Your favorite NFL games

While the move wasn't officially announced yet, word had gotten out about the move a couple weeks earlier, when the Browns had a home game against the Oilers. My cousin was in the Punt, Pass and Kick contest finals, which were being conducted before the game. My mom and got tickets to go down there and watch. My memories from that game:

- Hearing on the radio during our drive downtown that bomb threats had been phoned in to the stadium.
- Advertising around the stadium being turned upside-down and backwards or blacked out entirely.
- A frightening drunk in a neon orange hunting suit sitting two seats away from me, eyeballing my mom and me pretty much the entire game.
- A venomous, RABID crowd booing just about everything that happened. "Modell sucks!" chants were about the only thing that interrupted the booing. I don't know how to properly explain the bitterness here, but I'll try: There's "I'm watching my team play like shit" anger, and there's "I'm watching the team I've devoted heart and soul to implode a couple days after I hear that they're moving out of town".

It was the most uncomfortable, surreal experience I've ever had at a sporting event.

I had a flashback to that game this weekend, when the Ravens played the Titans. In another world, that's an AFC Central matchup of Browns at Oilers.

 

I remember being at the very last home game of the "real" Browns, against the Bengals. The one overriding memory is the sound of drills pulling whole rows of seats out and of cherry bombs being tossed at the Bengals players as they were down in the Dawg Pound end of the stadium in the fourth quarter.

 

Sounds like eight Sundays a year at Veterans Stadium.

 

In no particular order (you know my prejudice here):

Super Bowl 36: What an emotional day. I don't think I've ever been as wired during a football game, particularly as the minutes ticked down and it looked like the Pats might actually pull this thing off (not to mention scanning the curtain behind U2 in vain trying to find the name of one of my former CYO basketball teammates who had left his Marsh & McLennan home office in Jersey to give a speech at HQ and, well, you know...). I politely told Madden where he could go when he mentioned playing for OT - the Pats' defense, as great as it played for three quarters, was on vapor. If the Rams won the toss, game over. I just dropped to my knees when Vinatieri hit the field goal. Still don't know how Mrs. T. sat through all that.
The Tuck Rule: I just remember screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" at the top of my voice when Brady lost the ball. When the call was reversed, I just got that feeling the Pats were a team of destiny. Greatest. Clutch. Kick. Ever.
The Catch: Given how bad the Pats were in '81, I just put everything behind whoever Dallas was playing. I remember saying to the TV midway through the fourth quarter, "Dammit, Niners, you cannot turn the ball over SIX times and beat Dallas!" That game left me running a few minutes late for a date, and she responded to my explanation with one of the greatest lines I've ever heard from anyone about anything: "The only thing I like about football is Joe Montana, and he's married."
'86 Patriots-Rams: Pats trailed by 12 with under five minutes left. Tony Eason led them downfield to a touchdown, they got a three and out, and took the ball back with under two minutes left. Eason led them downfield again, and from about the Ram 20 on the game's final play, threw a jump ball in the corner of the end zone, and Irving Fryar came down in bounds with it. I remember thinking this was the moment Eason became a superstar. Didn't quite work out that way.
'85 AFC title game: To understand the enormity of winning this game (beyond getting the Pats to their first Super Bowl), you have to understand the 16 years of horror in South Florida that preceded it. The Pats won at Miami in '66, the Fish' first year in the AFL (they won again in '69, in Tampa), but lost at the Orange Bowl in every heartbreaking and humiliating fashion imaginable until that muddy January night Tony Collins and Craig James absolutely ran the ball down their throats. The bar I watched it in wasn't whooping it up as much as you might think - we were all in shock and delighted disbelief.

 

Odd story about the Tuck Rule game. One of the reasons Woodson made that play was because the Raiders knew what the Pats were going to run. Eric Allen, who was a corner for the Raiders then, was talking about it on one of the ESPN shows once. Seems the play before, he was lingering near the Pats sideline cleaning his cleats or talking to a ref or some such, and he overheard Brady and Belichick talking about their options. The play they settled on, he recognized some of the terminology and tipped off his teammates.
Makes you wonder what would've happened if he hadn't heard it. Maybe Brady throws incomplete or takes a normal sack and we're spared eight years of Darth Hoodie.

