. And I mean, he was the offensive coordinator for him. Let's call what it was. He was an assistant for a guy who was in over his head. And we love Freddie. We love Freddie. Was fun to be around. I mean, when he's doing Collins out of nowhere on the show. Amazing. That was a hoot. But you got to keep organized because 2016, 2019, 2019 is a lost year.

5:07And you only have, I mean, we look at him. Look at him. Let's be honest with you. You got Denzel, who was out there at the groundbreaking yesterday. And Denzel, he's a Clevelander for life. He'll probably be a part of the organization for life, even after retirement, probably part of the organization. In some fashion, if he wants it. So I think that there's definitely reasons that are outside of just being on the field that Denzel award would be there. But you wonder like, okay, is Denzel award actually going to play in the new stadium in four years? Is he actually going to do that? And I think a lot of people are like, oh, yeah, but he's a brown for life. So we'll see. But you go back to 2019. That's a lost year. It's a wasted year. You take these guys. You know, damn, well, there's talent. There's been talent on this football team. And you've wasted years because of disorganization, like in 2019. Bad trade, like in 2021 to 2022. Bad drafting. There have been some bad picks. But that also leads to where your organization is. Are guys on the offensive line? You know, you have to ask this question.

6:07Jet wills. The best of jet wills was done with Bill Callahan. We didn't have Bill Callahan. Then you made the wrong hire for offensive line coach. And then you got the worst of just about everybody. And so it's a long way of saying it that it's all got to add up. It's like everything plays off of each other. So even if we get that quarterback, you guys know damn well because we've had a guy played pretty well quarterback here recently in the last 10 years. Wasn't God's gift, but he's a fine enough quarterback. It still takes more than just that guy who's got a good arm and can see the field and do all those things. You've got to have all your stuff together. Look down at Cincinnati. They got a guy who can have the whole famer down there. And I know he can't stay healthy, but they can't get there. You know what together and now they're wondering whether or not he's going to threaten to leave. Um, I, I was looking at your face while I was asking the question about international headlines. Uh, when it comes to Shedore. I was like, he's asking. I was like, I know he's going to ask the question. He's asking which they got he had.

7:07And then I was, I was looking to see if Todd's demeanor had all changed. If he was starting to do though, God, why do you got it? He didn't, he literally looked me right in the eyes. And he said exactly what Ken said. I mean, you should take a victory lap. He's like, we, we're the wrong people. If we're going to let any of that stuff distract us, we're the wrong people. And you know, he mentioned, he said that was her opinion. I mean, he said that is her opinion and her reporting notice. He did not reject it. He did not take the opportunity to reject it. That's true. That's true. I was waiting to see if he would. Um, but he didn't, but he said the common sense of what you said. Yeah, we're the wrong people to have this job because if we can't handle the outside. And he heard it on the way in, but that's why I lost my mind earlier. I'm like, guys, like in our world, yes, it's a distraction. Yes, we argue with each other. And there have been plenty of Browns fans who sent me emails, called in. And yet there have been a couple of guys going, Kenny, why are we wasting our time with this kid? And I'm thinking, guys, their world is different from our world.

8:08And ask yourself this question, what has he done to be a problem for the organization? He ain't done anything to be a problem for the organization. In fact, I think he's been a net plus for the organization, considering the things he's done off the field, considering the people he's talked to off the field. He's been in damn way more social situations here in the city of Cleveland than a lot of guys out there who are higher than fifth round picks for crying out loud. I mean, you've made quarterback to quarterback comparisons. I mean, it's not a distraction when you take a Friday night and go to a high school game. It's not a distraction. And when during the off season in July, you go over to a local high school and work out with the kids. Now, it's not, it's not a campaign. We're not voting for Shredor. He's selected by his head coach, but we have to make the difference. And sometimes it's a much better thing. Take it for me. It's a much better thing to just put the phone down or take the app off for the weekend instead of getting into it all over. We can't vote on it. If it was a vote, he'd win in a landslide, but it's not that way.

9:10So if you're a bronze fan, we got a hope for it. We'll see what happens. I mean, if the shot's picked, we got a hope for it to work out. We got to see what happens there. And if they call upon Shredor Sanders, we got to do the same damn thing. If it happened with Dylan Gabriel, I'd probably, I'd probably have a heart. I'd probably pass out because I'd be so surprised. But still, we'd have to support it as best we, me is best I possibly could. But I just think that that answer to me was like, yes, you've given us a clean. And it wasn't like, keep us in the dark. Like, I mean, Kevin was great. Nice guy, but Kevin would keep you in the dark. It's like, no, because he can't go out there. And I know we were all in high school. And that's where it ended for us for a lot of us playing. Like, Kevin can't go out there or excuse me. Todd can't go out there in front of the team. Start talking about a guy's brother. You know, you wouldn't do that. Like, if Jeff Miller started talking about my dad in a meeting over something my dad said, we're going to have a problem. You have a private conversation.

10:10You can have a private conversation and handle this like, like, like men do, like, like co-workers would. Because say what you guys want. You're going to sit there and rip on my dad or anything of my family in front of our co-workers. Say what you want. No head coach wants TMZ reporting about the brothers, the dads, the sisters. No, of them want it. You guys can say that that you don't believe that. I can just tell you, we've talked to coaches. They don't know. But it's the same thing. Like, it certainly doesn't help. It doesn't help. You know, we talked about the whole and I didn't want to, but I know we had to. When Dylan Gabriel's girlfriend had that video. Kevin wasn't talking about that in front of the team and neither's Todd. Like, that ain't going to happen. We will talk about it, but that's where it's like, guys, this is that is what I meant by this whole internet stuff. That ain't real life. Out there in the road, people talk to you about the Browns. They don't talk about that stuff as much. I mean, you get a couple of questions. You get a couple of people wondering, was it even worth it? I don't know that. It's like, what'd you think of the draft?

11:10How good can we possibly be? That's what's real to them. 216474 to below 92. We got a lot to get through to the last hour. We got coming in hot at 945. I'm sure that's going to be pretty wild. If you asked me, all I did was ask the questions that fans wanted to hear. The answers to, but I'm going to have made fun of it. And I got a wild ass theory about this draft. Oh, yeah. And Cavalier's Raptors Game 6 tonight. We're talking about it next on the fan.