Did anyone watch A Football Life Cleveland 95 last night?

[no1brownsfan]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

I watched it and find out things I never knew like

1. The current Lions coach being on the Browns coaching staff

2. Eric Mangini being a young coach on the Browns coaching staff

3. The Browns actually having a good season and making the playoffs in 1994


I'm so used to the Browns losing that I often forget they have made the playoffs in certain seasons.

It certainly has been awhile, that's for sure! Again, it just shows what could have or actually SHOULD HAVE BEEN in Cleveland! Instead, us Browns fans ended up with a turd sandwich, and a huge presence of fans from it's rival in their own back yard!

BTW don't forget they actually did make the playoffs in 2002, and just missed them in 2007, because they couldn't seal the deal against the Bengals, which allowed the Tennessee Titans to creep into that 6th and final spot with a win against the Colts in the final game of the regular season.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

Speaking of the "A Football Life" one hour special, NFL films is coming out with a dvd set of all the one hour bios they did last year. Not sure what the cost is, the NFL Channel didn't say, but I'm pretty sure Amazon.com probably is already distributing it.

A couple observations here;

As always NFL Films does first rate work, and this one hour bio is just the latest example.

I wished they would have shown a few more reactions from some of Cleveland's past. I remember ESPN asking for reactions from a number of older Cleveland Brown players; players from their teams from the 80's like Hanford Dixon, Brian Brennan, Mike Johnson, and Bob Golic. And also players from way back.

And you don't get players much further back in the Browns storied history and having one player tied into that history from one player who was there for the Browns first NFL championship in 1946 to their last NFL championship in 1964. He played for Cleveland for 21 years and was/is one of my favorite old school NFL guys-Lou Groza. It was galling to all Brown fans to watch this thing go down the way it did but all the more galling to players like Groza, Otto Graham, Gene Hickerson, Leroy Kelly, (all HOFers BTW) and many others. Groza just blew up in that interview. Just blew up. I don't blame him.

Was Cleveland selling out Municipal Stadium in their last few years? No. But they were still pulling in 65,000 to 75,000 fans for games in their last few years (with maybe 4 or 5 games in those three years being an exception) and I have a fact book to prove it. But Belichick had to rebuild the club. In his 2nd and 3rd year he was 7-9, and 11-5 in 1994. Take a look at the L.A. Rams, the L.A. Raiders, the Houston Oilers, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Baltimore Colts. With those clubs in those last couple years the fans essentially quit coming.

The Cleveland fans didn't.

DoubleH, as usual, really nails it with this post. When it comes to measuring fan loyalty versus success on the field, I would put the Browns fans at the very top of the best fans list in the NFL. Both leading to 1995, and then in their second incarnation, the support this city yields is second to none, more than the Packers, the Broncos or the Redskins. The Redskins have even had to remove seats from FedEx Field over the past couple of years in order to maintain supply/demand. It happens to even the most passionate fan bases, when the team begins to wane when it comes to success on the field. The Browns fans have been remarkably loyal if you use this barometer as a gauge.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by no1brownsfan

It certainly has been awhile, that's for sure! Again, it just shows what could have or actually SHOULD HAVE BEEN in Cleveland! Instead, us Browns fans ended up with a turd sandwich, and a huge presence of fans from it's rival in their own back yard!

BTW don't forget they actually did make the playoffs in 2002, and just missed them in 2007, because they couldn't seal the deal against the Bengals, which allowed the Tennessee Titans to creep into that 6th and final spot with a win against the Colts in the final game of the regular season.

Please don't remind me about 2002. I was so damm mad and wanted Butch Davis to be fired because of the Browns losing that huge lead against the Steelers LOL

[no1brownsfan]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

Please don't remind me about 2002. I was so damm mad and wanted Butch Davis to be fired because of the Browns losing that huge lead against the Steelers LOL

Are you a Browns fan? And yeah that game against Pittsburgh was like getting kicked in the nuts! We had those SOBs on the ropes, and the Browns go and let the crowd back into the game! I honestly saw it coming.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by no1brownsfan

Are you a Browns fan? And yeah that game against Pittsburgh was like getting kicked in the nuts! We had those SOBs on the ropes, and the Browns go and let the crowd back into the game! I honestly saw it coming.

When a team has MO on it's side it's nothing that can stop a rally. No I;m not a Browns Fan but I was rooting for them because I hate Pittsburgh and when they blew a 24-7 lead in the 3rd qtr I was out done.


And this was before the BIG BEN era

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by TVandSportsGuy

When a team has MO on it's side it's nothing that can stop a rally. No I;m not a Browns Fan but I was rooting for them because I hate Pittsburgh and when they blew a 24-7 lead in the 3rd qtr I was out done.


And this was before the BIG BEN era

The Browns could have helped themselves if they drafted Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 instead of Kellen Winslow Jr.

[FBJ]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

The Browns could have helped themselves if they drafted Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 instead of Kellen Winslow Jr.

Kelly Holcomb was a pretty good QB for the Browns that day, almost 500 yds passing and 3 TD's