Browns: 3 players from the Dark Ages who could’ve been great (and why they weren’t)

The Browns have had a few guys who could’ve been great but ultimately weren’t.

The Browns are in what I’m dubbing the “Hope Era” because fans of the team actually have hope that the team will succeed. Altogether, there are three distinct eras that the team has had. The Hype Era (1999-2002), the Dark Ages Era (2003-2018), and the Hope Era. They should be pretty self-explanatory why they’re dived up like that.

Each era had its own stars, its own moments, and its own levels of expectations. Yet, it was the Dark Ages that really gave Browns fans little comfort or hope for the future. This was the era that the team constantly missed on draft picks, signed bad free agents, and went through head coaches like a school nurse goes through cough syrup during flu and cold season.

Guys like Paul Kruger, Brian Hoyer, Terrelle Pryor, and Peyton Hillis all made impacts of their own on the team but for one reason or another lacked staying power. Yet, the guys actually on this list were only missing one thing that held them back from being great.

Granted, guys like Pryor and Hillis probably could’ve done far more damage to the opposing teams than they did already but we just feel like these other three players have the most untapped potential and it really all starts with one former star wide receiver who couldn’t say no to getting high.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t like the rule, if someone can’t follow something so simple, then there’s a problem there. If you haven’t guessed who’s up first, let’s drop the anticipation.