The Browns had just staved off a rally by the Pittsburgh Steelers to win 24-22 in the 2020 regular-season finale at what was then known as FirstEnergy Stadium to earn a wild-card berth and make the playoffs for the first time in 18 years.

Their opponent in a first-round game would be, coincidentally enough, the Steelers in Pittsburgh in a rematch the following Sunday night, which they won by a resounding 48-37 after holding to a 28–0 first-half lead.

Just as he did with his iconic “Run, William, run!” call as William Green galloped 64 yards for what would turn out to be the clinching touchdown in a crucial 24-16 home win over the Atlanta Falcons in the regular-season finale in 2002, the last time Cleveland got into the postseason, Browns longtime — and excellent — radio play-play announcer Jim Donovan perfectly summed up the situation once again.

Looking around at the COVID-19-reduced crowd of just over 12,000 in a stadium with a capacity of 67,000, Donovan said to his listening audience, “The Browns are going to the playoffs. And the only thing missing is all of you.”

Now, three years later, the Browns can get to 2-0 for the first time in a long time and take a huge early step toward returning to the playoffs by beating those same Steelers again tonight at Acrisure Stadium on Monday Night Football.

However, the only thing missing will be Donovan, as the 67-year-old, who has called the team’s games for a quarter-century, announced after last Sunday’s 24–3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland in the regular-season opener that he was going to do step away from the microphone for a while to concentrate on his battle against leukemia that he has waged for the last 11 years. We wish him the very best. Indeed, all of our thoughts and prayers are with this very beloved man.

But it just doesn’t seem right for there to be a Browns game and not have Jim Donovan describing it to us on the radio.