2008: The Year of the Brown

A 10-6 season with a high-scoring offense in 2007 has resulted in the NFL rewarding our beloved Brownies with 5 prime time appearances in 2008.

Five.

Unheard of. The previous high for primetime games for the Browns was three. Granted, in the glory days of the late 1980s there was only Monday Night Football whereas now we have Thursday, Sunday, AND Monday night telecasts to contend with. But still, 5 games in primetime means that the NFL brass (and not just The House of Gordon) expects big things from this team.

Dare we say they are the team to beat in the AFC North?

Sports Illustrated article.
Browns beat writer Tony Grossi article.

The schedule:

Preseason
Thur., Aug. 7 New York Jets 7:30 p.m. (WKYC TV-3)
Mon., Aug. 18 at New York Giants 8:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Sat., Aug. 23 at Detroit Lions 4:00 p.m. (WKYC TV-3)
Thur., Aug. 28 Chicago Bears 7:30 p.m. (WKYC TV-3)

Regular Season
Sun., Sept. 7 Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m. (FOX)
Sun., Sept. 14 Pittsburgh Steelers 8:15 p.m. (NBC)
Sun., Sept. 21 at Baltimore Ravens 4:15 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Sept. 28 at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Oct. 5 Bye Week
Mon., Oct. 13 New York Giants 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Sun., Oct. 19 at Washington Redskins 4:15 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Oct. 26 at Jacksonville Jaguars 4:05 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Nov. 2 Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Thur., Nov. 6 Denver Broncos 8:15 p.m. (NFL Network)
Mon., Nov. 17 at Buffalo Bills 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Sun., Nov. 23 Houston Texans 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Nov. 30 Indianapolis Colts 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Dec. 7 at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Mon., Dec. 15 at Philadelphia Eagles 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Sun., Dec. 21 Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Dec. 28 at Pittsburgh Steelers 1:00 p.m. (CBS)

Brett Lorenzo Favre

• 
  After 17 seasons in the NFL, Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre has retired. The wear and tear mentally, rather than physically, proved to be the final straw. Peter King reported that the phrase "I'm tired" was uttered four times in a voicemail to him.
  
  Favre was one of the most entertaining players we have ever seen. It was always fun to travel to Wisconsin to visit family (especially during football season) and be completely and utterly enveloped in all things Favre. The heroics of his game-winning touchdowns were often offset by gut-wrenching interceptions, leaving you wondering what type of excitement he would inject into a game. But either way, he left an indelible imprint upon the contest.
  
  His boyish attitude and 100% fun on the field will most definitely be missed.
  
  Pro-Football-Reference.com lists his stats and records. He retires as the all-time leader in:
  
• Attempts - 8,758
• Completions - 5,377
• Yards - 61,655
• Touchdowns - 442
• Interceptions - 288
• Consecutive Games Started - 253

Incredible.

Super Bowl XLII

The New York Football Giants win Super Bowl XLII 17-14 over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots, and the House of Gordon could not be happier. Kudos to the mouth-breather lesser Manning brother as he leads his team to victory, and those pompous pricks the Patriots to a stunning loss.

No longer perfect, dear Patriots. 18-1. Kimberly's brother in alumni matters, Don Shula (John Carroll University class of 1951) remains the last head coach of an undefeated NFL football team. Screw you Bill Belichick! Thank you for allowing the talk of you being a "genius coach" to subside for a bit. Where was your brainy activity when you coached the Browns?

Ass.

Congratulations, New York Football Giants.

Hawaii-bound!

For years the House of Gordon has rallied for the cause of acquiring good offensive linemen in football. (And also for quality starting pitching in baseball, but that's for another season.) Statements like "Joe Montana would SUCK as a Cleveland Brown with our offensive line." were commonplace around here. The Browns drafted left tackle Joe Thomas from Wisconsin with the #3 pick in last year's draft, and the House of Gordon celebrated. Maybe, after a quarter of a century, the Browns brass may again "get it". Finally, after the smallest number of quarterback sacks allowed in recent memory, plus a 1,300-yard rusher in the mix, a *gasp* Cleveland Brown offensive lineman has made the NFL's all-star game: the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

And there was much rejoicing.

To truly understand the futility of Cleveland Brown offensive lines past, look at the sparse recent history of league-identified lineman all-stars from northeast Ohio:

Thomas becomes the first Browns' offensive lineman to make the Pro Bowl since Cody Risien 20 years ago, following the 1987 season. He's the first Browns' left tackle to be named to the game since Doug Dieken following the 1980 season, and the first Browns rookie to go since Chip Banks following the 1982 season.

Quite a drought: 20 years for any lineman, and 27 years for a left tackle. The times, they maybe are a-changin'. Good for you, Brownies!

Damn Browns.

Another year of dangling hope in front of us only to just tear it away in a brutal manner. 10-6 is still a helluva lot better than last year, but still..."what could have been"? Just had to split the two games against the Steelers instead of losing both, or win that most recent game against Cincinnati, or beat a lowly Raiders team, or Arizona even. But no. Not to be. The Browns will watch the playoffs like the rest of us peons do: on television.

I'd like to give the Indianapolis Colt backups a big F.U. for laying such a stinker against the Titans on Sunday night. Get a goddamn first down, Jim Sorgi. But it's not all Indy's fault. If we can't get in on our own accord, we don't deserve to get in at all.

Dammit.

(Go Packers!)

The Gordons are HUGE Colts fans.

So, the Browns again turned the Gordon switch from rapturously exciting to deliriously frustrating Sunday by losing to the Cincinnitucky Bungholes. Beat them and a spot in the playoffs is ours. What'd we do?

