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BY: Douglas J. Guth Senior Staff Reporter
Browns lineman Lennie Friedman loves being a Jew in the NFL
The last time Lennie Friedman can remember playing organized sports with another Jew was during the Maccabi Youth Games in high school.
Friedman, 31, a reserve offensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns, played four years of college football and has been in the National Football League (NFL) for nine years but doesn’t recall ever suiting up with a fellow landsman (member of the Jewish community).
Jews make up less than 2% of the American population, so it’s no newsflash that Jews are in the distinct minority in professional football. According to the Jewish Sports Review newsletter, a half-dozen Jews were active in the NFL at the start of the 2006 season.
Friedman, a New Jersey native now in his second year with the Browns, is thrilled to be one of them.
“I’ve always been proud of being Jewish,” he said during a recent interview at the team’s sprawling practice facility in Berea. “People should be proud of who they are.” His pride extends to the Browns’ locker room, where Friedman set up a small felt menorah last week to commemorate Chanukah.
Dressed comfortably in post-practice garb of jeans and a gray Duke University t-shirt (his alma mater), the 6-foot-3, 295-pound veteran lineman admits he’s more of a “cultural Jew” n one proud of his heritage but not one to daven in shul. And unlike former Major League Baseball pitching great Sandy Koufax (and more recently outfielder Shawn Green), Friedman says he would play on Yom Kippur.
However, Friedman is Jewishly involved. Before arriving in Cleveland, he did community service work with Jewish Family Service Association. While with the Browns, he’s spoken at synagogues and at an Israel Bonds event. The offensive lineman was also recently elected into The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Commack, N.Y.
And, he adds, he’s a big fan of Cleveland Jewish culinary institution Corky & Lenny’s. While Cleveland’s Jewish community “has been very welcoming,” Friedman notes the Browns’ locker room has been equally accommodating to his religious background.
Religion is a big part of football n players often huddle together before games to recite the Lord’s Prayer, a basic Christian invocation. (“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy nameď¿˝”)
“It’s been like that on every team I’ve ever played for,” he maintains. “It’s tradition.”
Friedman says he does not feel uncomfortable during his team’s brief prayer sessions. The lineman uses them “as a (personal) moment of silence while everyone says what they need to say.”
When Friedman was with the Washington Redskins, one incident could have been potentially awkward, he admits: Then-coach Steve Spurrier asked Friedman to lead that day’s Lord’s Prayer in the locker room.
The request was nothing malicious on Spurrier’s part, insists Friedman. “I was just the first person he saw.” A friend on the team bailed Friedman out by reciting the prayer instead.
Being the only Jew on his various teams has never been a negative issue, he notes. Quite the contrary. Friedman uses his knowledge of Judaism to bond with his teammates, some of whom have never met a Jew before.
Friedman is always open to answering well-meaning (if off-base) inquiries, he says. “Some guys think Judaism is a sect of Christianity, no different from Catholicism or Lutheranism.”
Basic questions about Jewish rituals and the High Holidays are more common. During the sweltering grind of a six-week training camp coupled with a long regular season, says Friedman, talking about religion “is another way (for players) to get to know each other.”
Religion is also part of Friedman’s home life. The amicable athlete is married to his high school sweetheart,Katie, who is Catholic. The couple resides in Middleburg Heights and has two young children with a third on the way. (The Friedmans spend the off-season in Raleigh, N.C.)
The family celebrates both Chanukah and Christmas. Friedman spent last week, for example, reciting the blessings over the Chanukah candle in Hebrew so his children recognize the language “as part of their history,” he notes. He wants them to grow up to make their own decision on their religious identity.
For now, Friedman is simply enjoying his new Cleveland digs along with the Browns’ winning ways.
A native of West Milford, N.J., Friedman grew up in a traditionally Jewish home and was a star athlete and student in high school. He started three years on both sides of the football, winning all-conference honors as a junior defensive tackle (setting a school record with 111 tackles) and as a senior offensive tackle. Friedman was named team MVP as a junior and senior.
During his high-school career, Friedman earned three letters in football, two in basketball, and three in track and field. He was a National Honor Society member and recipient of the Scholar Athlete Award. Friedman went on to Duke University to play football and earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
If Friedman didn’t play pro football, he would have gone to medical school to pursue a career as an orthopedic surgeon, he shares. Once his football career ends, he plans to go back to school. Instead of medical school, Friedman will likely attend business or law school.
“I never thought I had a chance to make the NFL,” he admits.
