When his second-quarter pass was intercepted by cornerback Sam Washington and returned 69 yards for a touchdown 31 years ago today, on Sept. 23, 1984, at Cleveland Stadium, giving the Pittsburgh Steelers a 7-0 second-quarter lead, Browns quarterback Paul McDonald might have subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
 
Now that he had that out of the way, he could relax and move on.
 
In his first year as the full-time starter after the defection of Brian Sipe in the offseason for the big money of the World Football League, McDonald struggled with interceptions in 1984. He threw 23 of them.
 
But he especially had issues early in the season with picks that were returned for TDs.
 
He threw two interceptions in a 33-0 season-opening loss at Seattle.
 
He threw one the following week in a 20-17 setback to the Los Angeles Rams, and it was returned 81 yards for a TD in the first quarter to provide the first points of the game.
 
Then in the next contest, on Monday Night Football, in their home opener, the Browns were trailing the Denver Broncos 17-14 as they got the ball at their 22 with 1:53 remaining. Things looked good after McDonald marched the Browns to the Denver 46 – perhaps he could get them close enough for Matt Bahr to try the game-tying field goal to force overtime, or, better yet, he could get them into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown – but all that went up in smoke when his pass was intercepted by defensive back Randy Robbins and returned 62 yards for a TD in a stunning 24-14 loss that dropped Cleveland to 0-3.
 
Now, with Washington’s theft and run, McDonald had thrown interceptions that were returned for touchdowns in three straight games.
 
McDonald settled down after that and performed well, completely outplaying his counterpart with the Steelers, ex-Miami Dolphin David Woodley, and led the Browns to a 20-10 win.
 
McDonald finished the day with 15 completions in 28 attempts for a career-high 293 yards and two TDs with the one interception. He threw a 44-yard scoring pass to running back Boyce Green in the third quarter that gave the Browns a 10-7 lead, then tossed a three-yard TD pass to wide receiver Duriel Harris in the fourth quarter to make it 17-10.
 
Bahr then added some insurance points with a 48-yard field goal. He also kicked a chip-shot 18-yarder in the third quarter to give the Browns their first points.
 
The Browns got a lot of production out of their tight ends, as Ozzie Newsome caught six passes for 99 yards and backup Harry Holt had three receptions for 89 yards. Green added three catches for 76 yards.
 
In his final season with the Browns, Mike Pruitt provided the ground game with 83 yards on 26 carries.
 
All in all, the Browns amassed a season-best 413 total yards.
 
A stout Cleveland defense limited Woodley to just nine completions in 25 attempts for only 153 yards with an interception.
 
But it turned out to be the last victory for Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano as the problems returned for McDonald and the team. He was fired a month later.