The man most responsible for the Browns’ great run through the last half of the 1980s?

Head coach Marty Schottenheimer?

No.

Owner Art Modell?

No.

Rather, it was General Manager Ernie Accorsi, who passed away the other day, just a month short of his 85th birthday. Without him, all that success during the five-year period from 1985-89, including five straight playoff appearances, four Central Division titles and three trips to the AFC Champiobship Game, never would’ve happened.

When Accorsi first came to the Browns, they were transitioning from the Sam Rutigliano coaching era to that of Schottenheimer. He found a team that had a lot of young talent on both sides of the ball, but was lacking a franchise quarterback. He knew that the Browns had no chance to win big until he found someone at the most important position in team sports. 

He found his man in Bernie Kosar and then set about to outsmart and outmaneuver the division rival Houston Oilers to get him with No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NFL Supplenental Draft. The Browns got the selection after trading the top half of their 1985 and ‘86 college draft picks to the Buffalo Bills.

With Kosar in tow, the Brown were set. They didn’t get that elusive Super Bowl trip, but they came very close. For all five of those seasons, they were chief competitors out of the AFC to go to the big game.

When Kosar arrived in Cleveland, Accorsi made sure that he got jersey No. 19. When Accorsi was the public relations director in Baltimore years before, he saw firsthand what another No. 19, the iconic Johnny Unitas, meant to the Colts, and he was hoping that Kosar would be the same for the Browns. He was absolutely right.

Steve King