Remembering the days of Lyle Alzado

By STEVE KING

The Browns were able decades ago to get a great defensive end who transformed their defense.

Can they do it again by signing free-agent J.J. Watt?

We’ll see.

But in the meantime while we’re waiting – anxiously so — for an answer, let’s take a look at a similar situation in Browns history.

It was 1979, and the Kardiac Kids were getting ready to begin their second year of existence under second-year head coach Sam Rutigliano. At the end of Year 1, they lost two of their last three games, giving up a whopping 47, 34 and 48 points in the process, and fell just short of making the AFC playoffs.

With that, then, it was obvious the Kids needed defensive help – a lot of it. They had the offense, of that they could be sure with an emerging quarterback by the name of Brian Sipe, but their defense was sorely lacking (by the way, does any of this sound familiar with relation to the current Browns?).

So, the Browns traded for an aging – but not an aged – defensive end by the name of the Alzado, who had been the leader – on and off the field – of a great Orange Crush  defense in Denver that, just two years earlier, had carried the Broncos to the Super Bowl. The Broncos needed a fresh start, and so did he, so the Browns went out and got him.

And with that, their defense changed – greatly so. With Alzado at one end and Jack Gregory having returned from the New York Giants to man the other end, and with Jerry Sherk inside at tackle, the Browns got better in 1989, winning their first four games, but again failing to qualify for the postseason by just a bit.

In 1980, the Browns defense, though overshadowed by the offense, blossomed, playing a role in the club winning its first Central Division title in nine years.

Alzado became the leader, vocally and by his physical performance. That – and he – were just what the defense needed.

Alzado is no longer with us, but the memory of what he did in 1980 remain all these years later when, again, the Browns are looking for a game-changing end and a defensive leader, hopefully wrapped into one player.