BEREA -- Of all the players who spoke during the Browns final locker room session of the 2014 season, offensive tackle Joe Thomas said the one thing that most fans can relate to -- "I think you'd expect a middle-school football player to show up on time. Why can't we expect NFL players to show up on time?"
Adjusting to professional football is hard enough -- for one, it is a job and for then there is trying to go up against experienced athletes who have been doing this longer. That is why head coach Mike Pettine was right when he said that players' raw talent will get them into the league but that their character and maturity will keep them in it.
Look at any roster in the NFL and there will be two or three names that jump out that make you go -- "He is still in the league?" Often times it is because their maturity and work ethic have proven just as durable as their talent.
If Josh Gordon, Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel want to look to their own locker room for examples of guys who have thrived through adversity, cornerback Joe Haden and wide receiver Andrew Hawkins are perfect examples.
Haden has repeatedly admitted to just playing football and living a lifestyle during his rookie season in 2011. After a four-game suspension in 2012 for using Adderall, he took stock of everything and turned things around. He has grown into a team leader and is heading to the Pro Bowl for the second straight year.
"I didn't want anybody to not trust me because your word is everything. You felt like you embarrassed yourself and your team," said Haden on Monday looking back at the suspension. "When that happened, I knew I needed to make a change. But you've gotta look in the mirror and make those changes yourself. It just takes time.
"I'm not going to judge them. Rookies are coming in a little bit late, it is what it is. They're just growing up. I don't want to be one to beat them down. I really like them and I like them as teammates."
Hawkins, who finished as the team's leading receiver (63 receptions, 824 yards), has not only his own perspectives of trying to make it in the CFL and NFL, but also saw members of his family play in the NFL. His brother, Artrell, was in the league for nine seasons with the Bengals, Panthers and Patriots.
Artrell Hawkins also had one bit of advice that rings true, the last thing you want as a player is someone to do a search on Google and the first thing that comes up is an off-field incident.
When it comes to whether or not Gordon, Gilbert and Manziel have bought in, Andrew Hawkins thinks they have, but the one thing they have yet to learn is that everything in the NFL is analyzed to the nth degree.
"The little things get blown up and they affect the team. Understand what you do - they affect everyone, myself included," Hawkins said. "They are good guys and great teammates but they are maturing and figuring it out, it's part of the process.
"It's like anything - you take the good with the bad, learn from the mistakes and lessons and carry them over. You don't know things are bad until they happen. I think the guys in this locker room are some of the hardest working and great character guys I have been around. I mean it. The message is pretty clear from everyone -- you have to buy in. Guys will mature. Everyone is at different stages of their lives and it is something they will build on."
