Embattled WR Edwards: I don’t want to be traded

Despite a frustrating year, the talented wideout wants to succeed in Cleveland.

BEREA (AP) — Braylon Edwards isn’t sure he can catch a break, either.

The style-conscious wide receiver, whose drops have defined Cleveland’s calamitous season, hopes to repair his rocky relationship with frustrated Browns fans and said he has no intention of asking for a trade despite his unhappiness or the team’s expected upcoming offseason overhaul.

“I don’t want to be traded,” Edwards said Thursday. “I want to be here in Cleveland. I want to make plays. I want to have fun and I just want to enjoy it.

“I don’t know, maybe I care too much.”

Edwards’ passion has never been questioned. But some Browns fans have grown tired of his inconsistent play and showboating ways.

He leads the NFL with 16 drops, and this season the former first-round draft pick has become a target for fan abuse — he says because he went to Michigan and most Clevelanders root for Ohio State.

Edwards also feels fans begrudge him because of the team’s infamous championship failures. Denver’s John Elway broke Cleveland’s heart with a 98-yard drive in the 1986 AFC title game, and one year later, Browns running back Earnest Byner fumbled at the goal line as the Browns lost to the Broncos again.

The way Edwards sees it, the present-day Browns are haunted by their past.

“I can’t apologize for what happened before I got here,” he said. “I wasn’t a part of The Drive. I didn’t fumble at the 1. That wasn’t me. I think fans are still disgruntled about that and they have every right to be, because they’re fans, but that’s not me. I’m Braylon Edwards and I just want to be Braylon Edwards.”

The Browns (4-10) are winding down one of the most disappointing seasons in memory, a severe slide that has been aided by Edwards crucial drops, including what would have been a long TD in a home loss to Baltimore that led directly to quarterback Derek Anderson being benched for Brady Quinn.

Edwards has had some positive moments, but his three best games have all come in Cleveland’s appearances on Monday Night Football.

Coincidence?

“Uhhh, yeah,” he said after a pause. “I don’t know.”

Following Monday’s loss in Philadelphia, Edwards said he felt unappreciated by Cleveland fans and that “since Day One I’ve been a marked man coming from Michigan. Even when things are good, there’s heckles.”

Edwards’ postgame comments came across to some as him setting the stage to demand a trade this winter. He swears that’s not the case at all.

“Why would I?” he snapped. “I wouldn’t ask to be traded.”

Edwards revealed Thursday that he and his parents have been harassed in public at restaurants. He doesn’t feel unsafe in Cleveland and has not been threatened with physical violence.

To his credit, Edwards, who missed three weeks in the preseason after cutting his foot while running after practice in his socks, has not used his college choice as an excuse for his statistical slippage. He enters Sunday’s game with 50 receptions for 837 yards and three TDs. Last season, he had 80 catches for 1,289 yards and 16 TDs.

“I never used me being from Michigan as a copout,” he said. “All season I’ve owned up to my play. I said I’m not playing well, I’m dropping passes I need to be catching. I never blamed it on the quarterback. I never blamed the offensive coordinator. I never blamed it on anything but me not concentrating and focusing.”