I do remember when Cleveland Brown's RB William Green used to carry the ball. Now his role has been reduced to a practice player who might get in the game during garbage time. What a difference a year can make in the life of young running back's career!

When the Browns drafted Green in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft, the team on the shores of Lake Erie expected great things from the back out of Boston College. They drafted him ahead of Washington Redskin's Clinton Portis and Carolina Panther's Deshaun Foster. In three full seasons with the Cleveland Browns, William Green has never rushed for 1000 yards in any season, nor had an average of a least 4 yards a carry. Off the field, his life has been a train wreck. He has been charged with a DUI and was stabbed allegedly falling up the stairs.

William Green cannot complain about splitting carries with fellow RB Lee Suggs. The "Suggs express" has yet to carry the ball this season, he is still injured. This is now the Reuben Droughns era, and Green can only be silent as he watches the team function well without his presence on the field.

If William Green can learn anything about his diminished role with the organization, it is that the critics had him pegged correctly. While he has great potential, he comes with baggage, and may never erase the stigma that has plagued his career since Boston College. It will not be long before Green is sitting on Sunday talking about how he belongs in the NFL. What a shame given the kind of talent we all know he possesses.

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