They are best known for their play in two totally different eras, but wide receiver Paul Warfield and quarterback Brian Sipe actually spent two years together with the Browns.
 
In the first of those two seasons, 1976, they collaborated to help lead the Browns past the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
 
It was 39 years ago today, on Nov. 21, 1976, that Sipe’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Warfield gave the Browns the go-ahead points and propelled them to a 24-7 triumph at Tampa Stadium.
 
The game was tied in the third quarter when Sipe, the future trigger man of the 1980 Kardiac Kids, found Warfield, the Pro Football Hall of Famer from the 1960s, for the score to make it 14-7. And the Browns never looked back in getting their third straight win to push their record to a surprising 7-4.
 
Warfield, in his first year back with the Browns after being traded to the Miami Dolphins just as the 1970 NFL Draft was getting ready to start, had one of his better days of the season with a team-high four receptions for 79 yards. His TD catch was one of a club-best six he had that year among his 38 grabs. He also led the Browns by averaging 16.1 yards per reception.
 
Sipe, in just his third season on the regular roster after being drafted in 1972, completed 10 of 18 passes for 135 yards with the TD and no interceptions. He finished the year by throwing for 17 scores with 14 picks.
 
Cleo Miller put the Browns ahead 7-0 in the first quarter with a two-yard TD run. He tied for the team lead that season with four.
 
Cleveland’s final 10 points came in the fourth quarter. The first came when defensive end Joe “Turkey” Jones, another player in the first year of his second stint with the team, forced a fumble by Bucs quarterback Steve Spurrier – yes, THAT Steve Spurrier – and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
 
Then Don Cockroft, who had previously played with Warfield for two years (1968-69), kicked a 32-yard field goal.
 
Tampa Bay wide receiver J.K. McKay, the son of Bucs head coach John McKay and a 16th-round draft choice of the Browns in 1975, caught an 11-yard pass.  
 
It was a good day for the Browns – former, present and future — and an interesting one as well.