Cleveland Browns media member Tony Grossi suspended over Baker Mayfield remarks

Tony Grossi has found himself suspended due to controversial remarks that were made by him about Baker Mayfield at the NFL Combine.

Tony Grossi, former Cleveland Plain Dealer writer, and current ESPN Cleveland analyst has been suspended due to comments made about Cleveland Browns quarterback  Baker Mayfield.  The moment was caught when Grossi thought they were no longer on the air as the original original tweet showed. Grossi can be heard calling Mayfield a “…f—ing midget”.  Midget, for those unaware, is a derogatory term. This is the reason given for why Grossi was suspended.

The comments came while Joe Burrow was finishing up with his presser, which was when Grossi and show host Tony Rizzo were lamenting over taking Mayfield, and listing off all the quarterbacks the Browns had passed over in past drafts.

Good Karma Brands, which owns 850 AM in Cleveland, released a statement regarding the matter.

"We are aware of Tony Grossi’s statement about Baker Mayfield. The term Tony used is a derogatory slur to describe Little People. Good Karma Brand will not tolerate derogatory language that demeans others or groups of people.We are addressing this matter with Tony directly, and while we normally do not comment on personnel matters, we do want to share that we have made the decision to immediately and indefeinitely suspend Tony Grossi. In addition, we will pursue sensitivity and inclusion training for everyone on our content teams across our company.From Good Karma Brands, to our fans, our partners, the Browns and Baker Mayfield – we are sorry."

This is not the first time that Grossi has run afoul with his bosses over his comments, as he was ‘relocated’ from the Browns beat during his time with the Plain Dealer over comments he made publically about then owner Randy Lerner. Grossi apologized for his comments, and presumably not doing his job.

Grossi has also already run afoul with Mayfield before, most recently in this past season when he began to pester Mayfield repeatedly over one specific instance, causing Mayfield to abruptly walk off. Not before people rushed to Grossi’s defense, like Tom Hamilton when he described Grossi’s persistent vendetta for the quarterback as “playful” and that Mayfield was “bullyish”. Grossi even goes on to say that he actively ‘challenges’ Mayfield. To give you an idea that everyone knows Grossi’s antics, Browns Red Zone co-host Brian Anderson (former Cleveland Indians pitcher) even called out Grossi, saying that he knew who was involved the minute it happened without ever needing to go beyond the headline.