by When I was a little kid, I grew up a huge Browns fan because they were very good. It was embedded in me at a young age and I never let go of the love.
In fact, I was born in January of 1982 so I can say with 100% honesty I remember them playing Miami in the 1985-86 playoffs.
They were up 21-3 in the third quarter at Miami before losing in an epic Marino comeback . I had just turned four, it was my first taste of heartbreak, but also my first of sports fandom. It wouldn’t be my last.
Lord knows I remember the next two years of heartbreaking losses to Denver in the AFC Championship Games with The Drive, and The Fumble. But I also remember the thrilling improbable comeback against the Jets when Bernie Kosar had the best game of his career to get them to the “The Drive” game.
The next year, I remember watching the huge comeback at Denver come up just a bit short when Byner fumbled at the goal line.
The next two seasons, 88 & 89, I certainly recall big late season wins against the Houston Oilers to vault them into the playoffs each season. People 25 and under won’t remember the Houston Oilers, but I can promise you, they existed.
In January of 1990 following the memorable 9-6-1 regular season, the Orange & Brown knocked off The Bills when a Clay Matthews interception stopped a Jim Kelly drive in the last seconds. The Browns went on to lose to Denver the next weekend and have never been the same.
What I recall the most is how we actually had a rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Do you know why this was a rivalry? Because most times we split who won and lost and the fans ate it up. It was so much fun, it was what a true rivalry is supposed to be!
I will never forget opening day 1989 when “WE” beat them 51-0 in Pittsburgh. It was the first game of the Bud Carson era. Times seemed so good that they would never end! A few years later in 1993 it was Eric Metcalf returning two punts in an epic late afternoon early evening thriller by the lake!
This is back when the games were on NBC and I can still recall Bob Trumphy and Dick Enberg calling so many big plays over the years.
Then in the 1994 regular season, sadly all of it went away. Despite an impressive 11-5 regular season with a win on the road against defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas, the Browns lost twice to Pittsburgh that season, then again in the second round of the playoffs to them. It hasn’t been a rivalry since.
How bad has it been? Since Eric Metcalf returned those punts in the fall of 1993, the Cleveland Browns have only beaten Pittsburgh 7 times. 7 times in 27 years. Let that sink in for a moment. Three of those wins with Tim Couch starting at QB, and two of them with Chris Palmer as head coach.
Butch Davis only beat them once, Mike Pettine once, Pat Shurmer once Eric Mangini and Freddie Kitchens once. No other head coach in the New Browns Era has tasted victory. Even when the Steelers benched all their starters in Week 17 multiple times, the Browns still couldn’t win.
I’m 38 years old now, and a proud father of two little girls ages 4 and 7. They watch football with Daddy every Sunday as I try not to say anything that is going to influence their vocabulary in a non-pleasing way. What can I possibly teach these little girls about “The Rivalry?”
Is some proud father in Ann Arbor having the same issue I am right now as his Wolverines get it handed to them each year by the Buckeyes? I simply ask for my children to get to experience what I did.
We’re all sick and tired of seeing Steelers jerseys in our store windows and shopping malls. We hate seeing them in the stadium and even church on Sunday mornings. Make it stop!
Last year it finally looked like the tide was turning until Myles Garrett lost his mind and swung a helmet. Lord only knows what really happened at the bottom of the pile, but we had them right where we wanted them. 8 seconds,,,, we only needed 8 more seconds for that not to happen.
Rest assured, a win this Sunday in Pittsburgh for the Browns, and the rivalry is no longer back, but the Browns for the first time since the 80’s, will have the upper hand!
As for those 7 wins since 1999, they can be found on page two.
So true