Browns Blog

Tough business

There are just a few lucky rookies each year that are blessed with great physical tools and all the intangibles needed to have success from the start. Barring injuries, most of them go on to have excellent careers.

Most of the remainder of prospects face an uphill battle to get noticed. That includs rookies that weren't drafted. Their hope is to go to a team's rookie camp as a tryout or signed free agent and show enough in a few practices to be invited back for training camp.

Michael Phillips, a 2003 Warren G. Harding graduate, is dealing with that harsh reality of life. He attended the Cleveland Browns' rookie camp last weekend, but he wasn't among the select few that were asked to return.

In talking to Phillips shortly before he left the Browns' facility last Sunday, I could tell that he was disappointed (can you blame him?). Here's an athlete that's been active in sports since he was a young child, and now he's wondering what's left for him to pursue as an athlete.

I was admittedly pulling for Phillips, a defensive back from the University of Pittsburgh, to make the grade with the Browns. He's one of the most enjoyable athletes I've covered on the high school scene. He always wears a smile and has an easy laugh.

What I remember about Phillips was the night he and high school teammate Danny Stella approached me after Harding had been eliminated from the basketball tournament trail at Cleveland South High School. Both of them thanked me for the coverage I had given them during their high school days.

When young men take the time to do something like that, you can't help but pull for them. You also know that they'll end up doing well in life, even if it doesn't involve sports.

Phillips plans to continue his pursit of a NFL career. He talked about contacting the Chiago Bears, who tried to bring him in for a tryout before Phillips decided on the Browns.

Whatever happens in the future for Phillips, he's sure to be successful.