 

I'd love to hear this for myself. But, of course, even if this was widely known people would just dismiss it. I mean, it's not cheating unless you're the Patriots, right?

 

No, it's not cheating because he didn't do anything against the rules. The Patriots, on the other hand, did violate the rules and kept on doing it even after they were warned to cut it out.

 

Best NFL game: 1981 Chargers, Dolphins

Best football game ever: 1984 Orange Bowl

Best game only a select few saw: 2002 high school playoff game I covered. Team trailed 10-0 at halftime. After getting blanked for 24 minutes, they couldn't be stopped in the second half. Scored 31 points to take a 31-24 lead late in the game. Trailing team converted a fourth-and-21 on a pass to Ryne Robinson, who went on to have a standout career at Miami (OH), then scored in the final seconds. Robinson was the holder on the PAT. They faked the PAT and Robinson hit the pylon just before the defender got him for a 32-31 win.

 

Art eats shit.

That is all.

 

1. Raiders 37, Colts 31, double overtime, Christmas Eve, 1977 Eight lead changes between Stabler-led Raiders and Bert Jones-led Colts. Featured "Ghost to the Post" play that set up game-tying field goal in regulation and TD reception, also by Dave Casper, on a bootleg by Stabler for the game winner.

2. Chargers 41, Dolphins 38, 1981 divisional playoff game. Kellen Winslow put on one of the most remarkable performances I've seen in any sport in the four-hour thriller. Pure entertainment.

3. Cowboys 24, Redskins 23, Thanksgiving Day, 1974. Staubach gets knocked out and Clint Longley comes in to throw 2 TDs, including game-winner to Drew Pearson in final minute. Kind of nostalgic feel on this one because half our family was crammed into my grandfather's sun room to watch the second half.

4. Packers 21, Cowboys 17, '67 NFL Championship Ice Bowl, 14 below, Starr vs. Meredith. I was nine years old and this is the game that really made me a fan. Also recall reading Kramer's book, Instant Replay, as soon as it came out.

 

1. Jets 24, Bills 17 in 1993. Jets absolutely sucked that year (like many other years) and the Bills were on their way to another Super Bowl. Yet the Jets managed to dig deep to win one for Dennis Byrd, who was paralyzed the week before.

2. Giants 15, 49ers 13 in 1990 NFC Championship game. Matt Bahr's game-winning field goal. LT stripping the ball from Roger Craig when all hope looked lost. SF was the elite team in the NFL, so to beat them was an incredible accomplishment. Which led to ....

3. Giants 20, Bills 19 in Super Bowl XXV. Scott Norwood, wide right, 'nuff said.

4. Giants 17, Patriots 14 in last year's Super Bowl. What an incredible run by NY through the playoffs.

5. Cowboys 16, Giants 13 in OT, 1993. Giants needed to win to make the playoffs on the last day of the season and they had to do it against the best team in football. They didn't win, but they played them awfully tough. After the crappy Ray Handley era, I was proud of them anyways for coming so close.

 

My top 5:

5. Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins, December 13, 1992: One year after dominating the National Football League en route to winning the team's third Super Bowl trophy, the Redskins were in a dog fight to make the playoffs. They faced the team that would eventually win that season's Super Bowl, making it the first of three Super Bowls in four years the Cowboys would win. The Cowboys had the young stars: Quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, wide receiver Michael Irvin and all the arrogance to match. The Redskins had a struggling offense run by a hurting quarterback (Mark Rypien). They managed to score one touchdown, but could only muster two Chip Lohmiller field goals. Then a fourth-down attempt went for naught. On second down came the play that led many Cowboys fans to scream for an incomplete pass. Or at worst, a safety. But after deliberation and discussion, they raised their arms skyward. Touchdown. Redskins 20, Cowboys 17.

