Brown, Still Injured, Is Released

It has become the stiffest and cruelest penalty in NFL history.

On Tuesday, nine months after he was inadvertently hit in the right eye by a flag thrown by referee Jeff Triplette, offensive lineman Orlando Brown was released by the Cleveland Browns.

And Brown isn’t done paying the penalty for Triplette’s mistake.

The vision in Brown’s eye remains blurred, there is swelling behind the eye, and the 29-year-old, eight-year veteran also continues to struggle with his fear of future damage. Brown’s father lost his sight because of glaucoma.

Brown’s physical activity these days is limited to riding a stationary bike and walking.

“The symptoms have not subsided and we do not think he’s close to being approved by the doctors to return to play,” Brown President Carmen Policy said. “We are convinced that there is absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel in terms of Orlando returning to the playing field in 2000.”

Brown, who was told of the release Tuesday, had no comment.

“I think he knew it was coming,” Policy said.

Triplette’s flag struck Brown in a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars last Dec. 19 when the BB-weighted object somehow got through Brown’s facemask. With a combination of fear and rage surging through him, Brown, who had stumbled toward the sideline, returned to shove Triplette.

When that move was seen by league officials, Brown was viewed as the villain as much as the victim, resulting in an indefinite suspension.

It soon became obvious that Brown was justified in his fear this was no glancing blow, but a potentially career-ending injury.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue lifted the suspension in February, but that hasn’t moved Brown any closer to the field.

He hasn’t played since he was injured, having sat out the final game of last season while he spent six days in a hospital with bleeding in the eye, then missing training camp and the first three games of this season.

The 6-foot-7, 350-pound lineman wasn’t accustomed to missing any games. He started 15 for Cleveland last season before the injury, giving him 84 starts in 90 career games.

An undrafted rookie from South Carolina State, Brown signed a six-year, $27-million contract before last season.

He has been paid $374,000 of his $2.1-million base salary for the first three games of this season because he was on the list of players physically unable to perform.

The release doesn’t affect the $7.5-million signing bonus Brown received last year.

“It [the release] is going to give him an opportunity to pursue other options that are available to him,” Policy said.

The only opportunity available to Brown at this point appears to be legal action against the league, a course Brown is exploring through the services of attorney Johnnie Cochran.

Cochran was unavailable for comment.

“I’m worried about him, and everybody connected to the Cleveland Browns is worried about him,” Policy said. “We want the best for him, and ultimately, I’d like to think the National Football League would want the best for him as well.”

As a result of the tragedy, NFL officials have removed the metal pellets from penalty flags and replaced them with corn kernels.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Orlando Brown at a Glance

* Not drafted by an NFL team.

* Signed by the Cleveland Browns as a free agent in February 1999, agreeing to a six-year, $27-million contract.

* Started 84 of 90 games in his seven NFL seasons and was the only player on Cleveland’s roster who played for the Browns before former owner Art Modell took the team to Baltimore in 1996.