Top 5 Browns moments:1999-2006
As I write this, it’s early Sunday morning. The Browns-Steelers game is less than 12 hours away.
Both teams are 3-6, but I don’t think there’s a debate on who is the better team. The Browns are still rebuilding, while the Steelers are a year removed from a championship.
Basically, if Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers destroy the Browns today, I won’t be shocked.
Earlier this week, I was ready to write a column about how the Browns-Steelers rivalry is not really a rivalry anymore. The days of Joe “Turkey” Jones sending Cleveland into frenzy by throwing Steelers’ quarterback Terry Bradshaw on his head are long gone.
Since the Browns returned in 1999, they have played Pittsburgh 15 times (including one playoff game). The Browns have won three of those games.
I was going to write another sob-column about the new Browns, about how bad they are. But tonight, as I was looking for a video tape, I found one marked Browns-New Orleans, 1999. This was the Browns first win since being back in the league. It brought a smile to my face, and gave me a new objective: The top five post-1999 Browns moments.
Here we go:
1. Rookie running back William Green breaks a 64-yard run late, and the Browns secure a playoff spot (with the help of a Jets win later) for the first time since 1994 with a 24-16 win over the Falcons in the 2002 season finale. Green rushed for 178 yards and looked like a star. Sadly, he never was to attain such greatness again.
2. In 1999, Tim Couch throws a 56-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Johnson as time expired, giving the Browns a 21-16 win over the Saints, their first in almost four years. As I mentioned, I have the game on tape and it’s a horrible one. The Saints committed five turnovers, but the finish makes it a classic.
3. Two weeks later, Chris Palmer does his greatest coaching job, and the expansion Browns avenge a 43-0 loss to the Steelers earlier in the season with a 16-15 win. In Pittsburgh, no less. Watching in Cleveland, I started hyperventilating as Phil Dawson’s game-winning kick went through. Thankfully, my mother supplied a paper bag. Had I been smart, I’d have used the bag to cover my head for the rest of 1999. The Browns finished 2-14.
4. Butch Davis brought optimism, competitiveness, and hope in 2001. Five years later, Browns fans shake their heads about the man’s era, which was filled with failed draft picks and overall chaos. But in 2001, he looked like a magic man. And on a rainy October day in Cleveland, he led the Browns to a 24-14 home win over the defending Super Bowl champions, the Baltimore Ravens. Tim Couch threw two late TD passes, one to Johnson, one to rookie Quincy Morgan, and gave the fans a moment we had only dreamed about. The win also improved the Browns to 4-2.
5. Davis looked like Superman a few weeks later, when, led by some running back named Ben Gay, the Browns again beat the Ravens, this time in Baltimore. A sweep over the Ravens made the season a success. Again, the success didn’t last, but for as much heat as Davis has taken, Browns fans should be grateful to him for giving them hope – and joy – by beating Baltimore twice.
Honorable Mentions:
2002: Quincy Morgan catches a last-second 50-yard pass against Jacksonville as time expires to beat the Jaguars, in almost a carbon-copy of New Orleans in 1999.
2004: Jeff Garcia leads the Browns to a 20-3 win over Baltimore in the season opener.
I’m not really sure if I feel better or worse about the Browns after writing this.