In September, Chris Smith's girlfriend died, leaving him a single father. Tuesday, Cleveland cut him

[Rock Strongo]

In September, Chris Smith's girlfriend died, leaving him a single father. On Tuesday, Cleveland cut him.

 

[GNG]

In September, Chris Smith's girlfriend died, leaving him a single father. On Tuesday, Cleveland cut him.

Shit happens.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

In September, Chris Smith's girlfriend died, leaving him a single father. On Tuesday, Cleveland cut him.

That is a silly article. Are the Brown's supposed to keep a guy around, who is only average at best, just because they feel sorry for his personal tragedy? I feel bad for the guy, but if he's not performing up to NFL or Cleveland Brown team standards then the team has every right (even a duty really) to move on from him and replace him with a better player.

The article itself even concedes that Smith wasn't a great player, but they kind of imply that because he was good man and good team mate that should be enough to keep him on the roster. That may be a nice gesture and I'm sure they mean well, but the reality is the NFL is a business and they have a job to do. There are literally hundreds of players that probably have hard luck and sad stories from their personal lives. That doesn't earn them an exemption from playing poorly and not getting fired. That's just the way it is. Not just for football players either, but anyone in any job that under performs risks being terminated. That's life man.

 

[packerzrule]

In September, Chris Smith's girlfriend died, leaving him a single father. On Tuesday, Cleveland cut him.

What a double kick in the stones.

 

[Ojb81]

Feel bad for him, but, I mean, sometimes you gotta eat a shit sandwich in life.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

That is a silly article. Are the Brown's supposed to keep a guy around, who is only average at best, just because they feel sorry for his personal tragedy? I feel bad for the guy, but if he's not performing up to NFL or Cleveland Brown team standards then the team has every right (even a duty really) to move on from him and replace him with a better player.

The article itself even concedes that Smith wasn't a great player, but they kind of imply that because he was good man and good team mate that should be enough to keep him on the roster. That may be a nice gesture and I'm sure they mean well, but the reality is the NFL is a business and they have a job to do. There are literally hundreds of players that probably have hard luck and sad stories from their personal lives. That doesn't earn them an exemption from playing poorly and not getting fired. That's just the way it is. Not just for football players either, but anyone in any job that under performs risks being terminated. That's life man.

I agree with pretty much everything you said.

This is not a feel for Chris Smith moment now...you felt for the guy when his GF was killed no doubt.

As I understand this...he was a vet player signed to a 3 yr deal for $12 mil...he's made all but 4 game checks of that contract so he's not hurting or rather he shouldn't be hurting financially.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

The guy only had like 1 assisted tackle in 12 games. What are the Brown's supposed to do? Keep a guy around that isn't producing just because his fiance was tragically killed?

And let's not pretend like this guy is suddenly going to be homeless. He has earned $10M in his career, including a $3.5M signing bonus, so unless he's been stupid with his money he's already earned more than most folks will in their entire lifetimes. Plus, chances are some team will pick him up next season if they are looking for a veteran guy at his position. So, I'm sure he'll be just fine. I can tell you this much, if my wife died in car accident today I wouldn't have $10M and I'd probably only get a couple weeks off work at maximum before they expected me to do my job again. That is just life.

 

[Manster7588]

Not the Browns problem. Maybe some liberal should house him.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

Feel bad for him, but, I mean, sometimes you gotta eat a shit sandwich in life.

Yes, sir. And when you do, there's NO FUCKING POINT IN NIBBLING!

 

[DonMan]

The article mentioned that since he's a vested veteran he'll collect his entire 2019 salary. So this isn't costing him a penny. It would arguably be worse to keep him around just because they felt sorry for him. I know from experience (and common sense) that people in his situation generally just want to be treated normally, they definitely don't want pity.

 

[calsnowskier]

Not the Browns problem. Maybe some liberal should house him.

No no no no...

A liberal would have someone else house him.

 

[Judge Fudge]

I feel for the guy, I really do, but sometimes you got to take a kick in the balls to realize that this ain't your future brah!!!

Hopefully he was smart enough to earn a degree to fall back on.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

That is a silly article. Are the Brown's supposed to keep a guy around, who is only average at best, just because they feel sorry for his personal tragedy? I feel bad for the guy, but if he's not performing up to NFL or Cleveland Brown team standards then the team has every right (even a duty really) to move on from him and replace him with a better player.

The article itself even concedes that Smith wasn't a great player, but they kind of imply that because he was good man and good team mate that should be enough to keep him on the roster. That may be a nice gesture and I'm sure they mean well, but the reality is the NFL is a business and they have a job to do. There are literally hundreds of players that probably have hard luck and sad stories from their personal lives. That doesn't earn them an exemption from playing poorly and not getting fired. That's just the way it is. Not just for football players either, but anyone in any job that under performs risks being terminated. That's life man.

Exactly spot on. The reporter that wrote this piece is just another lazy journalist writing a puff piece to tug at the heart strings and sell copy. Pretty much everything that is wrong in today's journalism is summed up right there, imo. The guy suffered a tragedy but guess what, hundreds of thousands of regular people suffer tragedies daily. If you are unable to perform your job at a suitable level, your employer should not be obligated to just let you "hang around" out of pity. Honestly, that does the person's psyche more harm than good. And the dude will be fine. Football is a very small part of these guys lives in the big scheme of things anyway. He already lived his dream and got paid quite well to do it.

 

[night]

I think he will be glad to be around the family he has left. He isn’t hurting financially and will benefit mentally from not being on the road as much during a really tough time in his life.

 

[fknhippie]

Pretty bad when you don't live up to the Brown's standards.

 

[cowboycolors]

I feel for the guy I really do but at some point the team has to make business decisions.

 

[Groo]

On the plus side, he should have more time to spend with his son

Still comes off as cold

 

[Tapey]

He’s earned around 7.5 mil over the course of his career he should be fine

 

[Superbelt]

That is a silly article. Are the Brown's supposed to keep a guy around, who is only average at best, just because they feel sorry for his personal tragedy? I feel bad for the guy, but if he's not performing up to NFL or Cleveland Brown team standards then the team has every right (even a duty really) to move on from him and replace him with a better player.

The article itself even concedes that Smith wasn't a great player, but they kind of imply that because he was good man and good team mate that should be enough to keep him on the roster. That may be a nice gesture and I'm sure they mean well, but the reality is the NFL is a business and they have a job to do. There are literally hundreds of players that probably have hard luck and sad stories from their personal lives. That doesn't earn them an exemption from playing poorly and not getting fired. That's just the way it is. Not just for football players either, but anyone in any job that under performs risks being terminated. That's life man.

I mean, Pittsburgh for example still carries Shazier's contract so he gets paid and gets medical care. And he's not gonna play again.

Still, I'm not carrying pitchforks against Cleveland for this. The guy still gets his salary for the full year as a veteran. And now he's free to pursue employment with a team that isn't a dumpster fire, if he can hang.

 

[Rex Racer]

In September, Chris Smith's girlfriend died, leaving him a single father. On Tuesday, Cleveland cut him.

What's your point?