WHOOPS! THERE WAS A MISTAKE

By STEVE KING

I admit it when I make a mistake.

It’s always what you should do in this business.

And I made a mistake in the recent story about J.J. Watt and the Browns’ uniform numbers.

It’s a silly mistake, which is why I’m amazed I made it. I know the right answer and have written that in many stories over the years.

Anyway, Pro Football Hall of Fame middle guard Bill Wills never wore No. 99 with the Browns. He wore No. 30 for his first six years in Cleveland (1946-51) and then switched to 60 for his final seasons after the NFL instituted the numbering systems it uses today. Where I got the No. 99 is that Willis wore that at Ohio State, and the school retired it in his honor in 2007, just a few months before his death.

Anyway, I sincerely apologize for the error. It is unacceptable.

As for the rest of the information in the story, other than the part about Willis wearing No. 99 with the Browns, it is accurate, of that I can promise you.

To clear things up, there are two numbers in Browns history worn by a pair of Hall of Famers, 60 (Willis and quarterback Otto Graham) and 76 (fullback Marion Motley and kicker-left tackle Lou Groza).

Probably the most embarrassing mistake I’ve been involved with in the media business was, late one night in the production room at the Medina Gazette, signing off on a headline that stated  that the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series to advance to the World Series. The Pirates led going into the bottom of the ninth inning and appeared set to win, which is why the headline was written. Then the Braves rallied to win and ruined everything – unless, of course, you are a Braves fan, or were at least rooting for them that night for whatever reason.

Oh, well.