Browns waive hometown safety hours before he was to throw first pitch at Indians game
Former Ohio State safety Tyvis Powell appeared thrilled when his hometown team, the Cleveland Browns, claimed him in January off waivers. He had to be less excited when the team waived him Friday — mere hours before he was slated to throw out the first pitch at the Cleveland Indians’ home game against the Chicago White Sox.
Bad timing, indeed. But merely coincidental — and unfortunate, it appears.
#Browns were unaware Tyvis Powell was set to throw out first pitch at Indians game when they cut him. Awkward timing but not cold-blooded.
— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) June 9, 2017
[Fantasy Football is open! Sign up now]
This report from cleveland.com indicates that the ceremonial first-pitch plans were coordinated by the Indians with Powell’s agent and Ohio State and that the Browns were unaware until after they waived him.
Powell landed with the Seattle Seahawks last season after declaring early for the 2016 NFL draft but not hearing his name called. They released him in early January after he had helped provide depth for an injury-depleted secondary.
It appears the first pitch will still happen as planned, which is good. Powell hopped on Twitter but didn’t appear to blame the Browns at all for the untimely transaction and wanted to show he was trying to stay strong on the tough day.
— Tyvis Powell (@1Tyvis) June 9, 2017
When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there
— Tyvis Powell (@1Tyvis) June 9, 2017
Here’s hoping that Powell not only throws a nice pitch and gets some warm support from the Progressive Field crowd but that he also can land on his feet and can look back at this whole thing later and laugh at it.
More from Yahoo Sports:
We might normally make a Browns joke here, but it truly does appear that they had no idea one of their (now former) players had pretty big plans on the night they waived him.
– – – – – – –
Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
