With Super Bowl LI between New England and the Atlanta Falcons finally set to be played soon, what could be better than a couple more stories about Patriots head coach Bill Belichick?
So let’s go:
*BIRTH OF A TEAM: Mike McLain, who retired following the 2015 season after being the Browns beat writer for the Warren (Ohio) Tribune-Chronicle for 3½ decades, told me this story a few days ago.
As Mike put it, it occurred on Nov. 17, 1991 after the Browns, in their first year under Belichick, lost a lead in the final seconds and with it the game to Warren Moon and the Houston Oilers, 28-24, on Sunday Night Football.
Mike told me he happened upon Belichick in a back hallway just off the visiting locker room of the Astrodome, which is located right next to much larger Reliant Stadium, the site of Sunday’s game.
Thinking quickly to find something appropriate to say to break the awkward silence, Mike said, “Bill, I hope everything goes well with Debby’s C-section tomorrow.”
Belichick’s then wife was set to give birth to the last of the couple’s three children, Brian.
Belichick didn’t acknowledge Mike’s good wishes but rather started talking about the rebuilding progress of the Browns.
“Mike, we’re so close, so close. We just need a play here and there,” he said in reference to the fact that the Browns, who fell to 4-7 with the loss, had already suffered two two-point defeats on the year, two by three points and the four-pointer to the Oilers.
For the record, Debby was a lot more successful with her attempt hours later.
A month later, the Browns lost by three points to the Oilers, 17-14, when Matt Stover somehow shanked a 19-yard field goal as time expired. It would take Debby Belichick’s husband until 1994 to get it right in Cleveland.
*DÉJÀ VU: Yes, they are very good defensively, but a number of analysts have openly wondered how the Patriots are going to stop the high-flying Atlanta offense. Don’t worry, Belichick will make sure his team finds a way to at least slow down the Birds, if not downright ground them. He has always been at his best in these situations.
In that aforementioned 1994 season, the Browns were also very good defensively, setting a franchise record that still stands for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season with 214.
The Browns went to Dallas late that season and played the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys in a nationally-televised Saturday afternoon game onDec. 10. All week long, media members were asking how the Browns, despite their defensive prowess, were going to corral – or even just slow down – a high-scoring, star-studded Dallas offense that included the likes of quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, wide receiver Michael Irvin and tight end Jay Novacek? And the Browns coaches and players responded to those questions by saying they didn’t know how they were going to do it. They praised the Cowboys up and down. The way they explained it, it would take a perfect performance on their part to even have a chance of winning.
Browns free safety Eric Turner, Belichick’s first NFL Draft pick in that first season in 1991, tackled Novacek at the one-inch line on the game’s final play to preserve a 19-14 win. The Cowboys tied a season-low for points.
