Sunday, October 03, 1999Milne can help team with mouth
Says he'd come back if Bengals need him
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerEven though the Bengals cut him last week, fullback Brian Milne is still the same guy who joined about 10 other players late last season who went to team president Mike Brown with suggestions to make the team better.
It's what guys have been saying for years. The little things aren't so little to players nowadays, but the Bengals simply don't do them. It's better than it was, but when free agency hits, players still whisper about Cincinnati.
“I want those guys in that locker room to succeed,” Milne said this weekend.“Whate ver it takes to help them. If it means I still say a few things, then I'll say them.”
Milne never shied away fom saying those things to club employees during his four seasons, whi ch didn't endear him to people other than his teammates. But he thought Brown was impressive during that meeting, seeing the Brown the public never sees. A bright, witty, engaging guy who cares as he jotted ideas on his yellow notepad.
“I think it would help the team if Mike was more visible to players,” Milne said. “Instead of looking up into that big dark office and just watching his shadow. Look at other owners.
“ What about walking into the locker room, sitting next to Takeo Spikes and asking, "How's the family?' Or shake some hands while we're stretching? I've said hello to him a few times and he's been nice. But why not walk through the locker room even just a few times and letting guys know he cares about them?”
To be fair to Brown, he has his own, valid reasons for not getting close to players. He watched when Art Modell bellied up to the players in Cleveland and caused a rift between ownership and the coach, Paul Brown, Mike's father, and destroyed a team. Mike Brown still believes in the sanctity of the bond between coach and player, an admirable trait that may not have to be taken to the extreme.
And Brown did listen to Milne and the others when they requested an offseason workout program. But other suggestions haven't been heeded. Many players didn't like it when assistant trainer Rob Recker was exiled to the equipment room, splitting his time helping Tom Gray.
“Putting Rob Recker back in the training room would help,” Milne said. “It's tough taking away help from the training room with a guy like Rob who's well educated and is popular with the players. When we got our ankles taped, Rob had the longest line. I think it would help the team if Rob was back there.”
Milne also objected to the Bengals' discontinuation of breakfast, although the team always supplies it until most of the players are settled in homes after training camp.
Petty complaints? Most bosses don't dole out breakfast. But it's not petty if you're a player who knows what's going on around the rest of the NFL.
Which is Milne's only point. There are off-field things that will help. It might not be a $11 million signing bonus, but it counts.
It's a coincidence that most of the players who met with Brown last December are gone — Milne, Sam Shade, Clyde Simmons, Eric Bieniemy, Ashley Ambrose. But they are now out in the league, or soon will be, talking about their experiences here.
“I don't want to burn any bridges,” Milne said. “I just think these things would help the team win.”
REDS' FANS: When he could be bitter, Brown, an avid baseball fan, is more than gracious when it comes to following the Reds. Even though the Bengals are in a dispute with the Reds over putting grass in Cinergy Field.
“I marvel at how they got a team running at this level,”Brown said. “ It's a real achievement. The thing that catches my eye is how many guys are playing the best they have ever done, and if not the best they've ever done, better than people thought they would at this stage of their careers. It's an example of where it began to work, then fed upon itself.”
Asked if the Bengals could copy the Reds and bounce back after a slow start, Brown said, “I hesitate to say that. They've done it, we haven't.”
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Milne can help team with mouth