EDITOR’S NOTE:  The following is the fourth in a five-part series entitled, “250 for 250, Browns Style.” It includes itrms Nos. 151 through 200.

By STEVE KING

151) — Standout defensive tackle Jerry Shetk was a big help to teammate Nick Roman, a defensive end, in his battle with mental health. That’ just who Sherk was when he played with the club in the 1970s. Doesn’t it always seem like that the best players are also the best people?

152) — Sherk was one of the quickest tackles the Browns have ever had. He would be into the backfield almost before the ball was snapped.

153) — Sherk, for his first seven seasons, played alongside tackle Walter Johnson, who also had incredible quickness. They had a field day with guards and centers.

154) — In the late 1980s into the early ‘90s, it was Michael Dean Perry who was displaying his quickness from the tackle position. Who was quicker, I wonder, Perry or Sherk?

155) — Sherk would try to hear at least part of the play as it was being called in the offensive huddle. If he had a hint as to what was coming, then he could move to the ball quicker.

156) — Middle guard Bill Willis, who played over the center in a five-man front that is now a middle linebacker in today’s 4–3 alignment, was not only quick but tremendously athletic. In practice, he would actually jump over center Frank Gatski before he could stand up into his blocking position. Gatski would scream at the Browns coaches, “Tell him to quit doing that!” It got everybody on the field laughing.

157) — Willis, in fact, is probably the most athletic interior defensive lineman in Browns history. Quickness is like speed, in that you can’t coach it. A player either has it or he doesn’t.

158) — How good were those early Browns teams? Well, they had the best offenses in club history and also the best defenses. It doesn’t get any better than that, right?

159) — To be sure, Paul Brown built teams that were almost unbeatable. The Browns, in addition to having those offenses and defenses, were outstanding on special teams as well.

160) — In watching the World Cup, we’re seeing some incredible celebrations following goals. I get it, for that is the way the world is now. But just one time, I would like to see a player do what Browns wide receiver Paul Warfield did, and that was just to simply toss the ball to the official after scoring. No screaming, no gesturing, no pounding his chest. That would be great.

161) — Is Gary Collins, who far away leads the Browns with 72 career touchdown receptions, and also led the NFL in punting average one year, the best dual-position player the team has ever had? If he’s not, then he is certainly in the discussion of such.

162) — I don’t know that I ever saw Collins drop a pass. I could also say that for almost every other great pass receiver the Browns have ever had, whether it be Ozzie Newsome, Dante Lavelli, Paul Warfield, Webster Slaughter, Reggie Langhorne, Brian Brennan it a lot of others. It’s great some guys can run real fast downfield, but if you can’t catch the ball, then you are of no use to the team. This isn’t a track meet, but rather a football game.

163) — I know he has made some poor choices following his retirement and is paying dearly for it, but Reggie Rucker was also another tremendous Browns wide receiver who caught a lot of passes and didn’t drop any. I hope things straighten out for him as we go forward.

164) — Other than Otto Graham, which Browns quarterback would you want in the lineup with a Super Bowl championship on the line?

165) — You would be picking from a group made up of Frank Ryan, Bill Nelsen, Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar.

166) — I am still upset than head coach Dan Coryell is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but Marty Schottenheimer isn’t. That doesn’t make any sense.

167) — OK,  Schottenheimer didn’t make it into the Super Bowl, but neither did Coryell. And Schottenheimer got close to going there a whole lot more times than Coryell did. So what’s going on here?

168) — And let’s get this straight, too, and it is that Sam Rutigliano drafting Ozzie Newsome in 1978 is what changed the game as far tight ends becoming like wide receivers. Coryell was part of a San Diego Chargers team that drafted Kelken Winslow Sr. a year later, 1979. Please, everybody, no revisionist history.

169) — Some of the people who vote for the Pro Footnall
Hall of Fame do not understand the history of the game in the least bit. They make some egregious mistakes in terms of how they value things. It’s wrong, but, unfortunately, it’s not going to change anytime soon.

170) — With the Browns moving into an indoor stadium in 2029, likely including an artificial turf field, will it change the way they draft players? And if so, then how will it change that, and why? Also, how soon will that change? Or has it changed already, with that opening being just three years away?

171) — How many players on the current roster do you think could make a seamless change into playing on artificial turf at home all the time?

172) — How is an indoor artificial turf player different from someone playing outside on grass?

173) — Does a team lose any of its toughness perception by moving from outside on grass to indoor on artificial turf?

174) — The Browns already have way too many injury problems every season. How much worse, if at all, will it be on turf starting in 2029?

175) — Paul Brown, from the very start going back to his days at Massillon High, continuing on to his days at Ohio State and finally to the Browns, always placed a great importance on speed. He wasn’t really worried about size that much, but boy, he had to have speed. With that, then, wouldn’t Brown be just that much better if he were coaching today with all these artificial turf surfaces? And wouldn’t he be a great fit once again to coach the Browns as they move into this indoor stadium?

