What if Browns had followed up Buckeyes’ big win in 2003?
By STEVE KING
Like most of you the other night, I watched with joy ESPN’s replay of Ohio State’s 31-24 victory over Miami (Fla.) in double-overtime in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl to win the national championship for the first time in 34 years.
It’s one of the greatest games in college football history, and seeing it again only solidified that perception. In fact, it was even better watching it the second time. I noticed a lot of things I had missed, or forgotten, from that Jan. 4, 2003 telecast.
It was the signature moment of the Jim Tressel coaching tenure at Ohio State, transforming the program into a national title contender for the next eight seasons, including two more trips to the national title game.
As I watched that long-ago telecast, I couldn’t help thinking about the Browns and what they did the very next day in a Saturday afternoon AFC wild-card round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns, of course, played tremendously for over a half, blowing out to a 24-7 third-quarter lead, and seemed for all the world to be on their way to a big win and a divisional-round road game against the Oakland Raiders the following weekend.
With that, coupled with what the Buckeyes did less than 24 hours before, it was shaping up as one of the best weekends for many Ohio football fans in years.
But then the unthinkable happened, as the Browns were outscored 29-9 the rest of the way and suffered a crushing, franchise-changing 36-33 defeat.
Just like that, the weekend had become oh, so bittersweet, with delight late Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday morning followed quickly by disgust and disappointment by late afternoon Saturday.
What a turn of events!
But what if the Browns, who were in just their fourth season after having returned to the field in 1999, had won that game? What if they had gone to Oakland with all that momentum as they played in the postseason for the first time since 1994, and in what is still their only playoff appearance in the two-decade-long expansion era? Would they have also beaten the Raiders, who ended winning the AFC title and advancing to the Super Bowl?
Just a win in Pittsburgh, let alone any more success that offseason, would have really bolstered Butch Davis’s standing as Browns head coach. As it turned out, the loss, especially with the way it occurred, was the beginning of the end of his tenure. Citing salary cap issues, he broke up the core of that team in the offseason, and resigned with five games left in the 2004 season and the club struggling mightily. If the Browns had beaten Pittsburgh, would he have kept that roster together to make another run in 2003?
In a lot of ways, the Browns, as silly as it sounds, have never recovered from that awful day, with just one winning season since.
Enough of that, though. That’s ancient history, and the Browns have to build some new memories – much more pleasant and productive ones – as they move forward.
And that begins right now, not some season down the road.
The Browns need to realize that.
