Columnist San DeFilippo: It took only 24 hours for a shift in Policy

San DeFilippo

Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 10 a.m.

Sal DeFilippo's pro football column appears Friday. Reach him at sal@lasvegassun.com or 259-4076.

I'm a little skeptical, or at least suspicious, of what happened in Cleveland on Monday.

After some Browns fans released their bottled-up frustration in Sunday's loss against Jacksonville, Cleveland brass seemed to defend their actions, though they stopped short of condoning them.

"It wasn't World War III," owner Al Lerner said.

"I like the fact that our fans care," Carmen Policy, the team president, added.

Since the Browns play their final three games on the road, I think the club hierarchy possibly was just hopeful the bottle-throwing incident could fade away the same way the team has from playoff contention.

But on Monday, rather than crafting a Punt, Pass and Kick the Beer Bottle promotion for next season, the Browns sobered up and had a Policy shift.

Carmen apologized to everyone with the exception of what he called the "hooligans," a grave departure in the previous day's description of the same caring fans.

Policy's reversal isn't surprising -- and neither is the talk of banning the plastic bottles and only serving beer in cups. But a couple of things puzzle me.

Policy's sudden change of heart was generated by more than just "making a mistake," as he described it. He was smart to do the politically correct thing quickly, but it was nothing more than covering his backside.

Furthermore, did anyone think filled plastic bottles couldn't be dangerous? Same with aluminum cans, until they're emptied. Why did it take such field bombings for this realization to take hold?

Finally, what are Cleveland fans thinking? Why waste a perfectly good beer, especially at inflated stadium prices? As any Giants fan can recall from a 1995 game against San Diego, throwing a snowball is free.

Kidding aside, there's no place for such fan behavior, period, but to punish thousands for the acts of a few idiots is equally wrong. And that's just restating the incredibly obvious, even if it took the Cleveland brass a few days to figure it out.