176) — I very much like the fact that an indoor stadium is being built in Cleveland. It will transform so many different things, all of a positive nature, in this region. But I am not sure what I think about watching the Browns play indoor on an artificial surface. I mean, since 1946, they played their home games outside on grass. It’s going to take a little getting used to, especially for older fans like me.

177) — Remember, the weather in Cleveland is so bad during the fall and winter that they had to paint the grass green in late-season games at Cleveland Stadium. So we are going from that to a perfect surface that is never going to be anything but pristine. We have to chew on this for a while to really accept it.

178) — With the fact that the Browns will be playing on artificial turf inside at home, after having played their entire history on grass, will it make it easier for opponents like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals to beat them in Cleveland that it previously did?

179) — Aside from being able to watch Browns games without having to deal with horrible weather, is there anything else that is beneficial in your viewing of home games indoors on artificial turf?

180) — How much quicker, faster and more elusive would former Browns offensive stars such as Bobby Mitchell, Jim Brown, Greg Pruitt and Eric Metcalf have been playing indoors on artificial surface?

181) — This may sound really stupid, but I hope the Browns put their sideline on the same side of the field that the TV and radio announcers sit and the TV cameras are located. The original franchise did it for 50 years at Cleveland Stadium, and then it was switched to the opposite sideline when the Browns moved into Huntington Bank Field.

182) — Somehow, Lou Groza will be smiling and shaking his head, and people in the living like Phil Dawson, Don Cockcroft, Matt Barr and Matt Stover will be shaking their head and smiling, because the Browns will be moving from the toughest stadium in the NFL in which to kick to one of the best.

183) — While we are on this, what are your most memorable weather games at home in Browns history? I have plenty of them, in fact way too many to pick just one.

184) — Won’t it be weird going to a Browns home game in December and be able to sit there and watch wearing a light sweater and dress shoes without being bundled up in 10 coats and wearing heavy boots?

185) — I hate saying this in one respect, but in another respect, I don’t hate it at all. And it is this: I hope the weather for the Browns’ final home game in 2028 is snowy, cold and miserable.

186) — The Browns, of course, will work hard to try to host a Super Bowl in their new indoor stadium as soon as possible. Wouldn’t it be something if the Browns finally make it to a Super Bowl in that year when the club is hosting the game? FI FIFA World Cup.

187) — I hope, for a lot of different reasons, that Todd Monken  is still the Browns coach when they move into their indoor stadium in 2029. I think he will be. In fact, I am going to say that he definitely will be. That’s how sure I am that he’s going to do a good job, and I mean it sincerely. That’s not only what I hope will happen, but rather, and much more importantly, it’s what I am predicting will happen.

188) — I pray that the Browns won’t try to pull some kind of stunt by changing their uniforms in some hideous way as they move into the new stadium. Leave the uniforms alone. They are the one thing about this organization that has always been good. Worry more about making the team better.

189) — It was such a thrill in Cleveland Stadium when you would start seeing those orange helmets pop up out of the first-base dugout as the Browns got ready to be introduced and charge out onto the field. It made my heart skip a beat. It was so good.

190) — The Browns have to establish a home-field advantage right from the get-go in this new stadium. They got off to such a horrible start at Huntington Bank Field after having brtn so good at home in their days at Cleveland Stadium.

191) — Because the fans have worked so hard to support this team and, in fact, of course, bring it back to Cleveland after the original franchise moved to Baltimore, this organization should give free tours to all fans of the new stadium as long as they want them. Don’t make them pay for it. Give it to them as a reward for being such a great fan base, in fact, the best fan base in all of pro sports.

192) — If the Browns want to make the fan experience at home games enjoyable, then they just have to win. They can do all this other crazy stuff to please the fans, but there is nothing like winning to send people home with a smile on their face.

193) — Also, when the Browns move into their new stadium, they better use every single home game as an opportunity to honor their players from the past. You want to make the fans happy? That’s another way, because those old players are heroes to these fans.

194) — I have to believe that, at first, tickets to these home games in the new stadium are going to be incredibly tough to come by. But once the newness of the place wears off, the Browns have to keep these people coming back, even in late-season games, by being a successful and entertaining team to watch.

195) — What team would you like to see as the opponent for the Browns’ first regular-season game in their new stadium?

196) — Just for the sake of history, the original Browns opened play in Cleveland Stadium against a team called the Miami Seahawks, and, of course, they opened play in Huntington Bank Field against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

197) — What uniform would you like to see the Browns wear for that game?

198) — Woild you like for that first home game to also be the first game overall of the season? Or would you like the Browns to play on the road for their opener and then return to Cleveland for their first home game?

199) — I hope the older people, of which, as I have mentioned, I am one, will embrace this new stadium and all the conveniences it will provide, instead of being opposed to it because they had always watched games played in an outdoor stadium and they want that to continue. That is not going to continue. That is not the way of the future, but just a thread from the past. Embrace the future. It is real.

200) — And for that first home game, wherever in the schedule it falls, if the Browns win the coin toss, do you want them to take the ball right away or defer to the second half? I say they take the ball first. It’s time for them to be aggressive.

NEXT: Part 5, Nos. 201-250.

Steve King