The Browns are obviously a mess, but today is not the day to delve — yet again — into all that, of which there is plenty. Instead, we’ll do so on Wednesday.
Today is a day to look back on a much, much, much bigger and more profound mess, especially historically.
Tuesday is the 59th anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy. It was on Nov. 22, 1963 that he was gunned down while visiting Dallas.
It remains to this day one of the most significant events in the history of this country. There are some — perhaps a lot of — people who maintain that America has never been the same, that it became less of itself with the loss of a young, popular leader who inspired hope for so many.
Kennedy was killed on a Friday, two days before a full slate of NFL games was scheduled to be played on Nov. 24. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle was in a real quandary. Should he allow the games to go on as planned? Or, because of the way the nation was grieving, should he respect the significance of the event and postpone the games?
There was no one for him to ask for advice. A protocol did not exist. There was, of course, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor 22 years earlier, on Dec. 7, 1941, thrusting the United States into World War II, but that was a different kind of situation.
Rozelle thought and thought and finally ordered that the games go on as scheduled. Years later, he openly admitted that it was the worst decision of his career.
As it turned out, the Dallas Cowboys were slated to play the Browns on that Sunday at Cleveland Stadium. Animosity against the city of Dallas was building rapidly in the country for “allowing” the president to be killed. As part of that, the Cowboys unknowingly became a target of that anger.
It made for an odd and uncomfortable atmosphere at the stadium, with the 55,096 in attendance, the second-smallest home crowd of the season, mostly refraining from cheering and offering only polite applause when the Browns made good plays. The Browns, under first-year head coach Blanton Collier, made enough of those, gaining a much-needed 27-17 victory that improved their record to 8-3 and halted a streak in which they had dropped three of their previous four games. They were hot on the trail of the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Giants. They eventually finished 10-4 and in second place, a game behind New York (11-3).
A year later, in 1964, the Browns clinched the Eastern title by walloping the Giants in the next-to-last game on their way to winning the NFL Championship.
But on that day in 1963, pro football, and especially in Cleveland, went on when that was clearly not the best course of action.
Steve King
