So, if you think safety is not an important position in football, especially in the pros, such as I heard over the weekend at the NFL Draft from all the so-called “experts” concerning the benefits of selecting Ohio State safety Caleb Downs with one of the first five or six picks, then think again.
Safety is indeed a prime position.
Just ask the Browns.
History tells us that they lost the 1986 AFC Championship
Game 23-20 in overtime to the Denver Broncos on Jan. 18, 1987 at Cleveland Stadium. But the truth of the matter is that, for all intents and purposes, the Browns lost that contest on June 27, 1986, when their ultra-talented young safety, Donnie Rogers, died of a heart attack from a drug overdose that occurred during a bachelor party the night before he was to be married.
Rogers had played just two seasons after being drafted in the first round, at No. 18 overall, in 1984, but it was already clear that if he had remained with the Browns and stayed healthy, then he would be the best safety they’ve ever had. He would also be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I truly believe, and the Browns would have made the Super Bowl at least once, and possibly several other times as well. They would have one at least one Super Bowl title.
That’s how good Donnie Rogers was.
The Browns lost that game to the Broncos on “The Drive,”
quarterback John Elway’s 15-play, 98-yard march for a touchdown to tie the game at 20-20 at the end of regulation to force overtime, all this right after the Browns scored to go ahead 20–13 on Bernie Kosar’s 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brian Brennan with just under five minutes left.
Elway had really not done much to that point, but when he got the ball back after the ensuing kickoff, he started turning into the player who we know today. But if Rogers had been back there, “The Drive” never would’ve happened because at some point during the game, Rogers would have knocked down a pass or maybe even had an interception on a route across the middle, or he would have clobbered Elway on a scramble. it would have made always think twice about both kinds of plays, which ended up being the keys to that faithful drive. Rogers was that intimidating.
But with him not back there, there was no one to do any of that. Oh, yes, the Browns found other players to play safety that day, but they weren’t anywhere close to being as good or as troublesome for the offense as Rogers.
So, when you say safety doesn’t matter, you couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, when the subject is that Browns game from 40 years ago, it’s what you see posted in all those factories, “Safety First.” And as such with remembrance of all that, I would have, had i been the Browns, drafted Caleb Downs ASAP and I wouldn’t have had it to think twice about it.
Steve King
