I have no idea how things like this happen, but apparently Richardson’s family ran wild with his finances. One telling part of the Shutdown Corner story was that Trent’s family was able to open 11 Netflix accounts in his name!

The former No. 3 overall pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2012 told ESPN’s Shelley Smith on “E:60” that his family and friends spent $1.6 million of his money in a period between January 2015 and October in 2015.

During that time, Richardson was cut by the Indianapolis Colts and later by theOakland Raiders. He discovered that people were using his name to open accounts with Netflix (11 of them) and Hulu (eight) and even order bottle service by dropping his name at clubs, even though Richardson doesn’t drink.

“I finally just looked at my bank statement, and I was just like, ‘Where did this come from? Where did that come from?’” Richardson said. “And my guy was sitting there telling me, ‘Man, we was telling you.’ I know he was telling me, but that’s just like telling a kid to stop running in the hall. They’re going to still do it when you turn your back or you leave.

“It’s just one of them moments to where I was just blinded by my heart, by loving everybody and thinking that everyone was for me. I know they love me. I know they do care. But at the time, they took advantage of it.”

How did they get up to 11 accounts?!

One of those who gave the selection a deeper look was Hall of Famer Jim Brown. He predicted that Trent’s limited moves, lack of top end speed, and lack of supporting talent in Cleveland would lead to him being a draft bust? Who would have known that the greatest running back of all time would know a thing or two about what makes a good back?

Video:

There are a lot of questions, and none of the answers look well for Trent. Why would a “rebuilding” team trade such a young commodity? Why would the man who called him a top 5 back trade him just after two games into his tenure? Why would the Browns bail on “the best runningback on planet earth” according to some draft pundits?

Let’s break it down.

1. The Browns should have never drafted Trent that high.

Adrian Peterson is the sole exception to the “no running back is worth a top 10 pick rule” and he was picked seventh when he came out of Oklahoma. By picking Trent third, the Browns were stating that Trent was a HALL OF FAME type back. When in reality, he projects to just a good pro.

2. Drafting Trent third created the Brandon Weeden problem.

The Browns went into the 2012 draft with the third pick. It was rumored that the Browns wanted to secure Robert Griffin III, however the Washington Redskins acquired the second pick before Cleveland could do anything about it.

Panicking, the Browns selected the next highest rated player on the board without giving any credence to positional value. This then created a problem of not having a quarterback in which Cleveland “solved” by trading for the 22nd pick and drafting a 28 year old in the first round.

For those keeping score, the correct answer was Ryan Tannehill at #3 overall, and trading back for Doug Martin. I understand that all’s right in hindsight, but for what it’s worth there were rumors of Tannehill at #3 and the Browns blinked.

3. Is Trent that good?

Throughout his first 300 career carries, Trent Richardson has amassed slightly around 1000 yards, and only 3.4 yards per carry. In his first contest with the Colts the third overall pick gained 35 yards on 13 carries.

Ahmad Bradshaw gained 95 yards on 19 carries in the same game, just his third game with the club.

Yes Trent is still young but this is still very telling. All in all, it looks like the Browns made the correct decision to recoup that first round pick. Sure it won’t be third overall unless Andrew Luck gets injured. It would be a smart NFL bet on the Colts making the playoffs (additional info). Either way it’s still a first rounder. In this loaded quarterback draft the Browns will be able to secure a passer with the pick they “earn” on their own and secure a nice back with the twenty-something pick they get from the Colts.

In my opinion the Browns have pulled off a rare feat of recouping a sunken asset in this league. Well see how the Browns use the picks, but for now it looks like they are on the right path.

“I believe the safest pick in the draft — beyond Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III — is Alabama running back Trent Richardson. He’s a blue-chip player and has all the skills to quickly establish himself as a top-five player at his position. Forget the nonsense about not taking backs early — everyone would love the chance to get this guy.”

In less than 3 games of seeing Trent up close, Lomardi has decided to bail on him.

This is why you have to take ANY draft pundit’s opinion as simply that, opinion. We are all wrong at times.

Filed to ESPN: Browns RB Trent Richardson to Indy for Colts’ first-round pick.

@AdamSchefter

The Browns now have double picks in rounds 1, 3, and 4 in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Looks like they are gearing up to trade up if necessary. But for who?

@mortreport

Trent Richardson’s visit to Dr. Andrews includes tentatively scheduled arthroscopic surgery to clean up loose particle of cartilage #Browns

What was probably happening is that the loose particle was catching and giving him a snap crackle and pop when he flexed his knee. Now that it’s all cleared up he should be good to go. Yes he had knee surgery on the same knee previously, but that is totally unrelated to this pretty common knee procedure for athletes.

Trent Richardson deal done, per sources. 4 yrs $20.4 mill fully guaranteed. $13.6 sign bonus.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) July 24, 2012

I expect 1150 yards, 7 td, 2 rec td.

Say what you will about players attitudes, but Trent Richardson is clearly one of the better characters in this draft. There is no question whatever team that gets him will get a hardworking, classy guy.

Peep the video above where Trent takes a cancer survivor to the Senior prom. He didn’t have to do this but did it anyways. What a nice guy.

Just please don’t double up and wear the pink suit at the draft too!

Apparently a fake Trent Richarson account popped up on Twitter confessing his love for the Browns, which sent the people of Cleveland wild of course.  Why do people torture the city like this?  They have been through enough.

The Twitter user TrentRich03 offered insightful commentary like “My favorite color Brown, no pun intended,” and “Love the brownie mascot. Bring back the elf.” Those were passed along by a Cleveland sports radio station and the Akron Beacon Journal, which later posted an apology for passing the tweets along as if they were really from Richardson.

ProFootballTalk

I hate to be near the Browns fans when they select Ryan Tannehill #4 and Trent goes on to become a Pro Bowl RB elsewhere.  Not that I don’t like Tannehill, he just is not a top 10 draft pick.  But hey, sometimes your position gets you over drafted.

Either way, the draft is 2 weeks away.  I cannot wait.