Top 10 Browns Games ever.

It’s Christmas, a day when we give and receive gifts.

But I really don’t need anything. I am blessed in a variety of ways.

I’ve been given much, and professionally, I’ve been given the gift to cover the Browns in one way, shape or form for 26 years, and counting. I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world

So, then, with the special nature of today – it is the most special day of the year, after all – here are my 10 most favorite Browns games.

To explain, these are not necessarily the greatest Browns games in history, or the most important or most significant. They are my most favorite for a bunch of reasons, personal and otherwise.

They may not be your 10 most favorite. In fact, they probably aren’t. No two people are alike. Everybody’s different.

And we’re talking about all-time here, from that very first game in that very first season of 1946 until now.

A further explanation is that those of us who are older – not old, mind you, just older – and have witnessed a lot of Browns games for a lot of years, know that this – what has happened in the 17 seasons of the expansion era since they have returned to the field in 1999 – is the worst it’s ever been, by far. It’s been miserable.

But it wasn’t always this way. On the contrary, it used to be very good for a very long time. In the 50-year span of the original franchise from 1946-95, the Browns were one of pro football’s historic teams, or as former head coach Sam Rutigliano likes to call the club, “the flagship of the fleet.”

The Browns were that, and more, for too many reasons to explain here. Trust me on that one. Do a little research on your own and you’ll see. It won’t be hard.

Let’s hope it gets back to that, and soon. What’s going on now is not successful, nor is it fun. But the “old” Browns were a lot of fun – a blast, really. Trust me on that one, too. As such, it was extremely hard for me to pare down my list. I had to get rid of a lot of really good games.

Anyway, here’s that list of my 10 most favorite Browns – the ones that made the cut – and a quick explanation as to why. They are in chronological order:

*1

Sept. 6, 1946 – Browns 44, Miami Seahawks – at Cleveland Stadium – This is that very first game in that very first year that I mentioned earlier. A good friend of mine and a longtime Browns employee, Dino Lucarelli, attended that contest as a 12-year-old boy growing up in the Cleveland suburb of Garfield Heights. He came away amazed. The Browns were so good and their victory was so overwhelming that it paved the way for all the good things that were to come. “I had never seen football played that way,” he has always said. “I was hooked right then. So were many others. The fans, weary for something fun after living through World War II, turned out in droves, as 60,135, the largest crowd to see a pro football game to that point in history, showed up. And they kept showing up.

*2

Sept. 16, 1950 – Browns 35, Philadelphia Eagles 10 – Municipal Stadium; Dec. 3, 1950 – Browns 13, Philadelphia Eagles 7 – at Cleveland Stadium – I put these these games together because they are joined at the hip. The first one was the season opener, and the first game the Browns ever played in the NFL after moving from the All-America Football Conference, which they dominated for four seasons. The NFL hard-liners, thinking the Browns were a joke, pitted them against the two-time defending NFL champion Eagles, on the road, and on Saturday night, the day before the rest of the teams had their openers, so the entire football world could see the onslaught. And so they did. Only it was an onslaught by the Browns. They dominated the game from start to finish, building a 28-3 lead in the fourth quarter. But not everyone was impressed. Eagles head coach Earle “Greasy” Neale said the Browns were a finesse team after watching Otto Graham throw for 346 yards and three touchdowns against his team. He added that the Browns couldn’t win by manning up and playing “real” football – that is, running the ball. That frosted Browns head coach Paul Brown. He knew better. So in the rematch, Brown, who called all the offensive plays, did not pass the ball – not one time. The Browns ran and ran and ran and nothing else. And the Browns still won going away, leading 13-0 after three quarters. So much for ol’ Greasy’s theory.

*3

Dec. 17, 1950 – Browns 8, New York Giants 3 – American Conference playoff – at Cleveland Stadium; Dec. 24, 1950 — Browns 30, Los Angeles Rams 28 – NFL Championship Game – at Cleveland Stadium – I also put these two games together because they are indeed connected. The Browns’ first season in the NFL would not have been deemed a success unless they went all the way and won the title. So these were not just the two most important games of the season, but also in club history – still, to this day, for the way it got everything going in the NFL. The Browns and Giants had finished the regular season tied for first place with 10-2 records. Both of Cleveland’s losses were to New York. The Browns finally beat the Giants on grit, with middle guard Bill Willis saving the day by chasing down speedy running back Gene “Choo-Choo” Roberts from behind to save a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Then the Browns won the title a week later when Lou Groza kicked a 16-yard field goal with 28 seconds left. The journey was complete.

*4

Dec. 26, 1954 – Browns 56, Detroit Lions 10 – NFL Championship Game – at Cleveland Stadium; Dec. 26, 1955 — Browns 38, Los Angeles Rams 14 – NFL Championship Game – at Memorial Coliseum – Again, this is a combination pick. The Lions had defeated the Browns in the 1952 and ’53 title games, and quarterback Otto Graham made sure his team got revenge – and in a big way – by throwing for three touchdowns and running for three more, after which he announced his retirement. He came out of retirement for the following season and put an exclamation point behind his and the Browns’ great 10-year run by passing for two scores and rushing for two to lead them to victory. It was their seventh league title. Graham retired for good after that game.

*5

Dec. 27, 1964 – Browns 27, Baltimore Colts 0 – NFL Championship Game – at Cleveland Stadium – The Browns, who were nearly two-touchdown underdogs, put together the ultimate team effort to blank the mighty Colts.

*6

Nov. 19, 1972 – Browns 26, Pittsburgh Steelers 24 – at Cleveland Stadium; Nov. 25, 1973 – Browns 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 16 – at Cleveland Stadium – These go together, too. In the first one, Don Cockroft kicked a 26-yard field goal with 13 seconds left after the Browns had blown a 20-3 lead. In the second one, the Browns won on the strength of one of the most electrifying plays in their history when quarterback Mike Phipps dodged rushers left and right to throw a pass to running back Greg Pruitt, who dodged tacklers left and right to turn it into a 42-yard gain, setting Pruitt up for the winning TD run two plays later.

*7

Oct. 19, 1980 – Browns 26, Green Bay Packers 21 – at Cleveland Stadium – The Kardiac Kids saved their season when Brian Sipe threw a game-winning 46-yard TD pass to wide receiver Dave Logan with 16 seconds left. It completed a two-touchdown rally in the fourth quarter.

*8

Dec. 1, 1985 – Browns 35, New York Giants 33 – at Giants Stadium – The Browns rallied from a 12-point deficit and pulled the upset in this nationally-televised game when New York missed a field goal as time runs out, thus launching the success they had throughout the last half of the 1980s.

*9

Jan. 3, 1987 – Browns 23, New York Jets 20 (2 overtimes) – AFC divisional playoffs – at Cleveland Stadium – The Browns rallied from a 10-point deficit with 4:14 left to tie the game, then won it on Mark Moseley’s 27-yard field goal.

*10

Oct. 24, 1993 — Browns 28, Pittsburgh Steelers 23 – at Cleveland Stadium – Eric Metcalf had 91- and 75-yard punt returns for touchdowns, the latter one coming with 2:05 left to win the game. Metcalf was at his best on that one, weaving his way through would-be tacklers as the crowd erupted.

So there it is, our Top 10 Browns Games. Hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with me.

And a very Merry Christmas to you and yours.