The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Brantley wants to prove Browns made right choice
The Browns, ridiculed for taking Caleb Brantley in the sixth round in the draft last month, could end up looking as smart as the Harvard-educated braintrust that runs the football side of the franchise.
Brantley is participating in the three-day rookie minicamp that began May 12 at team headquarters in Berea. The 307-pound defensive tackle allegedly April 13 struck a 120-pound woman in the face and knocked her unconscious while at a bar in Florida.
Brantley, on the advice of his lawyer and that of Browns vice president of communications Peter John Baptiste, did not answer questions about the incident.
“I want to do what I’ve shown I can do and contribute to the team,” Brantley said before practice. “Hopefully, everything works out. There’s definitely a chip on my shoulder. I’m just going to go out and prove everybody wrong who said bad things about me, said I have character issues and all of that. But I ain’t really worried about it — just ready to move on.
“I feel like I’m a genuine great person. I’m just out here playing football, the game that I love, trying to take care of my mom and my brother. Obviously everyone’s got their opinions on social media, stuff like that, but my teammates (at the University of Florida) can speak for that, people who know me.”
Brantley has not been arrested or formally charged with a crime.
Amy Osteryoung, one of Brantley’s attorneys, last week told Cleveland.com she expects a resolution in Brantley’s favor soon. The alleged victim, Chelsea Austin, offered to settle out of court April 24, three days before the draft began, but Brantley refused, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel.
Brantley knows the Browns took heat for drafting him. He said he wants to show his new employers they were right to take a chance on him.
“I feel like I have a responsibility to come out here and work hard with my teammates considering everything that’s going on outside,” Brantley said. “As far as the Browns taking heat and everything like that, I really appreciate them taking a chance on me, and I just really appreciate the opportunity.”
If — and it might still be a big if — Brantley is cleared, the Browns might have gotten the steal of the draft.
NFLDraftScout.com rated Brantley seventh among defensive tackles in the 2017 draft. Pro Football Focus rated him third among defensive tackles and 53rd overall, which means PFF gave him a second-round grade eight days before the incident.
Brantley fell like a stone in the draft. He was the 12th defensive tackle drafted with pick 185 overall.
“Brantley is a 3-technique defensive tackle (one that lines up on the outside shoulder of a guard) who relies on quickness to penetrate into gaps,” Pro Football Focus wrote April 5. “He also has the lateral quickness and core flexibility to ‘get skinny’ into gaps and disrupt plays.
“Brantley’s suddenness off the snap can really make blockers look silly if they get their weight too far in front of them in an effort to engage him early. Brantley’s initial move is to swipe the hands of the blocker in front of him and quickly get around the side of him. He does have an effective spin-counter off the initial hand-swipe move.”
Brantley totaled 59 tackles with the Gators in 23 games over the last two seasons. He would be part of a rotation and give Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams more flexibility to use a four-man line.
“He’s talented — we all know that,” Coach Hue Jackson said after practice. “The things we’re dealing with, we don’t want to deal with those things. It’s in the judicial system. It will run its course.
“We feel very comfortable about the things we know about the young man. That’s why we drafted him. Hopefully everything works out the way we see it has the possibility of being. He did some good things out there today, but he has to make sure everything he does, from whenever that incident was going forward, that he does it the Cleveland Brown way. I think he will.”
Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown just minutes after drafting Brantley said the Browns are conducting their own investigation. He said there is no guarantee Brantley will be on the team.