Vintage Browns: 1979 Monday Night Football vs. the Dallas Cowboys

Those of us who watched this game will never forget it. Monday evening September 24 1979 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium vs "America's Team", the Dallas Cowboys. Staubach and company came to town and conventional wisdom was that the Cowboys would manhandle the unproven Browns, who despite the fact that they were 3-0, had not convinced the experts that they were for real.

The series in the Youtube video is culminated by a long touchdown pass from Sipe to Ozzie Newsome. It's classic Kardiac Kids. On third and one, the Browns decide to break tendency and pass. Sipe manages to avoid a sack and spots Ozzie who gets open deep behind the Dallas zone. The result is a long touchdown and a 13-0 Browns lead in the first quarter. The blow out was on and the Browns won the game 26-7, giving Browns fans an absolutely unforgettable evening.

This game was our first sign that the Browns of that era were legit. Specifically it shows how important Ozzie Newsome was to the success of the Browns in that era. Ozzie was frequently able to capitalise on his speed and get deep behind a zone. It's surprising, but it really did take NFL teams over 3 years to adjust to the fact that Browns tight end Ozzie Newsone had blazing speed.

The 1979 Browns gave us many thrills. Of course as the season wore on, the lack of depth caused primarily by Art Modell's not so deep pockets, proved costly, but on Monday September 24, 1979, Brian Sipe, Ozzie Newsone and company let Browns fans dream just a little.

CUT

Why? Playing ability? Reading the quotes from Eric Mangini and Jamal Lewis it would appear that the real reason Lewis has been cut is that he didn't kiss Mangini's ass.

Why we love the Browns: Municipal Stadium

It was cold, dirty, and there was hardly a good seat with a good view in the entire stadium. But Municipal Stadium had one secret, it held generations of memories.

I WANT THAT!

The Saints did it. I am happy for them. Euphoric New Orleans fans will cheer and thank their hometown team at their championship parade in the very streets that were flooded less than five years ago. What could be more heartwarming? But my pangs of envy cannot be denied. While watching Who Dat Nation celebrate, I could not help but feel that the Browns are farther away from winning a Super Bowl than ever. It was difficult to watch the elation. I want that! So while I am dreaming, I decided to make a list of other things I want but probably will not happen. Here they are in no particular order.

I want to buy the Baltimore Ravens and move them to Ft. Wayne.

I want Slayer to perform at halftime of Super Bowl XLV.

I want Rex Ryan’s stomach to be penalized 15 yards for being too far out on the field.

I want Shannon Sharpe to use his inside voice even when he is outside.

I want Ed Hochuli tested for human growth hormones.

I want a hamburger…no a cheeseburger…

I want to see irrefutable video evidence of Ben Roethlisberger sexually assaulting a goat.

I want LeBron James to stay in Cleveland and QB the Browns.

I want to lock Chad Ochocinco and Kanye West in the same room and see who drops dead first from lack of attention.

I want former Florida State WR DeCody Fagg to make an NFL team and line up against CB Randall Gay. And I want to hear the announcer call that matchup without snickering.

That’s ten. What do you want?

Brown's history: Otto Graham

Otto Graham played 10 seasons of professional football for the Cleveland Browns.
In his 10 seasons, the Browns played in the Championship game 10 times and won 7 titles.
Nothing more needs to be said.

Vintage Browns: The 1980 Kardiac Kids

This short video shows a key drive in game 7 of the Kardiac Kids 1980 season vs the Green Bay Packers. The two play sequence reveals an essential element of the Kardiac Kids 1980 success, creating mismatches in the passing game. This game was in fact a turning point in the Kardiac Kids 1980 season. First, the Browns were 3-3 at that point and a loss would have put them at 3-4 nearly halfway through the season. More importantly is that the team after this game started to get a sense of the fact that they had the talent and playbook that would allow them to beat anyone at any time.

The video contains two long pass plays both of which tell much of the story of the 1980 Browns success. Take note on the first play, where number 35 Calvin Hill lines up in the backfield. He is actually split outside the offensive tackle Cody Riesen by almost a yard. Not the normal spot for a running back to line up but as we know, Calvin Hill might have lined up in the backfield, but he carried the ball only once all season, he was on the field of play for one reason, to catch the ball. On the snap, Hill shoots straight out into the pattern and it is number 56, Green Bay linebacker Ed O'Neil, who has the unfortunate responsibility to try to keep up with him. Hill already has 5 yards on O'Neil when Sipe's pass lands in his hands and he gains over 50 yards on the play.

The next play is a touchdown pass to Ozzie Newsome, the Browns tight end. For today's football fans it might seem amazing that a tight end could get that wide open but let's remember back in 1980, the only tight ends who could get deep were Ozzie and Kellen Winslow. On this particular play, Green Bay was in a zone but surely their focus were on the outside wide receivers as they still hadn't digested the fact that Mr. Newsome could move his body 30 yards in a few seconds. 7 points in about 30 seconds, not bad!!! The next offensive series was even more delicious, classic Kardiac Kids and I will bring you that one in the next few days..!!!

