When it started in 1970, the “Battle of Ohio” was a big deal.
And rightfully so, for it was truly special – as special as anything going in pro football back then.
Paul Brown, the founding head coach of the Browns, the man for whom the team was named, and the guy who took the team to an unprecedented 10 straight league championship games – with seven titles – in the franchise’s first 10 years of existence, only to be summarily fired by brash young owner Art Modell following the 1962 season, had started the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFL in 1968 and was serving as their head coach.
When the NFL-AFL merger was completed in 1970, one of the big changes that came with it was the complete realignment of the two leagues. As part of that, the Browns and Bengals were placed into the same division, the AFC Central, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Oilers.
For years, everyone believed that the Browns’ and Bengals’ biggest rivalry was with Pittsburgh. That was hardly the case. Cleveland’s and Cincinnati’s biggest rivalry was with each other.
Modell hated Brown. Brown, in turn, hated Modell. They never got along. Brown resented Modell’s meddling in how he coached the team, and Modell resented Brown’s refusal to ask him first before making moves.
Look at it as if this happened: Mr. Macy was bought out by some unknown group and thrown out through the front door, and so he went off and started a new department store and was now trying to put his old store out of business.
And did we mention that Blanton Collier, who had been best friends with Brown, and served as his top assistant, for years, was still coaching the Browns in 1970 after being hired him to replace him in 1963? Collier had asked Brown for permission to take the job and got it, but Brown still got mad and turned on him. Collier guided the 1964 team to the NFL title with mostly Brown’s former players. The team the Browns clobbered that day, the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts by a resounding 27-0, was coached by Grand River, Ohio native and former John Carroll defensive back Don Shula, who was drafted by Brown in 1951 and played two seasons under Brown, and Collier.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Anyway, the Brown-Bengals series was pretty even for the first 26 seasons, 1970-95, after which the original Browns moved to Baltimore, became the Ravens and joined the AFC Central, which the new Browns franchise joined when it came into being.
More stuff you just can’t make up. If it weren’t true, and real, it would simply be weird, and too corny and contrived.
But from the new Browns’ first season in 1999, until now, especially in recent years, the Bengals have dominated the series. They have won five straight, outscoring the Browns by a whopping 152-40.
When asked if he had talked to his team about the Battle of Ohio, Browns head coach Hue Jackson said with a laugh, “Oh, yeah, it is. It is a Battle of Ohio. Obviously, the Bengals have done a good job on their part. We need to do better, and we get it. To make it a rivalry, we have to start winning some of these games. It is just that simple. I think our guys understand that.”
We’ll find out if they do indeed get it on Sunday when, in a battle of 0-3 teams fading fast and desperately needing a victory, the Browns host the Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium.
And oh, before you go, did I mention that Jackson was an assistant for the Bengals – on two different occasions – and also was an assistant with Baltimore, making him possibly the only man to coach with three of the four teams in the division?
Does all this add up to Browns-Bengals being a big deal – still, after all these years?
Yes, I think so.
