Vintage Browns: OT win vs Dolphins, Sipe to Rucker

This particular vintage memory is precious to me because I was in the stands with my dad, watching the events unfold. I can remember Sipe's pass to Reggie Rucker as if it were moments ago.

More housecleaning

Paul Warfield is out.

One irony that I would like to point out is that Warfield was a member of the last Cleveland team to win a championship, the '64 Browns. In any case, I support Holmgren's effort to unify the management group around his vision. Excellence requires competence and unity and while Warfield has proven that he is a skilled football executive, it's hard to imagine that his vision will be aligned completely with Holmgren.

Vintage Browns: Bernie's passing accuracy

Was there ever a passer in NFL history as accurate as Bernie Kosar? Kosar's lifetime stats rank him the 13th most accurate passer in the entire history of the NFL. 13th all time is damn good but those of us who watched him thread the needle at the peak of his career will argue that nobody topped Bernie in precision when he was at the top of his game. This video from 1986 contains one of many examples of Kosar's amazing accuracy on long bombs. Kosar's pass to Herman Fontenot, who is on a dead sprint towards the end zone, travels 53 yards in the air and lands perfectly in Fontenot's hands.

Brown's history: Cleo Miller

Cleo Miller played fullback for the Browns from 1975 until 1982 with his best season coming in 1977 when he rushed for 756 yards. My favorite Cleo Miller memory however comes from the 1980 season when, from his backup role, he stepped up against the Houston Oilers in a critical road game and rushed for 69 yards on 8 carries including 2 touchdowns. The Oilers game was a late season must win situation and the victory put the Browns in first place in the Central Division at 9-4. Miller's clutch play that day therefore was instrumental in the Browns winning the Central Division.

Brown's history: Hugh McKinnis

Hugh McKinnis was a fullback for the Browns from 1973 through 1975. His best season was in '74 when he rushed for 519 yards and caught 32 passes. I remember McKinnis however not for his feats on the gridiron but for the fact that he lived on 37th Street in Lorain for the last two years he played for the Browns. My buddies and I often changed our walking route to school to assure that we would walk past McKinnis' house and occasionally we would get a glimpse of this football hero as he worked in his yard (way back then football players didn't make enough money to hire people to cut their grass). None of us had the courage to say hello to McKinnis but it was still pretty cool just to see a Browns player up close and it's a shame we never had the guts to talk to him because word around the neighborhood was always that he was a very nice guy, he probably would have appreciated the adulation of his young neighbors.

Jim Brown is out

A bit of reading between the lines is required to try to understand why Jim Brown is being stripped of his duties as executive advisor to the club. The announcement was made as delicately as possible, stating that Brown will still be involved with the club but there can be no doubt about the overall intent of the communication: "Jim Brown is out."

Getting back to reading between the lines, in 2010 Mike Holmgren has taken full control of the Browns organization and by any reasonable measure he's doing a good job. I imagine that Holmgren simply does not have budget money nor the need to have Jim Brown in his organization in an official role and furthermore, he probably doesn't like to have Brown whispering in Randy's ears.

Bottom line, Jim Brown has held the executive advisor role with the Browns since 1981 and in all those years the Browns never made it to the Super Bowl. We'll be fine without his shadow being cast over those trying to right the ship.

Mike Holmgren's workday

Here's an interesting article from the pages of Yahoo Sports that gives some insight into Brown's President Mike Holmgren's normal workday.

Vintage Browns: Kosar runs to daylight!

1989, Bernie does his Jim Brown impersonation.

Vintage Browns: 1986 More Ice Cube!

And let the hyperbole begin!

Coach Mangini says in USA Today that Jake Delhomme reminds him of Brett Favre.... Yes indeed Coach Eric, let the hyperbole fly!

It's a bit difficult to agree with Eric Mangini that Jake Delhomme is on par with one of the greatest QBs in the history of the entire NFL. But that stated, the Brown Log does not count themselves among the Delhomme sceptics. Delhomme is a proven QB, with Super Bowl experience, coming off of one tough year. I think the odds are very good that Delhomme will be successful. Cleveland is a working man's town where people don't expect a pat on the back for a hard day's work. In that sense, the unassuming Delhomme fits right in and more importantly, he's also a pretty damn good QB.

Phil Dawson: Allow me to show you the door?

Browns management are not at all pleased about Phil Dawson's skipping their voluntary offseason workouts and are concerned that Dawson may holdout once camps starts.

Today, the Browns signed ex Washington and ex Dallas kicker Shaun Suisham. I gotta side with the Brownies on this one. Dawson was hurt five games last year and he's not getting any younger. It's a smart move to get ready to move on

Randy's UK PR firm is working overtime!

Here is yet another Randy article in the British press, I guess one could say that the Brown's owner is quite randy for publicity these days. This one on a BBC blog written by Matt Slater, and it is rather appropriately titled "Why Cleveland's villain is Villa's hero"

Matt Roth asks to be traded...

seriously, who is Matt Roth anyways...???