So, this is why Browns quarterback Brian Sipe, with his team trailing 21-20 and facing a third down-and-25 situation at the Green Bay Packers’ 46 with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Oct. 19, 1980 at Cleveland Stadium nodded to Dave Logan to indicate to the wide receiver to take off and run straight downfield.
Sipe saw the same thing as my friend sitting in the stands with his girlfriend. That is, the rangy, 6-foot-4 Logan, who had long arms and great jumping ability, was going to be covered one-on-one by cornerback Estus Hood, who was listed as 5–11 but probably was more like 5–9. It was a huge mismatch, the likes of which the Browns could really take advantage of. Logan was athletic and had been a great college basketball player for the Colorado Buffaloes. As such, then, he knew how to block people out and aggressively go get the ball. But instead of facing another big man inside, this time he was going against a point guard, so it would be easy pickings. The guard — Hood — would be overmatched — and then some.
Sipe had get the ball out quickly, which would not be easy because the Packers were getting ready to come with an all-out blitz, That’s why Hood was left in single coverage, with the back end of the defense otherwise wide open. Everybody else was going after Sipe.
Logan took off at the snap of the ball and sprinted downfield, just as Sipe had wanted him to do. The quarterback was able to stand in the pocket long enough to deliver the ball before being swallowed up by the rushers. He lobbed the ball in the direction of Logan. It was not much different than the old “Alley Oop” pass that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Y.A. Tittle used to deliver to wide receiver R.C. Owens back in the late 1950s and early ‘60s.
Logan used his basketball skills to screen out the much smaller Hood, then deftly cut in front of him to leap up and grab the ball. As Hood was trying to recover, Logan sprinted into the end zone for the touchdown and a 26-21 lead. He was mobbed by his teammates.
There was a euphoric feeling inside the stadium as the Browns easily could’ve lost this game and, in many respects, maybe lost their mojo for the rest of the season as well. A devastating loss like this one would’ve been can do that to a team.
Instead of falling to 3-4, the Browns improved to 4-3 and had all kinds of momentum headed into the second half-plus of the season, beginning with a visit by the Pittsburgh Steelers the following week. The Browns won that game as well over the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, rallying from a 26–14 fourth-quarter deficit to get a 27–26 decision.
These two victories made all the differencein the world as the Broend really got going down the stretch to finish 11–5 and capture their first AFC Central championship in nine years.
It was all because of basketball in that one play. It was the biggest play of the season, anf the biggest win of the season.
We mentioned in yesterday’s post on the series about Sipe’s nod and a wink. His nod was toward Logan, and his wink went to the Browns fans as he was caught on the sidelines after the play by NFL Films He expected this kind of thing to happen, and he had good reason to in 1980 because it was that kind of season — the kind that, over 4-1/2 decades later, still brings warm memories to those who experienced it.
And as for my friend at the game, following the winning touchdown, he made good on his promise and escorted his girlfriend out of the stadium to begin the walk up
the hill to Public Square and the Terminal Tower for the ride on the Rapid Transit to the parking lot and the car. They both got what they wanted, she to go home and he to watch Sipe go to Logan, just like he thought.
Steve King
