Browns GM John Dorsey watched the preseason opener against the Giants. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

BEREA, Ohio - John Dorsey leans back in his chair and sweeps a hand over the expansive Browns practice field outside his office window.

"It's better than being in that damn basement, I can tell you that,'' he says with a laugh.

Dorsey admits he was 'blindsided' when the Chiefs fired him in June of 2017 after four seasons as general manager, one stunning turnaround from 2-14 from 11-5 in his first year, three playoff berths, one Executive of the Year award and multiple Pro Bowlers.

"I didn't see it coming,'' he says, his brow furrowed.

But he did what any self-respecting former Catholic school kid from St. Aloysius in St. Mary's County, Maryland would do. He went to mass every morning and built a wall of structure around himself so sound that the blues and the self-doubts couldn't seep in.

There, in the solitude of his basement, he watched college and pro film and went to work on a 25-page document entitled the 31 Core Competencies Used in Rebuilding and Sustaining Success in the NFL.

When the phone call came, he was going to be ready. And if didn't? Well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Not only did it come, it came from the house that Jim Brown built. It came from a place just 50 minutes from the hallowed doors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. A place that needed a man with a grand plan to awaken the sleeping giant.

So he rose up from the basement, marched into the Browns facility with a promise to bring in some 'real players,' a renewed faith and a deeper appreciation for the game he already loved so much.

Fans who ventured out to training camp to see how he overhauled the roster by 51% with big, bold moves, found the GM there in his daily uniform: the khaki shorts, light gray Browns sweatshirt, Brownie elf ballcap and Air Dorsey sneakers.

One minute, he'd be speaking reverently to Jim Brown at his golf cart, still in the awe of arguably the greatest player of all time. The next, the ex-Packers linebacker would be putting moves on tight ends to help coach 'em up. Often, he'd be laughing and joking with some of the 31 new players he added, many of whom needed a second chance like himself.

If you stood close enough, you may have caught a "Kemosabe'' or a "buddy-boy.'' He always had a gleam in his eye behind those specs, and a wad of gum in his mouth. And if you were lucky, he might even hand you a piece as he walked by.

Here's a look at how Dorsey getting fired by the Chiefs may prove to be the the best thing that ever happened to the Browns:

By Mary Kay Cabot

Cleveland.com

Don't Edit

Dorsey didn't see it coming when the Chiefs fired him. Michael Conroy, AP

Don't Edit

1. "It was an awakening''

Dorsey didn't know what hit him when the Chiefs fired him in June of 2017, but he knew he couldn't crumble. He had his wife, Tricia, and two young children, Catherine and Jack - and the rest of the NFL - watching to see how he'd respond. Twenty-six years years as an NFL personnel exec and six years as a player, and suddenly, it was all gone.

"It was an awakening,'' he said. "But I've always been a man of routine and structure. So, when all that took place, we went up to our cottage in Wisconsin, spent a month with the family and just kind of reconnected, because you're in football so much you don't get a chance to be with the family that much.''

When the kids went back to their grade school in Kansas City, Dorsey began his routine: mass at 8 a.m and workout from 9 a.m. to 10:30. Then, it was down to his man cave to watch pro film on Monday and Tuesday, and college tape on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturdays, he'd go to a college game or two, for a total of about six last fall, including Baker Mayfield's infamous crotch-grabbing game against Kansas. By then, Dorsey was already "about 90% sold" on the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, and already had an inkling he might be joining the Browns, who first contacted him in October.

"I did a lot of writing and studying,'' he said. "But again, it was a moment to get closer to the kids and Tricia, and that was big. That always helps that healing process.''

Dorsey didn't have a Plan B if the call didn't come. No thoughts of dabbling in the politics or economics he majored in at Connecticut.

"Football is all I know,'' he said.

Don't Edit

Dorsey went to mass every day. Ed Zurga, AP

Don't Edit

2. Back to his Catholic roots

In his seven months out of the NFL, Dorsey found solace in daily 8 a.m. mass, which brought him back to his Catholic roots at St. Aloysius in St. Mary's County, Maryland where he grew up. Dorsey is the son of the late Walter B. Dorsey, a former Maryland State Senator and St. Mary's County States Attorney, and the late Jeanne Dorsey Mandel, who became the First Lady of Maryland when she married the late Governor Marvin Mandel in the early 1970s.

"I try to go to mass a lot,'' he said. "I always have. I'm a Catholic schoolboy. I thought it was a good time. 8 o'clock mass was nothing better than to have some reflection moments there too. And it was good. It really was good. It just kind of quiets you and just kind of puts you in a place where you can do some deeper thinking.''

