Running back/returner Eric Metcalf was one of the best and most electrifying skill players in Browns history.
In fact, he was so good – so quick, so fast and so elusive — that he could just take over games all by himself.
And when he did, it was incredible to see.
Such was the case 22 years ago today, on Oct. 24, 1993, when Metcalf helped the Browns run past the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-23 before 78,118 fans at Cleveland Stadium in one of the more exciting games in team history.
Metcalf had two long punt returns for touchdowns, including a game-winning 75-yarder with just 2:05 left as he deftly – no, make that miraculously — outmaneuvered any number of would-be tacklers while he danced down the Cleveland sideline, as the Browns defeated Pittsburgh in Cleveland for the 11th time in their last 12 meetings.
The two scores set a Browns record that still stands and tied an NFL mark shared with six others. It also marked the first time in league history that a player returned two punts of 75 yards or more for TDs in a game.
In addition, Metcalf rushed for 53 yards in just seven carries and caught three passes for 18 yards. That gave him 237 combined yards on the day, making the sixth time in his career that he had gone over 200 yards.
Quarterback Vinny Testaverde, getting his second straight start after head coach Bill Belichick’s benching of Bernie Kosar, threw a 62-yard YD pass to Michael Jackson and then Metcalf had a 91-yard return for a score to give the Browns a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
Jackson had a big day overall, also grabbing a 44-yard pass to give him 106 yards receiving.
Pittsburgh tied it up 14-14 just before halftime and then gained a 17-14 lead 4½ minutes into the second half. But Testaverde threw another TD pass, a four-yarder to fullback Ron Wolfley, as the Browns led 21-20 after three quarters.
Gary Anderson’s third field goal of the day provided Pittsburgh with a 23-21 lead, setting the stage for Metcalf’s memorable run into a very welcoming Dawg Pound.
The win, their second straight after losing two in a row, lifted the Browns’ record to 5-2 and put them into first place all by themselves in the AFC Central, a game ahead of the Steelers (4-3).
There were three other significant things that were borne out of that game.
*Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher was at the boiling point as he stood on the sideline following Metcalf’s winning return. The former Browns linebacker/special teamer during the Kardiac Kids days had first built his coaching resume as a special teams coach under Marty Schottenheimer in 1985 and ’86 before being elevated to secondary coach for his final two seasons in Cleveland of 1987 and ’88.
As such, then, for him to lose a game — in Cleveland, no less — and to do so because of two monumental breakdowns on special teams, was completely unacceptable. Needless to say, at the end of the season, he fired special teams coach John Guy, who later worked in personnel with the expansion-era Browns.
If Cowher could have fired him that day right on the field, he would have. He probably thought about it.
*Testaverde suffered a shoulder injury while scrambling in the fourth quarter, forcing Belichick to do what he absolutely, positively did not want to do by going back to Kosar. It lasted for just one game, though, for the day after losing 29-14 to the Denver Broncos two weeks later, Belichick unceremoniously cut Kosar and replaced him with Todd Philcox.
But all that is another story for another time.
*From Bob Neal to Ken Coleman to Gib Shanley to Nev Chandler and finally to the man who has held the job for the last 17 seasons, Jim Donovan, the Browns have had a lot of tremendous radio play-by-play announcers. It is an all-star cast that might be the best in the league.
Chandler was at his best that day against Pittsburgh, and as it turned out, Metcalf’s return for the game-winning touchdown was his last memorable call. He was stricken with cancer in the offseason and died the following August.
If you ever get the chance, do yourself a big favor and listen to that call. If you’re a Browns fan — and we assume you are if you’re visiting this site and reading this piece — it will send chills down your spine. Really. And truly.