Friedman not only made it, he’s stuck around for nearly a decade. There have been some downs (a major knee injury his rookie season) and many ups (playing in Barcelona, Spain, for NFL Europe). Friedman has played for four teams in nine years, and while that’s not uncommon with the transitory nature of modern sports, he admits a little stability would be nice.
Moving around “has been tough on the family, especially the kids,” allows Friedman, currently on a one-year contract with Cleveland.
Most of his free time is spent with his family. He counts running back Jason Wright and fellow linemen Hank Fraley and Ryan Tucker as his closest friends on the team.
As the Browns prepare for the stretch run and a possible playoff berth, Friedman says he would like to stay in Cleveland. If not to win a Super Bowl, then for the joy of downing a nice corned beef sandwich at Corky’s.
dguth@cjn.org
At the line with Lennie
A former second-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos, Lennie Friedman was traded from Chicago to Cleveland a week before the start of the 2006 season. His role is to provide depth along the offensive line at three positions. He also plays special teams, blocking for the Browns’ dynamic kick return specialist Joshua Cribbs.
“I just try to get out of Josh’s way,” Friedman says jokingly.
He always knew the Browns had some of the most dedicated fans in the NFL. That devotion has not exactly been rewarded since the franchise’s return to Cleveland in 1999. This year is different; as of press time, the Browns are 8-5 with a good chance to make the playoffs.
“It’s fun being part of the turnaround,” remarks Friedman. “The fans are fired up.”
Not unlike the team’s diehard supporters, Friedman looks forward to a return to the playoffs. His only appearance in the post-season was with Denver against the Baltimore Ravens. The Broncos lost the game, and the Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl that year.
The Browns’ depth at offensive line has kept Friedman on the bench in 2007.
The backup lineman filled in for an injured starter during a game against Seattle, playing the entire second half and overtime.
“You have to be prepared to go in at moment’s notice,” says Friedman, “because anybody could get hurt at any time.”
An old adage states that football is won at the line of scrimmage. The Browns’ improved offensive line is viewed by many as the biggest reason for the team’s newfound success. Linemen may not get the glory heaped upon the star players, but they sometimes get the blame when the offense sputters.
Friedman doesn’t care much about grabbing headlines. But when quarterback Derek Anderson throws for three touchdowns or running back Jamal Lewis rushes for 200 yards, “we have a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment” for helping that happen, he declares.
DJG
The last time Lennie Friedman can remember playing organized sports with another Jew was during the Maccabi Youth Games in high school.
Friedman, 31, a reserve offensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns, played four years of college football and has been in the National Football League (NFL) for nine years but doesn’t recall ever suiting up with a fellow landsman (member of the Jewish community).
Jews make up less than 2% of the American population, so it’s no newsflash that Jews are in the distinct minority in professional football. According to the Jewish Sports Review newsletter, a half-dozen Jews were active in the NFL at the start of the 2006 season.
Friedman, a New Jersey native now in his second year with the Browns, is thrilled to be one of them.
“I’ve always been proud of being Jewish,” he said during a recent interview at the team’s sprawling practice facility in Berea. “People should be proud of who they are.” His pride extends to the Browns’ locker room, where Friedman set up a small felt menorah last week to commemorate Chanukah.
Dressed comfortably in post-practice garb of jeans and a gray Duke University t-shirt (his alma mater), the 6-foot-3, 295-pound veteran lineman admits he’s more of a “cultural Jew” n one proud of his heritage but not one to daven in shul. And unlike former Major League Baseball pitching great Sandy Koufax (and more recently outfielder Shawn Green), Friedman says he would play on Yom Kippur.
However, Friedman is Jewishly involved. Before arriving in Cleveland, he did community service work with Jewish Family Service Association. While with the Browns, he’s spoken at synagogues and at an Israel Bonds event. The offensive lineman was also recently elected into The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Commack, N.Y.
And, he adds, he’s a big fan of Cleveland Jewish culinary institution Corky & Lenny’s. While Cleveland’s Jewish community “has been very welcoming,” Friedman notes the Browns’ locker room has been equally accommodating to his religious background.
Religion is a big part of football n players often huddle together before games to recite the Lord’s Prayer, a basic Christian invocation. (“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy nameď¿˝”)
“It’s been like that on every team I’ve ever played for,” he maintains. “It’s tradition.”
Friedman says he does not feel uncomfortable during his team’s brief prayer sessions. The lineman uses them “as a (personal) moment of silence while everyone says what they need to say.”
