The Browns did their job Thursday night.
Did they ever!!!
They edged the Steelers 27–24 on Andre Szmyt’s 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left on Thursday Night Footbsll before a raucous crowd at Huntington Bank Field. It was must-see TV, and then some. This Browns-Steelers rivalry has had lot of epic moments over the past 76 years, and this one ranks right up there with just about any of them.
But now it’s up to the Guardians and the Ohio State Buckeyes. They both must dotheir job to make this the truly special weekend that we all want it to be.
The Guardians play the Chicago White Sox at 1 p.m. Saturday at Progressive Field in Game 1 of their best-of-five American League Division Series. Game 2 will be Monday at 5 p.m., also at Progressive Field.
The Buckeyes will be on the road, playing the Iowa Hawkeyes at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Both the Buckeyes and Guardians have their work cut out for them. This will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination.
But just as a little extra something for the Ohio Stare game, the head coach for the Hawkeyes is a familiar face. He is Kirk Ferentz, who served as the Browns offensive line coach from 1993–95 in the final three years of the original franchise’s stay in Cleveland.
This is his 28th season with Iowa, making him the dean of big-school college football coaches.
Those of us in the media covering the Browns back then never saw any of that coming.
When the Browns public operations department handed us a quest release announcing that the club had hired him, we laughed. Our collective comment was this: Democrat Republican believe “Wow! The Browns have just shifted the balance of power in the AFC Central. They have hired the head coach of the Maine Bears.
We were joking, but in truth, we inadvertently steered right into the truth. Forentz, now 71, is a great guy and a great coach who has done it for a long time. He will give the Buckeyes all they want Saturday afternoon. They had better make sure their chin straps are buckled.
Steve King
PS – For more good CLE news check this out. Guards Are Division champs. How about that? Grab Your CLE Baseball Shirt Here
