Frustration.
Frustration.
And more frustration.
Along with all of the obvious sadness, that’s what the 1986 death of safety Don Rogers brought the Browns.
The frustration from the Browns’ 23-20 loss in overtime to the Denver Broncos in the 1986 AFC Championship Game – a loss that would have been averted had Rogers played — just continued to grow.
It grew when the Browns lost again to the Broncos, 38-33, in the 1987 conference title game after Earnest Byner fumbled the ball away at the Denver 2 as he was ready to run into the end zone for the tying TD with a little over a minute remaining.
It grew some more when the 1988 Browns, after impressively battling through a historic number of injuries at quarterback, still managed to make it into the playoffs as a wild card, only to lose 24-23 in the Houston Oilers in the first round.
It grew yet again when Browns owner Art Modell, after agreeing to disagree with Marty Schottenheimer on key issues, forced the head coach to resign just days after the end of the 1988 season.
It grew when, after he lost his cool on the sideline in the final moments of the playoff loss, Earnest Byner was traded in the ensuing offseason to the Washington Redskins for Mike Oliphant in one of the worst deals in Browns history.
It grew when Modell hired veteran defensive genius Bud Carson as the replacement for Schottenheimer. Carson had no viable head-coaching experience, but that didn’t matter. Modell hired Carson because he thought the coach could devise a defense to stop quarterback John Elway and the Broncos.
It grew when the Browns made it back to AFC Championship Game in 1989 and, for the third time in four seasons, lost once more to the Broncos, this time by 37-21, as Carson was unable to halt Elway.
It grew when Carson was fired midway through the 1990 season with the team at 2-7.
It grew when Modell hired New York Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick as head coach. The owner thought Belichick, a young defensive genius, could get the Browns to the Super Bowl. After all, Belichick’s defense was the reason why the Giants had won two Super Bowls in the previous five seasons, including in 1990.
It grew when the arrival of Belichick still didn’t get the Browns to the Super Bowl, or even close to it. The Browns had four losing records in Belichick’s five years as coach, with the next-to-last season, 1994, being the only bright spot as they went 11-5, earned a wild-card playoff berth and recorded what is still the club’s last postseason victory – ironically over the New England Patriots.
So that version of Belichick, a far cry from the new-and-improved one who has coached New England to five Super Bowl titles, and seven Super Bowl appearances overall, in a little over a decade and a half, was not the answer, either.
And did we mention that a good number of fans were infuriated over Belichick’s clumsy release of the iconic Bernie Kosar halfway through the 1993 season with the team in first place?
Imagine that, a Browns team in the playoffs for the first time in five years and the Dawg Pound ready to riot.
Yes, the Browns’ edition of Bill Belichick had that kind of (negative) power, causing even more frustration.
It was midway through the 1995 season, with the Browns, following a come-from-behind win at Cincinnati, at 4-4 after being picked by Sports Illustrated before the year to get to the Super Bowl, that Modell announced he was moving the team to Baltimore at the end of the season.
All the frustration to that point was absolutely nothing compared to the level of frustration being felt after that bombshell was dropped onto Cleveland.
Now what?
I’ll get to that in my next text.