Lose 19-14.

Infuriating.

So now, the Brownies and the Tennessee Titans are both 9-6. The Browns play the NFC's 49ers next week, and the Titans play their AFC rival Colts. The Browns losing to the Bungholes (an AFC team) has resulted in the scenario that if the Titans beat the Colts (an AFC team), the Titans would have a better conference record and thereby make the playoffs...even if the Browns win and they end up with identical 10-6 records.

Tennessee wins and Tennessee's in. Tennessee loses and Tennessee's out. The Browns can just sit and watch, they don't even need to beat the 49ers. By virtue of a Titan AFC loss dropping them to 9-7, the Browns gain the edge in the tiebreaker if they too end up 9-7.

Confused yet?

Basically, the House of Gordon is banking on this man to take it to the Titans and drop them to 9-7 this Sunday:

But of course, the Colts have the #2 seed locked up for the AFC playoffs no matter the outcome, so the above-pictured hero will most probably sit on the bench for most of the game, making a Titan victory all the more possible, leaving the Browns to yet again watch January football on TV like the rest of us.

It's so painful to be a Browns fan sometimes....

---

edit: per the Browns email newsletter, they state it much more succinctly:

The Browns and Titans are both 9-6 heading into the season's final week. The Titans play at Indianapolis in a game that means nothing to the Colts, who have clinched a first-round bye. If the Colts win, the Browns are in. If the Titans win, the Browns are out. Here's why...

**The Titans are 6-5 in AFC play; the Browns are 7-5. If the Titans win next week and finish 7-5, it goes to the third tiebreaker, common opponents, and the Titans win that based on the Browns' losses to Oakland and Cincinnati. The Titans lost to Cincinnati but beat Oakland, the Jets and Houston twice.

**The only way the Browns' result next week against San Francisco means anything in regards to the playoff race is if the Titans and Colts would tie. In that case, the Browns would be in with a win.

**Assuming the Titans and Colts don't tie, here's what lies ahead for the Browns: A win, and they're 10-6 and looking at the tiebreakers. A loss, and they'd still be in if Tennessee loses at Indy based on their 7-5 conference record.

December Football

Wow. Sunday the beloved Cleveland Browns defeat the Buffalo Bills at home 8-0. That's right. 8-0. Two field goals and a safety.

Cleveland.com had a great photo gallery from the game. Here are some favorites. Now THIS is how December football should be played. What a fun game....

An Obituary Barely Mentioned in the News

Yesterday on Tuesday, pro football hall of famer Bill Willis passed away at the age of 86. A passing is sad no matter who is involved, but this one hits hard because Bill Willis was an historic man in an historic time. You see, Bill Willis was the first black collegiate All-American player for THE Ohio State University, and was also the "first" black professional football player to cross the color line and keep it integrated.

And this barely made the national news outlets.

Granted he wasn't the "first", but according to this post on the Pro Football Hall of fame's website back in September 2006,

In its earliest days, American pro football was technically an integrated sport. Four African Americans played pro football prior to the founding of the National Football League in 1920. During the NFL's first 14 seasons, 13 African Americans played, but most managed only brief careers. However, from 1934 through 1945, there were no African Americans playing pro football. Then in 1946, a full year before baseball great Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, Paul Brown signed two African American players he knew from earlier coaching days, a bruising lineman named Bill Willis, and a powerful fullback Marion Motley. Brown and his two players went on to Hall of Fame careers, but more importantly; Motley and Willis' appearance in Browns uniforms and their eventual successes were the first steps in the permanent integration of professional football.

The Associated Press released a modest obituary:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Bill Willis, a Hall of Fame guard with the Cleveland Browns who also was Ohio State's first black football All-American, has died. He was 86.

Willis, who had been battling a short illness, died Tuesday evening, said school spokesman Steve Snapp, who was notified of the death by one of Willis' sons. No other details were released.

Willis, an All-American in 1943 and 1944, had his No. 99 jersey retired at halftime of the Wisconsin-Ohio State game on Nov. 3 at Ohio Stadium. He had a distinguished career with the Browns (1946-53), helping to break the color barrier in professional football.

Willis was inducted into both the college and pro football Halls of Fame. Willis played both offense and defense for the Browns but won acclaim as a defensive middle guard on a five-man front. He made a touchdown-saving tackle in a playoff game against the New York Giants that allowed the Browns to advance and eventually win the 1950 championship game in their first year in the NFL.

With the Buckeyes, Willis was a devastating blocker on offense and a punishing, relentless tackler on defense, despite his 6-foot-2, 215-pound frame. The Columbus native was a key part of the Buckeyes' 1942 national championship squad.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer had the following stories in the newspaper:
Bill Willis Dies and Browns Reaction to the Death of Bill Willis

Baseball's Jackie Robinson is canonized and virtually made into an outright deity. Rightly so. The contributions of Marion Motley and Bill Willis in football follow a parallel path. The passing of Bill Willis should have garnered more national notoriety than it did. Here's hoping this modest blog post gave you pause to consider what he had to go through in his professional sporting life. Rest in peace.

7 - 4 ????

Seriously? 7-4?

Are you kidding me? The mighty Cleveland Browns are 7-4? Their first 5-game home winning streak since 1994? Had you told me before this season started that after 11 games...

1. The Browns would have a winning record
2. Romeo Crennel would still be the head coach
3. QB Brady Quinn would have not yet taken a snap
4. The Browns would be in the driver's seat for a wildcard playoff spot
5. The House of Gordon would not be physically nauseous week in and week out

I would have eaten my hat.

Sometimes it feels so good to be so wrong. Go Browns! Woof, woof!