Was there a doctor in the house?
Yes, there was, in front of a full house.
And a Turkey, too, along with a Legend.
They all combined to steal the show in one of the most memorable Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers games of all-time, the 49th anniversary of which is Friday.
It was on Oct. 10, 1976 that the Browns upset the two-time defending champion Steelers 18-16 at Cleveland Stadium before a capacity crowd of 76,411 on a sunny, bright, but cool Sunday afternoon.
“Doctor” David Mays, a dentist from the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, came on — came out of nowhere, really — when starting quarterback Brian Sipe suffered a concussion on a late hit on the Cleveland sideline by Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert, and sparkled. He completed 5-of-9 passing attempts for 70 yards, his quick feet helping him avoid a heavy Pittsburgh rush to buy time in the pocket. When no one was open, he took off and ran, gaining 14 yards on three attempts. Every pass completion and all of his rushing yards seemed to come at just the right time to keep the offense going.
As the Browns were trying to figure out their quarterback situation in the days when Sipe hadn’t found himself yet, Mays’ performance gave head coach Forrest Gregg and his offensive staffers something, and someone, new to ponder.
Don Cockroft, the successor to the great Lou Groza and a Cleveland Browns Legend, was at the zenith of 13-year career and showed why, connecting on four field goals of 43, 28, 40 and 50 yards, the last distance being considered the limit of where kickers could hit from back then. His last field goal gave the Browns an 18-10 lead in the fourth quarter and they held on from there.
But, all these years later, the player who fans still remember, and will forever remember, is defensive end Joe “Turkey” Jones, who etched his name and actions into the long, storied, contentious Browns-Pittsburgh rivalry by picking up Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw and driving him head first into the turf while sacking him. Through the grace of God, Bradshaw, though seriously hurt, was not paralyzed.
The Browns, coming into the game with a 1-3 record and three straight losses, all by lopsided scores, turned their season around with a win over a Pittsburgh team that had handed them the first of those ugly losses, 31-14, three weeks earlier at Three Rivers Stadium. It spawned a three-game winning streak and a stretch in which they won eight of nine games en route to finishing 9-5 and just barely missing the AFC playoffs after finishing a then franchise-worst 3-11 and 4-10 the previous two seasons.
The defeat also was a wake-up call for the Steelers, who came to Cleveland with that same 1-3 record and a two-game losing streak. They won their last nine regular-season games to finish 10-4 and make the playoffs. They won a first-round game over the Baltimore Colts and advanced to the AFC Championship Game, where they frll to the Oakland Raiders, the eventual Super Bowl winners.
It would take a lot for Sunday’s meeting between the Browns and Steelers in Pittsburgh to come even remotely close to that memorable contest in 1976. But it will be fun nonetheless to sit back and watch to see if something special occurs.
Steve King