When he was a boy, he and his siblings "went to mass sometimes every day at St. Aloysius. That's just what we did.''

He admits he "got off a track a little bit'' with his faith along the way, but Bishop Bob Mourneau of Green Bay brought him back into the fold.

"I always say that in the journey of life outside of your parents' influence, you'll meet five people in the course of your life that will influence you in a positive way and the fourth person I met was Bishop Bob Mourneau,'' said Dorsey. "Having conversations with Bishop Bob, he kind of re-energized my faith mechanism.''

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

3. Married to his best friend

Dorsey has two adult sons, Bryant and Austin, from his first marriage, which didn't last.

"I got married at a young age, and at the end of the day, we weren't best of friends,'' he said. "Tricia and I are best of friends and that's what it is.''

Dorsey first met Patricia Sexton on a blind date in 1993 when he was on a scouting trip in Kansas City.

"She was taking the bar review and a friend of mine's wife was taking the bar review too, and after about six or eight months, both of us finally said, 'okay let's just do the blind date.' The rest is history,'' he said.

After a long courtship, the two finally wed in 2005, and Tricia maintained her law practice in Kansas City even after moving to Green Bay. When Dorsey was named Chiefs' GM in 2013, he said it had been his dream job ever since meeting Tricia there two decades before.

Despite Dorsey's two grown sons, Dorsey and Tricia decided to have children of their own. Dorsey is loving his second go 'round at being a dad to Catherine and Jack, who are still in grade school.

"Tricia said, 'let's have kids. You can either be old at 70 or young at 70, you make the choice,''' he said. "It's been awesome. It's a lot of energy. I love both of those children dearly. They're really good children. As we go through this journey in life, I can't wait to see how they turn out in terms of are they contributing members of society.''

He's remained very close to Bryant, an Assistant District Attorney in Green Bay's Brown County, and Austin, a commercial electrician in Milwaukee. Despite the distance, he's made the blended family work.

As for what makes Tricia his better half, he won't go there.

"She'd get mad at me,'' he said. "We're very private.''

Don't Edit

Dorsey took a gamble on receiver Tyreek Hill. Bill Kostroun, AP

Don't Edit

4. The King of Second Chances

Dorsey's received numerous second chances himself - at marriage, fatherhood, his faith, a GM job - and he believes in bestowing them on others, especially troubled NFL players.

He's been harshly criticized for doing so, especially in the case of Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill, who pleaded guilty to domestic abuse by strangulation of his then pregnant girlfriend just months before the Chiefs drafted him in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. The risk paid off, with Hill staying out of trouble and scoring 12 touchdowns as a rookie and earning Pro Bowl honors his first two seasons.

Dorsey's continued to gamble on troubled players in Cleveland, drafting receiver Antonio Callaway fourth round and signing left tackle Desmond Harrison as an undrafted rookie despite failed drug tests at the NFL Combine. Both players will start Sunday against the Steelers. He's also stuck by Josh Gordon through his addiction struggles.

"I don't know if I'm the king of second chances, but I believe there's good in every man's soul or woman's,'' said Dorsey. "Faith guides all of this. It should guide all of this.''

Dorsey takes each problem player on a case-by-case basis.

"Until you really meet that person one-on-one, I don't think you can cast an opinion,'' he said. "See truly in his heart, does he have a degree of humility in there or not? Is he humble enough? You kind of see what drives him. That's how I look at people.''

He insists he doesn't have a thing for troubled souls.

"It's portrayed that way, but first and foremost I like good football players,'' he says. "Now, if you have a hard soul. You can feel that. It will never work. If you can see that there's not a degree of remorse in his body and he doesn't give a crap about anything, that normally doesn't work. I think you can feel that in anybody.'

Don't Edit

Dorsey talks to Josh Gordon at pracice. John Kuntz, cleveland.com

Don't Edit

5. The Browns' red-flag players

Dorsey gets up from his chair and draws a crude map of Florida on the white board in his office. He puts a star down in Miami and another up in Gainesville. He points to Miami with his marker.

"Antonio Callaway grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in all of Miami,'' Dorsey says. "He's probably seen stuff that you can never even dream about seeing.''

He moves the marker up to Gainesville, where Callaway attended the University of Florida before being suspended all last year for a credit card scam.

"For him to get to here, holy crap that's a big deal, but when you meet him, now you have to understand his dynamics and then when you get to meet him as a person, you can feel something there,'' said Dorsey. "He's tried to probably fool people all of his life, but once you dig down and see what he's all about, he's not a bad kid. He wants to be good.''

