The Dolphin
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Browns coach Freddie Kitchens won’t complain about officiating, because he likes money. But since he doesn’t have to worry about being fined for complaining about the media, Kitchens will complain at will.
Kitchens complained on Friday to the media about the manner in which the media interpreted receiver Jarvis Landry‘s “we’re gonna win” remarks from Thursday.
“I would like to address that,” Kitchens said regarding the concept that Landry guaranteed a win. “I think I do a pretty good job of communicating with you guys and telling you as much as I can from a truth perspective. I would just like the same in return from you guys when you are talking to our players. Everybody in here knows that Jarvis was not guaranteeing a win. He was asked what do you want to accomplish after the bye, and he stated we would like to go win or something in that realm. New England was never mentioned so for you guys to do that, I think it was very unfair.”
Well, Freddie, in the interests of respecting the truth, here’s what Landry was asked: “Now that you guys are all rested up, what’s your sense for how the Browns are going to do coming out of the bye?”
And here’s what he said in response to that question: “Well, we’re gonna win. We’re gonna win. It’s just that simple. We’re getting guys back healthy again, and we’re gonna win.”
Kitchens can try to say that Landry said something other than what he said, but that’s what Landry said. He was either specifically guaranteeing a win in their next game, or he was generally guaranteeing a win in every game to be played. Regardless, he repeatedly said, “We’re gonna win.”
And yet Kitchens, reflecting the two-plus-two-is-five vibe that currently dominates partisan politics, insists that there was no guarantee.
“We do not guarantee anything,” Kitchens said. “These guys have never guaranteed anything. They have guaranteed that they would go out and give their best, and I think that is what they have done.”
That’s fine. But Landry said what he said. The toothpaste has violently escaped the tube, and nothing Kitchens says now is going to scrape it off the wall.
Wouldn’t it be better to say, “I know what Jarvis said and Jarvis knows what he said, but he didn’t mean it that way”? That could be far closer to the truth than what Kitchens said Friday. Besides, it would make his attack on the media for not residing within the boundaries of the truth slightly more credible (or slightly less incredible) if Kitchens were doing the same. He’s not.
And it’s not as if Landry has never made a bold claim when it comes to the Patriots. In 2017, Landry vowed that the Dolphins would sweep the Patriots. And he later reiterated his position during the 2017 season, as the two games against the Patriots approached.
The Dolphins did not sweep the Patriots in 2017. The Browns, who already were going to have their hands full with the Patriots on Sunday, will face an even stiffer challenge, because no matter what Kitchens says now, the Patriots regard Landry’s remarks as a guarantee. As does anyone with eyes and/or ears and common sense.