Shaking up Murphy’s Law

When it comes to doing the right thing, those who reside in the Ivory Tower at 76 Lou Groza Blvd. have failed miserably to do just that in the last decade and a half.

It’s as though Murphy’s Law hovers above that building and shows absolutely no signs of leaving.

But the club’s hierarchy finally did something right last week. Johnny Manziel’s Pro Day workout in College Station, Texas, was attended by the front offices of every National Football League except the Browns and Chicago Bears.

The Bears already have their franchise quarterback in Jay Cutler and their absence was not totally unexpected. The Browns, on the other hand, are in the market for a quarterback.

Pundits wondered out loud just what were the Browns thinking. They need a quarterback and Manziel is certainly considered by many of those draft analysts to be a certifiable candidate to be selected early.

Why weren’t the Browns there? Why weren’t they at Derek Carr’s Pro Day? And why didn’t they attend the Pro Days of Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater? What in the world is going on in Cleveland?

Common sense has finally arrived in Berea; that’s what is going on. And it’s about time.

Good for the Browns. Rather than waste time watching Manziel being put through his paces in a workout orchestrated by a quarterback guru, General Manager Ray Farmer and coach Mike Pettine stayed home to address more important things.

Not to worry. They’ll get their crack at Manziel one-on-one sometime between now and the May 8-10 college football draft. They’ll bring him into Berea, get extremely up close and personal with him and, at the same time, work him out using their own choreography.

Same with Bortles, Bridgewater and Carr (Carr’s is today in Cleveland) and other quarterbacks who interest them. By the time Farmer, Pettine and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan are through with these quarterbacks, they’ll have a much better idea of just how they’ll approach the draft.

Watching Manziel go through his paces for everyone else in College Station proved nothing. If NFL teams don’t know by now just how much of an impact Manziel will make on the league, shame on them.

Hundreds of miles of game tape of the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner is ample evidence of just what you’re going to get if you step up and write his name on a card when Commissioner Roger Goodell puts your team on the clock.

About the only thing the mercurial Manziel showed in his workout that had not been seen previously was his ability to take the snap while lined up under center. Other than that, it was your regular dog and pony show.

Pro football teams have a tendency to overanalyze players, anyway, at this time of the season rather than rely on game tape. And the relatively useless Indianapolis combine in February just adds to the overanalyzing.

So when Manziel and his buddies show up in Berea and undergo much more personal scrutiny, that’s when we’ll get a much better idea of what the Browns think. That, of course, is if they choose to be transparent.

But don’t count on that. At least not yet. After all, making the right moves requires small steps. At least this is a start.