A wink.

And a wry, I-know-something-you-don’t-know smile.

Yes, yes, a wink and a special smile.

When I think of an image that best encapsulates that 1980 Kardiac Kids Browns season, it is that, as displayed, of course, fittingly so, by none other than quarterback Brian Sipe, the triggerman — the ringleader — of the bunch.

The image is a video clip of Sipe walking along the Browns sideline. He looks toward the camera, smiles and winks.

That is so Brian Sipe.

That is so that 1980 season.

That is so the Kardiac Kids.

And, even more so, it is the perfect moment of that year.

That image was shot moments after Sipe, on a play he made up at the line of scrimmage in a middle-of-the-season game against the mediocre Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Stadium. With the Browns trailing 21–20 after having cut into a 21-13 deficit earlier in the fourth quarter, Sipe gave a head nod to wide receiver Dave Logan to just run down the field and put himself into position to catch a jump ball that the quarterback was going to throw him. Logan used his 6–foot frame to soar over the much smaller cornerback to grab it and then run the rest of the way for a 46-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left to give the Browns a 26–21 win that saved them from a horrible upset that could’ve derailed their season.

That’s what made 1980 so special, in that the Browns made all the right calls at all the right times.

But there were more parts of that season that were oh, so memorable. We’ll get into them over the next several posts.

Steve King