I said in my last post that the death of Browns safety Don Rogers just before the start of training camp in 1986 changed the outcome of the AFC Championship Game that season.
Had Rogers lived and played in that contest, there is no doubt in my mind – and the minds of many others as the years have passed – that he would have thwarted Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway on “The Drive.” With that, then, the Browns would have won and gotten that elusive first Super Bowl berth.
As it was, of course, they lost 23-20 in overtime and, more than three decades later, are still waiting to get to the big game. We all know that story – that nightmare.
But it goes beyond that – well, well beyond that.
I truly believe that, and have felt that way for years.
It’s not a hard opinion at all to have. I am far from being a genius – anyone who knows me is well aware of that — but I am not crazy, either. In fact, I think a lot of other people share this view.
And I think – I don’t know for sure, but I think – you’ll be among the believers when you look back at what happened, how it happened, in what order it happened and why it happened, and what I conclude the end result to be.
We’ll start simply with this, that the 1986 AFC title game was, by far, the best chance the Browns have ever had to make it to the Super Bowl. They gained a 20-13 lead on Bernie Kosar’s 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brian Brennan with just under five minutes left in regulation, but couldn’t hold it as Elway marched his team 98 yards – into the teeth of the Dawg Pound, for crying out loud — for the tying TD, forcing OT.
The Browns were deflated after all that, and the Broncos were pumped after being resuscitated. It is why Denver forced the Browns to go three-plays-out on the first possession of OT and then methodically marched into position to kick the game-winning 33-yard field goal by Rich Karlis, a native of Salem, Ohio, 14 miles west of Alliance. He said afterward that his immediate elation was tempered when he realized he had just broken the heart of everyone in his hometown.
Actually, to everyone in Northeast Ohio as a whole.
Indeed, it was a gut-wrenching blow to the Browns not just for that year, but for years to come. It changed everything, and I do mean everything. What Browns fans are experiencing today – and have been experiencing for years – all traces right back to Rogers’ death.
Really.
I’ll explain in my next post.
