Turkey Jones spiked Terry Bradshaw 

Note: Flashback post

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By STEVE KING

This website bills itself – I bill it, actually – as one that gives you something cool, thought-provoking, entertaining, interesting, fun and, most importantly, different. You’re not going to read this stuff anywhere else.

As such, while the whole region is abuzz with what is going on with these new Browns — as well it should be, and just as we have been knee-deep in that, we will continue to be so – we’ve decided instead to take a one-day step back – way back, as it were – with today’s offering.

It’s worth it. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Wednesday marks the 42nd anniversary of a very special – and memorable – day in Browns history. It was on Oct. 10, 1976 in a game at Cleveland Stadium that Browns defensive end Joe “Turkey” Jones made his famous plant/spike sack of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

Jones picked up Bradshaw and literally spiked him, driving him head-first into the ground. Bradshaw flopped like a fish when he hit, and as such, it appeared he had broken his neck. Thankfully, he did not, but I still don’t know how he avoided it.

The play, photos of which can be found anywhere online, personified the heated rivalry between the two teams at the time. I have a large print of one of those photos and, in fact, I am looking at it as I write this. Jones signed it for me, calling himself “Steeler Killer.” He gave it to me and signed it when, while working for the Browns website about 12 years ago, I interviewed him at the very spot on the field where it occurred.

How? Cleveland Stadium didn’t exist then, as it had been replaced about seven years earlier by what was then known as Cleveland Browns Stadium. But the new stadium, of course, sets on the same footprint as the old one, and in fact, the field even runs the same way, from northeast to southwest.

So, with a little leap of faith and some imagination, it was the “same” spot, more or less.

Anyway, the Browns, who were 1-3 and coming off three straight lopsided losses by a combined total of 69 points, including a 31-14 decision in Pittsburgh to start the slide, won 18-16 over the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Backup quarterback David Mays, a licensed dentist, stepped in for a young Brian Sipe after he suffered a concussion on a late hit, and helped lead the Browns to the win with his running as much as his passing.

Cleo Miller ran one yard for a touchdown and Don Cockroft kicked three field goals of 40, 43 ad 50 yards.

The Browns, who had been just 4-10 and 3-11 the previous two seasons, used the win over Pittsburgh as a catalyst to get on a roll. They finished 9-5 and barely missed qualifying for the playoffs as a wild card.

But as noteworthy as all that was, it is that sack of Terry Bradshaw by Turkey Jones that has stood the test of time in people’s minds.

The famous Turkey Jones Spike:

Cleveland Browns:

• “Berry Said Browns Won’t Be ‘Pigeon-holed’ Into One Position” (OBR) 
• The Odell Beckham questions (Browns Daily Dose)
• “Berry won’t comment on Mekhi Becton’s flagged drug test” (BrownsZone)
•  Paul Brown, Obie and the true origin of Brownie the Elf (Browns Daily Dose)
• “Sources: OBJ to the Vikings Is Unlikely, but the Browns Will Move Him Eventually” (B/R)
• “Browns are done talking about reported OBJ trade talks” (PFT)

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