When Friedman was with the Washington Redskins, one incident could have been potentially awkward, he admits: Then-coach Steve Spurrier asked Friedman to lead that day’s Lord’s Prayer in the locker room.
The request was nothing malicious on Spurrier’s part, insists Friedman. “I was just the first person he saw.” A friend on the team bailed Friedman out by reciting the prayer instead.
Being the only Jew on his various teams has never been a negative issue, he notes. Quite the contrary. Friedman uses his knowledge of Judaism to bond with his teammates, some of whom have never met a Jew before.
Friedman is always open to answering well-meaning (if off-base) inquiries, he says. “Some guys think Judaism is a sect of Christianity, no different from Catholicism or Lutheranism.”
Basic questions about Jewish rituals and the High Holidays are more common. During the sweltering grind of a six-week training camp coupled with a long regular season, says Friedman, talking about religion “is another way (for players) to get to know each other.”
Religion is also part of Friedman’s home life. The amicable athlete is married to his high school sweetheart,Katie, who is Catholic. The couple resides in Middleburg Heights and has two young children with a third on the way. (The Friedmans spend the off-season in Raleigh, N.C.)
The family celebrates both Chanukah and Christmas. Friedman spent last week, for example, reciting the blessings over the Chanukah candle in Hebrew so his children recognize the language “as part of their history,” he notes. He wants them to grow up to make their own decision on their religious identity.
For now, Friedman is simply enjoying his new Cleveland digs along with the Browns’ winning ways.
A native of West Milford, N.J., Friedman grew up in a traditionally Jewish home and was a star athlete and student in high school. He started three years on both sides of the football, winning all-conference honors as a junior defensive tackle (setting a school record with 111 tackles) and as a senior offensive tackle. Friedman was named team MVP as a junior and senior.
During his high-school career, Friedman earned three letters in football, two in basketball, and three in track and field. He was a National Honor Society member and recipient of the Scholar Athlete Award. Friedman went on to Duke University to play football and earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
If Friedman didn’t play pro football, he would have gone to medical school to pursue a career as an orthopedic surgeon, he shares. Once his football career ends, he plans to go back to school. Instead of medical school, Friedman will likely attend business or law school.
“I never thought I had a chance to make the NFL,” he admits.
Friedman not only made it, he’s stuck around for nearly a decade. There have been some downs (a major knee injury his rookie season) and many ups (playing in Barcelona, Spain, for NFL Europe). Friedman has played for four teams in nine years, and while that’s not uncommon with the transitory nature of modern sports, he admits a little stability would be nice.
Moving around “has been tough on the family, especially the kids,” allows Friedman, currently on a one-year contract with Cleveland.
Most of his free time is spent with his family. He counts running back Jason Wright and fellow linemen Hank Fraley and Ryan Tucker as his closest friends on the team.
As the Browns prepare for the stretch run and a possible playoff berth, Friedman says he would like to stay in Cleveland. If not to win a Super Bowl, then for the joy of downing a nice corned beef sandwich at Corky’s.
dguth@cjn.org
At the line with Lennie
A former second-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos, Lennie Friedman was traded from Chicago to Cleveland a week before the start of the 2006 season. His role is to provide depth along the offensive line at three positions. He also plays special teams, blocking for the Browns’ dynamic kick return specialist Joshua Cribbs.
“I just try to get out of Josh’s way,” Friedman says jokingly.
He always knew the Browns had some of the most dedicated fans in the NFL. That devotion has not exactly been rewarded since the franchise’s return to Cleveland in 1999. This year is different; as of press time, the Browns are 8-5 with a good chance to make the playoffs.
“It’s fun being part of the turnaround,” remarks Friedman. “The fans are fired up.”
Not unlike the team’s diehard supporters, Friedman looks forward to a return to the playoffs. His only appearance in the post-season was with Denver against the Baltimore Ravens. The Broncos lost the game, and the Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl that year.
The Browns’ depth at offensive line has kept Friedman on the bench in 2007.
The backup lineman filled in for an injured starter during a game against Seattle, playing the entire second half and overtime.
“You have to be prepared to go in at moment’s notice,” says Friedman, “because anybody could get hurt at any time.”
An old adage states that football is won at the line of scrimmage. The Browns’ improved offensive line is viewed by many as the biggest reason for the team’s newfound success. Linemen may not get the glory heaped upon the star players, but they sometimes get the blame when the offense sputters.
Friedman doesn’t care much about grabbing headlines. But when quarterback Derek Anderson throws for three touchdowns or running back Jamal Lewis rushes for 200 yards, “we have a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment” for helping that happen, he declares.
DJG
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