After it happened – after they picked themselves up off the floor and then began picking up the pieces – the Browns called what they did in 1990 “The Season From Hell.”
Really.
There was no denying that it was such – that it was horrible, miserable, an incredible disappointment and an unmitigated disaster – so why even try?
Indeed. The Browns didn’t try. They cut right to the chase. It was easier that way.
“The Season From Hell?” Yup. That’s what you call a 3-13 finish, which was then the worst in franchise history, when the Browns were coming off five straight playoff appearances and three trips to the AFC Championship Game, and were expecting to go to the Super Bowl. It was the downer of all downers.
The current Browns are 3-12 and, in being 10-point underdogs to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium in the regular-season finale, appear to be headed toward their own 3-13 finish. But no one is already calling – or will ever call – 2015 “The Season From Hell.” Unfortunately, it’s just another bad season. Everybody’s senses have been dulled. That’s what happens when you’ve eight consecutive losing records, which is a franchise record.
In 1990, a 3-13 record seemed like the end of the world. The fact it’s no longer that devastating is the picture postcard of what’s wrong with the Browns now, and what has to change immediately.
Yes, immediately. Whomever is head coach of this team next year has to get this thing up and going — in 2016. There is no grace period. That’s the way the NFL is now. There are no more three-year plans, or two-year plans. There are only one-year plans, and that year begins in the season opener so you have to hit the ground running.
But more on that later.
Why talk about the 1990 season today? Because this is the anniversary of when it mercifully ended.
It was 25 years ago today, on Dec. 30, 1990, that the Browns went to Cincinnati and lost 21-14 to the AFC Central champion Bengals (9-7) at rainy, cold Riverfront Stadium.
It was the second straight defeat, and the 10th in 11 games, for the Browns, who had fired Bud Carson halfway through the year and replaced him on an interim basis by offensive coordinator Jim Shofner, a one-time cornerback for the club.
But they did not perform like a bad team playing out the string. Instead, they gave the Bengals all they could handle, which was a stark difference from the meeting in Cleveland nine weeks earlier when the Bengals rolled 34-13 on Monday Night Football.
It was following that loss, dropping the Browns to 2-5, that it began to set in that this season was out of control and wasn’t going to get any better. Afterward in heading from the press box to the locker room for interviews, I remember riding down in the elevator at Cleveland Stadium with Browns public relations director Kevin Byrne, now holding that same title with the Baltimore Ravens. Byrne appeared to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was solemn and forlorn. He never looked up.
Yes, it was that bad.
The Browns trailed 14-0 at halftime, with one of Cincinnati’s touchdowns coming on a 17-yard interception return off Mike Pagel. He was intercepted three times in all, completing just 14 of 32 passes for 184 yards and a TD.
The Browns came back in the third quarter to tie the game at 14-14 on a two-yard TD run by fullback Kevin Mack and Pagel’s 16-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Brian Brennan. Mack rushed for a game-high 85 yards on 16 carries.
Wide receiver Webster Slaughter was far and away the pass-catching star on the day with six receptions for 115 yards.
The Bengals won the game with 8:40 left when Boomer Esiason threw his second TD pass of the day, this one a 48-yarder to running back Eric Ball. The first one, in the second quarter, was a 22-yarder to tight end Rodney Holman. Esiason was 10 of 16 passing overall for 154 yards with two interceptions to go along with his pair of TDs.
James Brooks, who ended up playing for the Browns in 1992, rushed for 84 yards on 17 attempts.
When the final gun went off, both teams celebrated, the Bengals because they were headed to the playoffs for the second time in three years, and the Browns because “The Season From Hell” was finally over.
Wonder how the Browns will react on Sunday if they lose to their AFC North rivals and end 3-13?
