From The Greatest

Jim Brown talks to Steve Doerschuk of the Canton Rep about the latest offseason moves.

I liked the way Jim Brown put it during a phone conversation after Jamal Lewis ran Reuben Droughns out of Cleveland.

The Hall of Fame running back, now a team consultant, was weighing the pieces added - including guard Eric Steinbach - and the ones still in the mist.

"This is a major chess game going on right now," Brown said. "All these pieces have to be developed. Those two individuals will definitely add something positive."

Brown made it clear he isn't hinting Savage should endorse Charlie Frye, nor discounts the possibility another quarterback will be brought in. "I like Charlie as quarterback and a human being," Brown said. "Charlie Frye is a fine quarterback and a fine young man. He has worked hard, he will work hard and he can play."

Is it time for Lewis, a first-round pick in 2000, to start wearing down? Lewis has made 1,822 career carries. Jim Brown logged 2,359 carries before retiring at age 29. Hall of Famer Leroy Kelly was washed up before he made the last of his 1,727 carries. LaDainian Tomlinson, who is two months older than Lewis, has carried 2,050 times. Shaun Alexander, drafted the same year as Lewis but two years older, has carried 1,969 times and is coming off a bad year.

Two of Brown's favorites were Earl Campbell and John Riggins. When healthy, Brown said, Lewis has run with their kind off power. "(Lewis) will run over you, and he'll run around you," Brown said, emphasizing, "if he's healthy."