There are more than a few similarities between the Cavaliers and the 1964 Browns, the last Cleveland team to win a major pro sports league title when they routed the Baltimore Colts 27-0 in the NFL Championship Game.
And as the Cavs get set to play the Golden State Warriors Sunday night in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and possibly end that 52½-year drought, it’s an interesting topic to study.
The Browns had the second-best record in the NFL in 1964 at 10-3-1, finished second in points scored with a club-record 415 and were fifth in fewest points allowed with 293.
But the Colts were even better – much better, in fact. They had the best record in the league at 12-2 and led the NFL in both points scored (428) and fewest points allowed (225).
The Browns a lot of great players, including five eventual Pro Football Hall of Famers in Jim Brown, considered the greatest player of all-time, along with Paul Warfield, Lou Groza, Gene Hickerson and Leroy Kelly.
But the Colts had more great players with the likes of John Unitas, Raymond Berry, Jim Parker, Lenny Moore, Gino Marchetti and John Mackey, and they had a Hall of Fame head coach in Don Shula.
The Browns hadn’t won an NFL title since 1955.
The Colts captured back-to-back crowns in 1958 and ’59.
The Browns were in the Eastern Conference, which had not produced an NFL champion since 1960, and just two since 1956.
Because of all these things, the Colts were overwhelming favorites to beat the Browns, according to the oddsmakers. The spread was 11 points, but most experts thought it should have been more.
Indeed, no one outside of the Cleveland locker room gave the Browns a chance.
But the Browns didn’t listen to all the peripheral noise. They believed in themselves, certainly giving respect to the Colts while refusing to be awed by them, and bought in totally to the words of their head coach, Blanton Collier.
It was Colliers’ plan – and the execution of it – that was the Browns’ trump card.
Collier knew the Browns had to play a near-perfect game to win, and he was convinced that they not only could do it, but would do it.
Long before the Cavs adopted the “All In” moniker and stressed the importance of letting go of individual interests and playing as a team, the Browns did it to perfection – literally — in 1964.
“It’s amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit,” head coach Blanton Collier stressed to his team all that season, and especially as they prepared to meet the Colts on Dec. 27 at Cleveland Stadium in the title contest.
What ensued was the closest thing to a perfect game that the Browns have ever played. Every player did exactly what he had been asked to do, and he did it where, when and how as he was asked to do it.
It was the definition of playing as a team – the greatest team effort in Browns history and one of the best all-time in NFL history in a league championship game, Super Bowls included.
As such, it was the Colts who never had a chance.
Jim Brown played a great game, but in essence, he had only a bit role in the stunningly lopsided win. Ditto for the Browns’ other Hall of Famers. Instead, it was the very good players surrounding them, such as quarterback Frank Ryan and wide receiver Gary Collins, who combined for three touchdown passes, and the members of an unheralded defense, especially a longtime veteran newcomer in 33-year-old defensive tackle Dick Modzelewski, a former member of the enemy, the hated, arch rival New York Giants, who really led the way.
The Cavs have a lot of great players and one of the best of all-time in LeBron James, but the Warriors have more, including the reigning two-time NBA MVP in Steph Curry.
The Cavs had the best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference.
The Warriors were better – much better, in fact — in setting a league record with a 73-9 mark.
The Cavs have never won an NBA title.
The Warriors are going for two straight crowns.
The Western Conference has produced the last two NBA champions, and five of seven.
Put all this together and the Warriors are overwhelming favorites to win Sunday.
According to the oddsmakers, the Cavs don’t have a chance.
But if the Cavs are really committed to that “all for one, and one for all” moniker…
And if the very good players surrounding LeBron and Kyrie Irving give them plenty of help…
And if the Cavs execute head coach Tyronn Lue’s “move-the-ball, push the ball and play tough, aggressive defense” game plan with near-perfection, including getting an especially huge game from a longtime veteran such as, say, 35-year-old Richard Jefferson, who formerly played with the enemy, the Warriors …
And if the stars are all aligned in just the right way…
Then perhaps …
