Cleveland. It quite possibly ranks higher on the sports misery scale than any other city in America. They have 3 major sports teams, the Indians in baseball, the Browns in football, and the Cavaliers in basketball. They used to have a 4th, the NHL’s Cleveland Barons, but they will be remembered as the last of the 4 major sports leagues’ teams to completely fold and disappear from the league, and no one can forget the original Browns bolting to Baltimore in 1996. Cleveland has not enjoyed a championship since the Browns won the 1964 NFL title, and this was during the time period where the AFL was also playing games but there was no Super Bowl, so technically, they have not enjoyed an “undisputed” championship since the Browns won the 1955 NFL title. The Indians have only won 2 world titles in over 100 years of existence, and if it wasn’t for the Cubs they would have the longest World Series drought of any team, last winning in 1948. LeBron James and the Cavaliers are the shining hope for the city right now. He led them to the finals in 2007 and has a chance to do it again this year, but before James was drafted, the Cavs only made it as far as the Eastern Conference finals twice since they joined the league in 1970. Not much history there….
So which direction should we go for position in the spotlight? The Browns have had the most success of the 3 franchises, and are also probably the most popular team in town. They are also known for having arguably the greatest running back of all time, Jim Brown. So running back is an easy choice here, right? I don’t think so. Jamal Lewis is a very good running back, but I don’t really think any Cleveland fans watch him with the expectation of filling Jim Brown’s massive shoes, and they haven’t really had a solid running back that was with the team for several years since the early 90s. So, for my position in the spotlight pick, I’m choosing a position that many highly touted college players have attempted, but few have enjoyed a large amount of success at. That position is Cleveland Browns Quarterback.
The bar was set high for the Browns when they started play in the AAFC back in 1946 with their inaugural Quarterback, Otto Graham. Graham was actually a star tailback at Northwestern before being drafted by the Lions (4th overall in 1944), but after a term of service in the coast guard and a new contract from the Browns, he switched to quarterback. Graham turned the brand new franchise into the most feared team in football and won 4 consecutive AAFC titles from 1946-1949 before the league merged with the NFL in 1950. As one of only 2 teams (49ers were the other) to actually join the NFL in the merger, their AAFC titles were looked down upon by the rest of the league, but Graham shut up the detractors and won the 1950 NFL championship. He then led the Browns back to the NFL championship game in 1951, 1952, and 1953, where they lost, but then won the NFL championship in 1954 and 1955 before retiring. In total, he won 7 championships and 10 title game appearances in 10 years of play, and has the best winning percentage of any quarterback to ever play.
Filling in for Graham was Tommy O’Connell, who led the Browns back to the title game in 1957, which also happened to be Jim Brown’s rookie year. After a few mediocre seasons with Milt Plum, Frank Ryan brought some balance back to the team, leading the NFL is passing TDs in 1964 and winning another NFL title for the Browns. The Browns also returned to the NFL title game in 1965 with Ryan, which was Jim Brown’s last season. The tandom of Bill Nelsen and hall of fame RB Leroy Kelly, resulted in 2 more trips to the NFL title game for the Browns in 1968 in 1969.
Shortly after the merger the Browns began to sink, and taking over for Bill Nelson was highly touted college prospect Mike Phipps, who the Browns drafted 3rd overall in 1970. Phipps enjoyed a nice first season as starter in the record books, but not with his individual stats. The retirement of Leroy Kelly and Phipps’ high number of interceptions quickly dropped the Browns to one of the worst teams in the league, and backup QB Brian Sipe wasn’t providing much help. Sipe eventually became the starter in 1976, and the Browns wallowed in mediocrity (except in 1980) until Sipe retired in 1983.
After a year of former backup Paul McDonald in 1984, the Browns grabbed Miami’s Bernie Kosar with the first pick of the 1985 supplemental draft (because there were issues with his eligibility during the actual draft) and was named starter after a few games. Kosar helped turn the franchise around, leading the Browns to 3 AFC title games in the late 80s, but he couldn’t get over the hump, losing all 3 to the Broncos. Kosar started to fade in the early 90s, eventually being released in 1993 after being replaced by Vinny Testeverde. Testeverde was another highly touted college quarterback from Miami, drafted #1 overall by the Buccaneers. He basically did what he does best, play mediocre.
When the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, the were given the 1st pick in the NFL draft. Coincidentally, 1999’s quarterback class was being compared at the time to 1983’s, with 5 quarterbacks being selected in the first round. The Browns went with Kentucky’s Tim Couch. Couch failed to live up to expectations and the Browns struggled with him. The Browns struggled to find a decent replacement for Couch after releasing him, and returned to the draft well once again in 2007, picking up Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn, who slipped dramatically in the first round, giving the Browns the chance to pick him up. The Browns cut Charlie Frye after only one game in 2007 and promoted Quinn to backup behind another youngster, Derek Anderson. Anderson then proceeded to come out of nowhere and have a great season, leaving Quinn on the bench, and raising Cleveland’s fans hopes that Anderson might be “the one.” Unfortunately, Anderson came back down to earth last season and injuries destroyed the team. It seems likely Quinn will win the starting spot this year, and he will try to buck the nearly 40 year trend of top quarterback prospects failing to lead the Browns to the promised land.
Honorable Mention: Cleveland Browns running back: The Browns started their existence with 3 excellent hall of fame running backs, Marion Motley, Jim Brown, and Leroy Kelly. Since then they have had some other good running backs in Greg Pruitt, Kevin Mack, and Earnest Byner, but haven’t had a consistent running back since returning to the NFL in 1999.
Whoever ends up replacing Lebron James as the Cav’s star player: He won’t be as good as LeBron. Fans won’t like him. I promise, I’ve seen it happen with my favorite team, the Bulls.
I couldn’t think of a good single position for the Indians. Feel free to post your suggestions in the comments.
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