Vintage Browns: The 1980 Kardiac Kids

With the Super Bowl almost upon us, The Brown Log peers into the off season knowing that we'll need to dig deeper for material . Thanks to the incredible website youtube, I believe we have found a few ways to do that. So Brown Log fans, we introduce another regular feature of the Brown Log, "Vintage Browns"

There is a gentleman from Ohio who has placed countless years of videos of Brown's games he videotaped onto youtube. I discovered this youtube page a few months ago and endlessly have enjoyed viewing games that I haven't seen in 30 plus years. Using the videos from this gentleman's youtube page, we will dissect some of the greatest seasons in Browns history.

Anybody who has followed the Browns for longer than 30 years, will very fondly recall our 1980 Kardiac Kids. For those who enjoy reading, Jonathan Knight did a great job breaking the 1980 Browns down, week by week, in his book "Kardiac Kids". If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that book as a great bit of easy reading and escapism. We will try to give your eyes and ears a taste of that classic season and point out what made that team so special.

The first video presented is a Monday might game at Municipal Stadium against the Chicago Bears, in which Mike Pruitt breaks the game open late with a long touchdown run. The 80 Browns were one of the first teams to recognise that new rules that favored the passing game would forever change the face of the league. Credit has to go to Sam Rutigliano who clearly recognized that the NFL was evolving towards the pass, and he recognized that he already had some of the talent needed to take advantage of this. First of all, Rutigliano saw that Brian Sipe had what it took to lead a pass driven attack. Rutigliano also did something that was fairly unconventional in that era. He put Ozzie Newsome, a wide receiver in college, at Tight End, and he put running backs into pass patterns instead of keeping them in to block. This was an era before defenses adapted to five highly skilled receivers attacking the defensive secondary. As a result Sipe often found Greg Pruitt, Calvin Hill or Mike Pruitt matched against a slow, hapless and helpless linebacker. This in turn opened opportunities for Newsome, Rucker and Logan up top. And as you will see in this video, the fact that the 1980 Browns passed to set up the run, often created huge opportunities for Mike Pruitt.

This team can be studied in so many ways, I'm looking forward to that over the next few months.

Why we love the Browns

In the 1990's, after Art Modell cut Bernie Kosar, I found myself questioning why I was a Browns fan when the owner of the team was a man whose values were the complete opposite of my own.

The fact today remains that when we honor the Cleveland Browns, we honor the legacy of it's founder, Hall of Famer and Ohioan Paul Brown. No matter how horrible a scar Art Modell left on the Browns, no matter the fact that we have doubts about the current leadership, nothing can stain the legacy of Paul Brown.

Why we love the Browns

In spite of everything, the Cleveland Browns have the most loyal fans of any sports team in any league. Only one example is the fact that there are Browns Backers clubs around the world. Why are Browns fans so passionate...? Over the coming weeks, "Why we love the Browns" will be a regular feature of The Brown Log. Using photos and words we shall express the infinite number of reasons that the Cleveland Browns have the most "rabid" fans of any sports team on planet earth.

Today: The Dawg Pound

And Then There Were Four

Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. They are going to square off in Super Bowl XLIV. That’s 44 for those of you who cannot read Roman numerals. I am a Peyton Manning fan and am happy he is on his way to his second Super Bowl. If he wins, “the greatest of all time” discussion can start in earnest. And it is heartwarming to see something wonderful happen to the city of New Orleans. They certainly deserve it. But as a Browns fan, I cannot help but feel a little tweak. With the Saints victory, the Never-Been-To-The-Super-Bowl club has dwindled to a mere four teams. And of course, our beloved Browns are in that dubious fraternity. The Browns joined the NFL in 1950. They left the now defunct AAFC along with the 49ers and the Baltimore Colts to enter the National Football League. San Francisco had their dynasty in the 1980s. Baltimore lost SB III and won SB V defeating the Cowboys. After moving to Indy, Peyton and the gang won SB XLI. Twenty other franchises have joined the NFL since the Browns did. Of those teams only two, The Jaguars and the Texans, have never made it. Houston must feel gypped. The Oilers only made it after they moved to Tennessee and renamed themselves the Titans. You all are going to have to talk me off the ledge the day the Texans play in a Super Bowl. Think of the perennial losers that have played in a Super Bowl before the Browns: The Buccaneers, Seahawks, Bills, Chiefs, Falcons and Bengals! The freaking Ravens have been to a Super Bowl, and won! Why has God forsaken me?!?!?! Of the nine teams that were in the NFL before the Browns only the lowly Lions have never been. The Browns and the Lions are definitely the old maids of the group. If this is not bad enough consider this. The Never-Been-To-A-Super-Bowl-And-Never-Hosted-A-Super-Bowl club has a membership of one…The Cleve! C’mon Mike Holmgren. Bring us to the Promised Land!

