On the surface, Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens wearing a funny T-shirt wasn’t the worst sin.
Last week, Kitchens was out to a movie and took a picture with a fan. He was wearing a “Pittsburgh Started It” shirt, alluding to the Mason Rudolph-Myles Garrett fight that led to Garrett’s suspension for the rest of the season. In the NBA, they wouldn’t even bother to comment on the Instagram post. In the dull NFL, it was an instant controversy.
The problem isn’t the shirt, though it probably wasn’t his best move. It’s that it’s symbolic of everything that has gone wrong in Cleveland under Kitchens.