Is it his strong Catholic faith that makes him so compassionate?

"Some people would say I'm not very compassionate at all,'' he said, referring to the people he's fired. "Some people say I'm cold-blooded in terms of making decisions.''

As for Gordon, he's finally getting the receiver to open up. Trust has always been an issue with Gordon, and he's finally letting Dorsey in.

"I applaud the direction he's headed and how he's going about it as a mature person, because we all know what he faces is probably one of the biggest beasts that human beings ever have to face,'' Dorsey said. "He's got to deal with that on a day-to-day basis, but he's actually gotten to a point where he was strong enough to say 'I understand the task at hand. I understand that football will give me pressures. I'm going to need a little bit more of whatever he did for a couple more weeks to kind of get himself straight.'

"When he came back for those two weeks. I've actually sat and talked with him and had dialogue for 15-20 minutes. I was the first time we really had a chance to talk and get to know each other.''

Is he buying into Gordon's desire to be well?

"I do believe that,'' he said. "Shame on me if it doesn't happen, but I've always believed, not only do I want to see you be a good football player, be a better person. That's all I want for him. I really do.''

Same thing for linebacker Mychal Kendricks, whom the Browns recently released when he was charged by the feds with insider trading. He pleaded guilty this week and faces up to 25 years in prison. Some of it is Dorsey seeing the good in a man. The other part is seeing a helluva football player who might beat a rap.

"It's a very serious thing,'' he said of the insider trading. "We had a set of facts, but when you get a chance to see the real facts, there's a little more evidence there, so you just have to say 'you gotta go.'''

Where one man might see a crotch-grabbing, flag-planting, cop-fleeing punk, Dorsey saw a passionate, football-loving, chip-on-his-shoulder potential superstar quarterback in Baker Mayfield.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Dorsey works with tight ends in camp. John Kuntz, cleveland.com

Don't Edit

6. Failure as friend

Someday, Dorsey may thank Chiefs owner Clark Hunt for firing him.

"Invaluable,'' he said. "You know what? You have to learn how to fail before you can truly win. And then you have to learn from your failures. And then you begin to win. Part of winning is also feeling failure.''

He still doesn't know why he was let go, but has tried to self-correct: management style, communication, things he knew he needed to improve on.

"Learn from the past, live in the present, that's how I roll,'' he said. "The only thing I could do was self-assess and see what the mistakes were. I dug deep.''

Is the grass on the field outside his window a little greener these days?

"I couldn't be in a better place because the values of Northeastern Ohio match everything that I'm used to in terms of my principles start with the family, but for the most part, everything I know is in the midwest,'' he said. "They're principled people, they work really hard, they enjoy themselves, they love their families, and they're not afraid to work. They have zero ego. That's why I like the Midwest. It's real.''

After football was taken away, he came back to it with a greater appreciation.

"I pinch myself every day,'' he said. "I'm fortunate enough to be here. My journey's not over yet. There's still unfinished business to do and it's here.

Don't Edit

Hue Jackson and John Dorsey dressed alike for a presser. Dan Labbe, cleveland.com

Don't Edit

7. Awakening this sleeping giant

On one corner of Dorsey's white board, it says in small letters "Don't Be Scared." In the other corner, its Says "1-0, One Goal, One mind.''

He certainly hasn't been timid about turning over the roster, trading away eight veterans including all three quarterbacks from last year and former first-rounders Corey Coleman and Shon Coleman. Conversely, he's trading for top talent such as Tyrod Taylor, Jarvis Landry and Damarious Randall.

He booted Kenny Britt on his first day on the job and bucked conventional wisdom by drafting a 6-foot QB in Baker Mayfield. He's also become close to Hue Jackson despite the perception he'll want his own man.

"We both love football,'' he says. "There's a passion and drive. There's a genuine friendship there in terms of, we're in the building for 14 hours a day. Good relationships are forged when a general manager and a coach are together. That's big. The good ones I've seen it works. It's been nine months, and it's been everything I could ask for.''

He understands the responsibility of restoring this once-proud franchise to its former glory.

"It's pretty important,'' he said. "This is the Cleveland Browns.''

His immediate goal?

"I want to be competitive, I want to win the AFC North, I want to go to the playoffs and win this thing,'' he said.

And the Super Bowl?

"I believe in one step at a time. This is what I live by in football. 1-0. One goal. That's all we need to say: Just live 1-0.''

A few of those strung together and he'll be up from the basement, in more ways than one.