What’s better than being a star on the football field?
Being a star off it as well.
And that’s the way it was in Cleveland during the 1980s. First there was Brian Sipe, and then there was Bernie Kosar. They missed each other by just one year, Sipe bolting for the USFL following the 1983 season. and Kosar arriving in 1985 as the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Supplemental Draft.
Who was the bigger star off the field? That’s hard to say, and if you say Kosar without hesitating, then you don’t understand just how big Sipe was.
Yes, Kosar was a hometown hero, making it clear that he wanted to play for his hometown team, the Browns, whom he admired while growing up in Boardman Township, near Youngstown. But Sipe was the California surfer, his long black locks sticking out from underneath his helmet and that smooth personality being evident with not just the way he spoke, but also how he moved.
Both had songs written about them. It wasn’t a Super Bowl, it was the Siper Bowl. Although the Browns never made it, the memories of the thrills he provided in 1980 will last for years to come. Kosar got the Browns closer to a Super Bowl, making it to the AFC Championship Game three times. It’s hard to say that any of those seasons in the last half of the 1980swas more exciting, or perhaps as exciting, as 1980, when the Browns kept pulling games out of the fire.
It was such a fun time. It really, truly was.
Sipe had the best season ever for a Browns quarterback in 1980, while Kosar’s complete career made him one of the best ever in terms of the big picture.
Sipe wasn’t supposed to be tall enough to play, and Kosar wasn’t supposed to be nimble enough on his feet to do the job. But they both found ways to do it.
Kosar idolized Sipe while growing up, and I’m sure after Sipe left Cleveland, he became a big fan of Kosar.
The 1980 season belonged to Sipe. Without him, none of what happened would’ve taken place. The same can be said of Kosar for the last half of the 1980s. When he came, an era began, and it was called the Kosar era.
Kardiac Kids, meet Kosar. Kosar, meet the Kardiac Kids.
Those of us who were privileged enough to have seen both eras are blessed, incredibly so.
And here it is, all these years later, and we’re still looking back on the 1980s with such fondness. It’s time the Browns created some new history, but in the meantime, we’ll be 1980s kids, Kardiac Kids and Kosar kids.
Steve King
