The birth of MNF and the Kardiac kids

The birth of MNF and the Kardiac Kids

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 11th in a series of stories about the Mount Rushmore-worthy people, places and things in Browns history. Today we look at regular-season games from 1970-79.

By STEVE KING

The 1970s was the worst decade to that point in history for the Browns.

Unfortunately, it has been bettered – or worsened, as it were, and greatly so – in this nightmarish expansion era, but after all that great success through the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, the 1970s were a real downer for everybody involved.

It wasn’t a complete loss – the Browns made it to the playoffs twice, in 1971 and ’72, and came close to doing so in 1976, ’78 and ’79 – but it really bottomed out in the middle with the two worst records in franchise history in 1974 (4-10) and ’75 (3-11). And that was extremely hard to take for a franchise and a fan base that wasn’t at all used to it.

There were some really cool – and memorable and interesting – moments, including the launch of a great innovation at the very beginning of the decade, the launch of a great kicker two years later and the launch of a great quarterback and a great, exciting era at the end of it. And along the way, there were big upsets, literally and figuratively.

With that introduction, or tease, then, here are the Mount Rushmore of Browns regular-season games from 1970-79:

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BROWNS 31, NEW YORK JETS 21 — SEPT. 21, 1970 – AT CLEVELAND – The decade started off with a bang as the Browns pulled off an exciting victory over Joe Namath and Co. in the first Monday Night Football Game before the largest crowd – 85,703 — that will ever see a Browns game in Cleveland since the capacity of the new place, First Energy Stadium, is about 17,000 less than that of Cleveland Stadium. Nobody knew if MNF would work or not when it was proposed, since there had never been NFL games on weekdays in history. Would anyone watch on TV? For that matter, would anyone show up in person to watch? If not, then the league would have a huge white elephant on its hands, for there were 13 more MNF games on the slate. Browns owner Art Modell, who understood the value of promotion and was not afraid to try new things, volunteered his team to both play in the game and host it – that is, as long as the Jets, who were already on the Browns schedule, were involved so as to include the big New York TV market. That game, and the rest of the ones in the MNF series, were to be telecast by ABC, but the network’s affiliates were so dubious of the attractiveness of MNF that less than half of them showed that first game. The rest of the stations ran their usual Monday night lineup of sitcoms and variety shows. But they all got on board quickly after the game, for in the markets where Browns-Jets was aired, the ratings went through the roof. Indeed, a perfect storm ensued in that the game. It featured two high-profile teams at the time (the Browns had played in the last two NFL Championship Games and the Jets were 20 months removed from having won Super Bowl III in a stunning upset), it was thrilling in that it went right down to the end, it was played before a huge, raucous crowd and it ended with a guy everybody knew getting shown up by a guy nobody knew. It was just what MNF needed to grab the attention of every pro football fan in the country. The game had the same sizzle of the hot, steamy night itself on the night that summer was stepping aside for fall. The Browns controlled the game early, getting two first-quarter touchdowns to go ahead 14-0 on Bill Nelsen’s 14-yard pass to wide receiver Gary Collins and Ohio State product Bo Scott’s two-yard run. The Jets cut the lead in half in the second quarter, then speedy Homer Jones, a first-year Brown, took the second-half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to put the lead back to two TDs, 21-7. It was 24-14 after three quarters, but the Jets refused to go away, cutting the advantage to just three, 24-21, on Namath’s 33-yard TD pass to wideout George Sauer. The Jets then got the ball back deep in their territory with a minute left with one last chance to win the game or tie it, but little-known linebacker Billy Andrews, who had not done much after being selected in the 13th-round, at No. 333 overall, in the 1967 NFL Draft out of tiny Southeastern Louisiana, picked off a short Namath pass and returned it 25 yards for a TD to make it 31-21 and clinch the win. It the third pick of the night for Namath, and the one that really cost him and the Jets. A better script for MNF’s debut could not have been written.

