Trying to bring Cleveland back to relevance is perfect job for Kitchens
CLEVELAND - It didn't last long, but the year before he got back into football, Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens was a used-car salesman.
Such an odd fit for the plain-speaking Kitchens, a former Alabama quarterback who has always been a people person but can't get out of the way of his own candor.
"I like being straight up and honest with people," said Kitchens, 44. "I'd tell people, 'I wouldn't buy this car for this much.' But then you don't make any money, so you're kind of torn."
Still, Kitchens was salesman of the month twice in his three months at Magnolia Nissan BMW in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He could move that inventory, even though he didn't care for the job.
"I was just not happy," he said, his thick Southern drawl softened a bit by NFL moves from Dallas to Arizona to Cleveland. "Just kind of living life."
Twenty years later, after building