Loyalty: Bernie Kosar

There is a lot of negative talk about Brown's great Bernie Kosar lately as he has demonstrated himself to be a human being, not a God in the last few months. For Brown's fans, the only conclusion we can make is to express our solidarity with this truly great man and warrior. I like to talk about what makes an Ohioan, and of all the qualities we believe in loyalty tops the list. Nobody has been more loyal to the Browns and Cleveland fans than Bernie Kosar. What has he gotten in return for his loyalty? Art Modell cut Bernie Kosar to save money. "Friends" or better stated, hangers on, took advantage of Kosar's generosity but one thing is for sure. Kosar is a winner and in the game of life, it's only halftime. Bernie will come out on top.

Here is a video of Bernie leading the Dallas Cowboys on a touchdown drive in the 1993 NFC Championship game. After winning this game, the Cowboys went on to win the Super Bowl, giving Bernie the Super Bowl ring he could have never gotten under the incompetent ownership of Art Modell.

Greed, disloyalty and incompetence: Art Modell

Years from today, the day Art Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore will be viewed as a positive transitional moment in Cleveland sports history because Art Modell was a cancer that nearly destroyed everything we Ohioans stand for.

I will never forgive Art Modell for many things. His disloyalty and cold hearted GREED in cutting Ohioan Bernie Kosar was the most personal slap in the face. But beyond the fact that Art Modell is a person of low moral character, what was most disturbing about Modell was the 34 years of incompetence he wrought upon Cleveland and Northern Ohio.

Incompetence is the inability to perform. In Cleveland sports history, nobody personified this more than Art Modell who inherited the most dominant franchise in pro football history and proceeded to drive the team to the depths of ineptitude. For a concrete example of how Modell stained Ohio, today people around the world talk about Cleveland's lack of sporting success but they never seem to mention the primary cause of our misery, Art Modell. Had Modell simply left Paul Brown in charge and not interfered in team operations, it's a certainty the Browns would have played in several Super Bowls. If you feel this statement is not supported by facts, please consider that Paul Brown took the 1967 expansion team Cincinnati Bengals twice to the Super Bowl in 1980s. One can also make concrete examples of how Modell's incompetence in managing Cleveland Stadium had much to do with the Cleveland Indians losing so badly in the 70s and 80s. Modell singlehandedly made Cleveland sports into a modern day version of Pottersville, George Bailey's nightmare version of Bedford Falls.

Modell believes he was vindicated by the 2000 Super Bowl victory of the Baltimore Ravens but this victory was tainted by the fact that the players on that squad were paid for with a portion of the windfall profit realized on the backs of Maryland taxpayers. Modell was deeply stung by the critics who pointed out that in over 30 years in Cleveland, he never appeared in, nor won a Super Bowl, so instead of pocketing all of the Maryland taxpayer windfall profit, as his every instinct must have told him to do, he did in fact add depth of talent to the Baltimore team, something he never did in Cleveland. It's true that the top 20 players on the Browns were often excellent in the Modell era but look at the players that we had on the entire roster. Modell was notorious for cycling players off the team after two or three years and replacing them with less expensive rookies. It's only one example, but would Oscar Roan have helped the Browns make the playoffs in 1979 by serving as a very competent backup tight end to Ozzie Newsome? Yes of course, but in 1979 Roan was replaced by Curtis Weathers. Weathers was a decent player but was nowhere near the player Roan was, he did however cost less than Oscar Roan. This case, taken in isolation had very little impact, but if you study closely the Browns rosters in the Modell era, it's a story that is repeated over and over and over. Talent reduction to generate salary reduction in those players that make up the last 25 roster positions was Modell's standard operating practice. The Browns failure to appear in a Super Bowl was systematic because Modell's player personnel policy forced the head coach to NOT select the best 45 players to fill his roster. Modell knew he had to pay star players to sell those season tickets so we had some great players over the years but the downgrading of talent on the rest of the team was as systematic as the teams lack of Super Bowl success.

And when Modell got lucky and a once in a generation playmaker talent like Bernie Kosar wanted to work for him due to his Ohio loyalties, the Browns came painfully close to a Super Bowl. It's easy to blame John Elway or Ernest Byner for those AFC Championship game losses, but surely Kosar would have led the Browns past the Bronco's at least one time, had Modell overcome his greed and incompetence and put just a few more resources into those teams. For starters, how much money did Modell save hiring Marty Schottenheimer as coach?

Today there are those who believe that Modell should be in the NFL Hall of Fame. The only valid reason is that Modell's contribution to the negotiation of television rights in the 1970s and 1980s helped enrich the very select group of NFL owners beyond their wildest dreams. Sorry Art, but the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton honors success and innovation on the field of play, and true success is something Modell knows nothing about. Fortunately in 2010, Modell has not made the list of finalists for induction into the Hall of Fame and if the Canton Hall is to retain it's credibility, he must NEVER enter. For the full story of Modell's betrayal of Cleveland click on this link to another fantastic Browns blog, Dawgs by Nature

The REAL reason Mangini's staying

NFL owners will very likely lock out NFL players, risking some or all of the 2011 season. Why? Because years ago NFL owners negotiated a non free market system of salary caps but this socialist system of market control does not permit enough profit for owners.  Lerner must have considered this likelihood when the decision to retain Mangini for 2010 was taken. Why pay out to Mangini for firing him when 2011 might be a washout season in any event.