One more thing — well, perhaps more than one, but that’s quite all right in this case — on the late, great Jim Donovan.

The first thing occurred to me the other day, just hours after the passing of iconic New York Yankees radio play-by-by play announcer John Sterling, as I listened to the online clip of some of Jim’s greatest calls during his quarter-century as the radio play-by-play announcer for Browns games.

It is generally — widely — considered that his top call was the “Run William, run!” exhortation to rookie running back William Green on his 64-yard touchdown run in the 2002 regular-season finale that enabled the Browns to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 24-16 and, later that evening, qualify for the AFC playoffs as a wild card.

And there’s a good reason for that because it is a prime example of his ability to instantly seize the moment with just the right words to describe what is happening and its significance.

That then Cleveland Browns Stadium was shaking for the first time as the full-house crowd erupted only added to the situation. It gave all of us chills in real time and it also does so again every time we go back and listen to it. It’s the same thing as with another late, great Browns radio play-by-play announcer in Nev Chandler on his call of Eric Metcalf’s two long punt returns for touchdowns to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1993.

But there’s something else — a lot different in one respect but very similar in another that does the same thing concerning Mr. Jim. Again, it immediately struck me when I listened to it the other day.

It came with his words right after the Browns defeated Pittsburgh 24-22 in the 2020 regular-season finale at Cleveland to earn a spot in the AFC postseason as a wild card. That, of course, came during the COVID pandemic when, because of social distancing, only 12,000 fans were permitted inside FirstEnergy Stadium to see the game.

As Jim was describing all the things the Browns had accomplished with the victory, he closed by saying, while he looked around at the many empty seats, “The only thing missing . . . is all of you.”

Jim was so right on point that time, too.

Now, sadly, the only thing missing is . . . Jim Donovan.

Steve King