4. Miami Dolphins vs. Washington Redskins (Super Bowl XVII), January 30, 1983: A Redskins team that started 0-5 the season before in Joe Gibbs's first year as head coach got off to an 0-4 beginning in preseason. The Skins then won their first two games of the regular season before a players' strike wiped out approximately half the season. The league ended up playing a truncated nine-game schedule and inaugurated a "tournament" for the right to go to the Super Bowl. Eight teams made the playoffs in each conference, and the Redskins were one of two that finished the regular season 8-1. Unlike the Los Angeles Raiders, the Redskins held serve, dominating 4-5 Detroit 31-7, 5-4 Minnesota 21-7 and 6-3 Dallas 31-17 en route to Pasadena. The Dolphins came in with swagger and a veteran coach in Don Shula who'd been to the Super Bowl four times in all. The game didn't start out promising for the Redskins, who gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown and needed a pass defensed from quarterback Joe Theismann to stay in the game. Finally, Gibbs gambled on fourth down, handing the ball to John Riggins. Forty-three yards later, the Redskins had their first lead of the game, ultimately winning 27-17.

3. Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants (Super Bowl XXXV), January 28, 2001: I'm an acknowledged Redskins fanboi looser. However, I also like the Baltimore Ravens. I frequently tell people the only time I root against the Ravens is when they play the Redskins. That held true this day. I was living in an apartment with a couple of straight guys, and one was a major Ravens fan. We lined up in the living room to watch the game, all of us cheering for the purple clad warriors from Charm City. It'd be nice to say we all felt confident that the Ravens and their punishing defense would squash the will of the Giants, but I can't say that I felt that certain about it. However, the game happened and the Giants only mustered a kickoff return for a touchdown. Meanwhile, a Baltimore offense that failed to score an offensive touchdown in five straight games got on track in this game, leading the way to a dominating 34-7 victory.

2. Washington Redskins vs. Denver Broncos (Super Bowl XXII), January 31, 1988: Another strike year, another Redskins team that successfully navigated through it. This time, the league only canceled one game, requiring the teams to make up the games with replacement players. Unlike most teams, the Redskins didn't have a single veteran cross the picket line. Meanwhile, they played teams that had some bona fide NFL players on their rosters during the three weeks the league would use replacement players. However, that didn't stop Washington. They beat the St. Louis Cardinals 28-21 in a game that had Redskins fans chanting, "stay on strike!" "Stay on strike!" They walloped the "defending Super Bowl champion" New York Giants, who were but a shadow of their championship selves. On a Monday Night Football game with their starting quarterback injured and a lot of Cowboys veterans facing them, the Scabskins somehow rallied behind an ex-con backup quarterback and defeated Dallas 13-7. When the team got to the playoffs, Joe Gibbs benched ineffective starting quarterback Jay Schroeder for backup Doug Williams, who eventually became the first black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl. More to the point, he also tied or broke a number of Super Bowl records including longest touchdown pass (80 yards to Ricky Sanders), four touchdown passes in a quarter, 340 yards passing. After leading 10-0, Denver had no chance. Redskins 42, Broncos 10.

1. Washington Redskins vs. Buffalo Bills (Super Bowl XXVI), January 26, 1992: The game that would prove to be the last hurrah for the Washington Redskins under Joe Gibbs. Unlike the first two seasons, no player strife chopped the season short. And there was no question which team was the best team in football the entire season. The Redskins not only beat some of the strongest teams in the league, they smashed many of them. Detroit, with or without Barry Sanders? 45-0. The Eagles, who had the temerity to ask if the Skins needed body bags the year before? 23-0. They obliterated the Atlanta Falcons 56-17 behind 442 passing yards and six touchdown passes from Mark Rypien. They would finish the regular season 14-2, earning the top seed in the NFC playoffs. They beat Atlanta in a rematch 24-7, where Rypien made one of the hardest hits of the game. They destroyed a Detroit team 41-10 that whipped Dallas the week before. Then they played the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI. The Bills might have thought it was their turn after losing by one point to the Giants the previous year. The Redskins had other ideas. Washington 37, Buffalo 24.