BROWNS 26, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 24 – NOV. 19, 1972 – at CLEVELAND – The Browns, just 2-3 at one point, had turned their season around, winning five in a row, after making a change at quarterback to third-year pro Mike Phipps from veteran Bill Nelsen, whose aching knees were really hindering his effectiveness. As such, they had climbed to 6-3 and to within a game of the upstart, AFC Central-leading Steelers (7-2). So if the Browns wanted to capture the division title for the second straight year, or to even just earn the conference’s lone wild-card playoff berth, this was a game they really needed to win. And, by the way they started, it appeared they would – and without much trouble. After Pittsburgh opened the scoring with a field goal, the Browns ran off 20 unanswered points to go ahead 20-3 in the second quarter on Phipps’ one-yard sneak for a touchdown, his 17-yard TD pass to wide receiver Frank Pitts and two Don Cockroft field goals of 26 and 38 yards. The Browns led by 10 at halftime and then increased it to 23-10 on Cockroft’s 12-yard field goal in the third quarter (the goal post was on the goal line back then). Pittsburgh then went to work with two touchdowns, the last of which on a 75-yard burst by rookie Franco Harris, to take a 24-23 lead. The Browns drove for a go-ahead field-goal try late in the game, but Cockroft missed it. But they got the ball back, marched the length of the field again to give Cockroft another attempt from the very same spot, and this time he hit it for the win. Cockroft, who had struggled to that point in his 4½ years with the Browns, said the second-chance field goal jump-started his career. It ended with his being one of the club’s greatest all-time kickers. The Browns, who improved to 7-3 and tied the Steelers for first place with four games left, ended up getting into the postseason as a wild card at 10-4.

BROWNS 18, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 16 — OCT. 10, 1976 – AT CLEVELAND – The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Steelers and Browns were both struggling, entering the day with 1-3 records, but it did nothing to take away from the excitement, intrigue and physical nature of this game. In fact, this was one of the best games in the long, rich history of the Browns-Steelers rivalry. The Browns could manage only two Don Cockroft field goals of 43 and 28 yards and trailed 10-6 at halftime. But Cleo Miller’s one-yard touchdown run and two more Cockroft field goals of 40 and 50 yards gave Cleveland an 18-10 advantage in the fourth quarter. The Browns had rallied on the throwing and running of backup quarterback “Doctor” Dave Mays after Brian Sipe left the game with a concussion administered with a hit by linebacker Jack Lambert, a product of Mantua Crestwood High School and Kent State. Mays, who had a Shaker Heights dental practice, made big play after big play to get the Browns out of trouble. The Steelers also lost their starting quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, after Browns defensive end Joe “Turkey” Jones famously planted him head-first into the turf, giving him back and neck injuries. He was replaced by Mike Kruczek, who, like Mays, also played well, including scrambling 22 yards for a late touchdown to cut the lead to 18-16. The Browns, though, held on to beat Pittsburgh for the first time in three seasons, and used that as the launch point to win three in a row and eight of nine to finish 9-5 and almost make the postseason, allowing for second-year head coach Forrest Gregg to be named AFC Coach of the Year.

BROWNS 45, BALTIMORE COLTS 24 – NOV. 19, 1978 – AT BALTIMORE – Two years to the day after the big 1976 win over Pittsburgh, the Browns, as a whole, and quarterback Brian Sipe, specifically, were looking for another launch-point moment. And they got it. When Sam Rutigliano was named head coach shortly after the end of the 1977 season, one of the first things he did was install Sipe as the starter after he had bounced in and out of the lineup during his first four seasons with the Browns. He did well for a while to start 1978, and, like any time a quarterback excels, so did the team, winning the first three games and coming within a missed call to start overtime of beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh for the first time to go 4-0. As it was, the Browns, after losing by just three points to the Houston Oilers the following week and then beating the New Orleans Saints, were still 4-2 before they and Sipe began really struggling. They lost four of their next five, scoring a combined total of just 34 points in the defeats. But in the middle of all that, they rolled past the Buffalo Bills 41-20. So, the talent was there inside of Sipe. It just needed to be brought out. That performances like that weren’t happening consistently – or at least much more often – was disappointing and frustrating for everybody involved, including Rutigliano, so much so that he began second-guessing his belief in Sipe. Sipe needed a big game – a really big game – and very quickly, to remain in the lineup. He knew it, and so did Rutigliano. And they got it in this lopsided win over the Colts. But it didn’t happen right off the bat. The Browns trailed 10-0 after one quarter before rallying for a 31-10 lead on two Sipe-to-Calvin Hill touchdown passes of 53 and 37 yards, Mike Pruitt’s one-yard scoring run, a 29-yard interception return for a TD by cornerback Oliver Davis and Don Cockroft’s 45-yard field goal. Sipe then threw his third TD pass to Hill, this one a 23-yarder, and a 25-yarder to wide receiver Reggie Rucker to cap the scoring. When it was all said and done, Sipe had his first 300-yard passing game, getting 309 on a 15-of-22 performance for four touchdowns and a 150.6 quarterback rating. It was the beginning of Sipe’s turnaround and arrival as an NFL quarterback, and it led to his becoming the NFL Most Valuable Player in 1980, thus becoming the first Brown to win it in 15 years, and the last Brown to do so. The Kardiac Kids were born that day, too, their rise also culminating in 1980 when they grabbed one last-minute victory after another to go 11-5 and win their first AFC Central championship in nine seasons.

NEXT: Regular-season games from 1980-84.

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The birth of MNF and the Kardiac kids