This won’t be that long.
Christmas Day is almost here, and you’ve got much better things to do than sitting around and reading about an 0-14 football team.
But as that winless club gets ready – mercifully so – to play its home finale against the San Diego Chargers on Saturday at FirstEnergy Field, there are two themes pounding through my head.
The first is what this piece was to be abut fully, and it is that Saturday will be the 66th anniversary of the most famous game in Browns history, the most important game in Browns history and the most memorable game in Browns history.
It was Dec. 24, 1950 when the Browns, rallying from an eight-point deficit with just over 4½ minutes left, edged the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the NFL Championship Game at Cleveland Stadium on a 16-yard field goal by Lou Groza with 28 seconds remaining.
The situation couldn’t have been bigger, more dramatic or more perfect.
The Browns were in their first year in the NFL after spending their first four seasons of existence in the All-America Football Conference. They dominated the AAFC, losing just four games overall in capturing all four league crowns.
But the moguls in the bigger league, the NFL, scoffed at the Browns and their success, saying it had come against a bunch of bad teams. That incensed head coach Paul Brown and his players, many of whom are now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They set out to prove their doubters wrong, and that could not happen unless they won the 1950 NFL title. Just making it to the championship game would not be enough.
It took everything they had to do it, but they got the job done, making the Browns legitimate champions of all the pro football world and solidifying the legacies of Brown and his all-stars. Their imprint might well have been much different – much less – had they lost. But the win kept their tremendous success going in the NFL.
That they did it against the Rams, who were born in Cleveland in 1937, won their only NFL title in 1945 and then bolted for the West Coast instead of staying put and competing for the city’s heart against the start-up Browns in 1946, made it just that much better. It was like a fairy tale. You can’t make up stuff like that.
In this dreadful nightmare that has been the 2016 season, Browns fans need something pleasant to think about, especially now in this festive time of year.
Glad to provide it for you.
Now for the other part of today’s story, that which I was unexpectedly exposed to as I sat down to write this.
I was watching the “Mike & Mike” ESPN Radio show that is simulcast on ESPN2. The Browns were a big punching bag, as the hosts, including Mike Golic, a Cleveland native, discussed how many games the team would win in the next calendar year.
Nothing like being the (bad) story of the day, huh?
Interestingly so, the program caught my eye as I was reading a great piece on sportsillustrated.com by Jenny Vrentas entitled, “An oral history of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry.” It is incredible. I’m not into hyping other sites, but I will when it’s warranted. And it’s certainly warranted this time.
But as all fans here know, Pittsburgh’s rivalry with the original Browns franchise started back in Cleveland and all those great, intense games they played against one another.
It was just another kick in the gut about what was, and how much it has changed with it is now with the Browns.
The Browns need to get relevant again soon so that those games with the Steelers, Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals mean something.
Until then, just buckle your seat belts, hold on tight and get through this season.
And oh, yes, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you, our readers, who are a true gift to all of us here at brownsdailydose.com
