Big-play wideout Antonio Callaway, who broke the Haslams' heart in a college game, must prove he won't break their hearts in the NFL as a high-risk draft pick.
BEREA Jim Haslam, 87-year-old patriarch and father of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, was a captain on a Tennessee team that won a national championship.
Tennessee football is near to the Haslam family's heart. On Sept 26, 2015, Antonio Callaway broke some hearts while playing wide receiver for the Florida Gators.
The Volunteers were in good shape in the final moments, leading 27-21 and pinning the Gators to a fourth-and-14 with a minute and a half left. Callaway ran a deep curl pattern, caught a pass from Will Grier, turned outside, and outran three defenders to the end zone.
Final: Callaway's team 28, Haslam's team 27.
It was Callaway's fourth game as a true freshman. From that day on (he caught five passes for 112 yards), everybody knew his name.
Now the Haslams are signing off on the risk Callaway will break their hearts again. General manager John Dorsey traded up in the fourth round to secure the troubled wideout.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound speedster might have been a first-rounder.
"He entered the year as one of the 15 best players at any position," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said.
He did not have a good year.
Callaway was one of nine Florida players suspended for the 2017 season amid an investigation into felony credit card fraud. He was found to have spent $1,970 that wasn't his on a high-end computer and headphones.
He arrived at the Combine in March with a chance to somewhat salvage his draft stock. Instead, he blew a new hole in it by failing a drug test.
He was skating on thin ice before 2017.
Last July, he pled no contest for possession of paraphernalia and was fined $301.
He was suspended from Florida's 2016 spring game amid and investigation of sexual assault. He testified during a Title IX hearing that he was high on marijuana during that time frame. He was not charged.
He was not drafted until No. 105 overall, by which point the Browns had chosen Baker Mayfield at No. 1, Denzel Ward at No. 4, Austin Corbett at No. 33, Nick Chubb at No. 35 and Chad Thomas at No. 67.
"We thought that the fourth round is right where you kind of get a guy like this," Dorsey said.
Given the marathon suspension problems of Josh Gordon, a wideout only recently reacclimating himself to the roster, why take a chance on Callaway anywhere?
"We have certain resources in place that can help young men develop," Dorsey said. "I have been around a lot of teams in the NFL, and this one probably has one of the better player support systems there is.
"He will understand what it means to be a Cleveland Brown. Once he understands 100 percent what it means to be a Cleveland Brown, the Cleveland Browns will be 100 percent committed to making this man a football player."
Callaway grew up in Miami. He transferred to a powerhouse high school program, Booker T. Washington High School, after his junior year.
In his lone year at Washington, he missed five games but still had 950 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. His team went 14-0 and was ranked second nationally by USA Today.
As a true freshman at Florida, Callaway led the Gators in receiving yards (678). But then his troubles began when he was suspended from the spring game.
"If you sit there and understand his situations and his life story, you can see a guy who strives … he actually loves the game of football … but he likes structure and he likes routine," Dorsey said. "You can see that there is a degree of humility. You have to do your risk tolerance and say, ‘OK, where are we here?’ "
Dorsey spent the previous five years as general manager of the Chiefs. In 2016, he spent a No. 165 overall pick on wideout Tyreek Hill, who was kicked off Oklahoma State's football team allowing a 2014 domestic violence arrest.
Hill made the Pro Bowl as a return man as a rookie. As a second-year pro, he gave the Chiefs 75 catches for 1,183 yards. Hill's problems in college were severe enough to keep him from being invited to the Combine. Callaway was invited to the Combine, but that backfired with the positive drug test.
"I am not going to talk about that from a policy standpoint," Dorsey said. "I do believe that this guy can develop and be a Cleveland Brown the way we want to see it.
"I believe that this guy is driven.”
Dorsey said the Browns' new receivers coach, Adam Henry, and free agency pick-up Jarvis Landry will be good mentors for Callaway. Henry was Landry's position coach at LSU.
Dorsey said Callaway would have been the first or second wideout drafted without his off-field issues.
Like Gordon in 2012, Callaway arrives having not played a down of football for more than a year. In his last full season, as a true sophomore in 2016, he gave Florida 54 catches for 721 yards and three touchdowns.
Dorsey's on-field scouting report:
“He brings hands. He brings vertical explosion. He brings outstanding run-after-catch. He processes information very well. He is exciting as a punt returner."
Callaway's most recent chance to express contrition came after his Combine debacle, at a pro day. Asked what the NFL was supposed to think of him, he said, "They know I'm a good athlete. Just know I'm not a bad person. Somebody's just got to believe in me."
He has made that difficult, at times.
Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or
steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP