A Football Life: Cleveland 95

[SeoulSoxFan]

As SoxScout posted, it's on this evening.

Here's a 8 minute preview. Looks awesome - it's incredible the number of brain powers that were coaching that team: BB, Kirk Ferentz, Ernie Adams, Mike Sheppard, Scott O'Brien, Jim Bates, etc., with Mike "Right Hand" Lombardi as the GM.

http://www.nfl.com/v...Life-sneak-peek

http://en.wikipedia....d_Browns_season

The lasting images are those of the fans cutting off bench seats and throwing it into the field at the last game. Unbelievable.

 

[Seels]

This is incredible. I hope they put these 'A Football Life" out on DVD sometime. Everyone of them is just amazing.

 

[RedOctober3829]

This is incredible. I hope they put these 'A Football Life" out on DVD sometime. Everyone of them is just amazing.

You can buy the first season on DVD.

 

[Rough Carrigan]

Shouldn't there be some mention that scumbag Art Modell owed something like $200 million? He was such a horrible businessman that he had put himself that much in the hole and the reason the team moved was that Art Modell was massively in debt and was going to get a huge (something like $50 million) payment from Baltimore to move his team. Art Modell fucked over Cleveland because he wasn't man enough to go into bankruptcy like he should have. Period.

 

[Freddy Linn]

Funny, I glanced at the team photo at the end and all I saw was Jim McMahon.

Great production, even better sweaters.

 

[Soxy]

For those of us without cable, is there a nether-region of the internet where one might be able to download and view this? If one were so inclined.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

If you missed it--like I did--it's re-airing at 1:00 am.

 

[Three10toLeft]

If you missed it--like I did--it's re-airing at 1:00 am.

Thank you, sir.

DVR is now set. Looks like a great documentary.

A Football Life Season 1 is also available on iTunes, by the episode or as a package deal.

$30 for the season doesn't seem too bad, but I might just cherry pick a few.

Edit: They are also available in hi-def on iTunes, I kinda doubt the NFL made these in Blu-Ray format, for what it's worth.

 

[BrazilianSoxFan]

Just me or Bill spent half the time wearing a garbage bag?

 

[SoxScout]

It's up in 6 parts on youtube: youtube.com/watch?v=BgSHCS5QW-8

Very good as everyone has said, that staff was just insane. I don't understand why was Belichick was hated and hung in effigy..?

 

[Jettisoned]

I don't understand why was Belichick was hated and hung in effigy..?

There are a lot of really stupid sports fans.

 

[54thMA]

Great program, watched it live last night, DVR'd it and watched it again earlier today.

Why Bill was the scapegoat is beyond me, he's not the one who moved the team.

Can't think of another city with a worse sports history than Cleveland; Lebron leaves and wins a championship in Miami, they have no hockey team, their baseball team hasn't won a world series in 53 years despite being loaded in the late 90's (that team should have one at least one WS title), then they have the Browns.

They suffered two gut wrenching AFCCG losses to Denver back to back ("The Fumble" was worse than "The Drive" IMO), not to mention that kick in the balls playoff loss to the eventual super bowl winners, the Raiders back in 1980 when all they needed do to was kick a field goal but has a pass intercepted in the end zone. Then they are Super Bowl favorites in 1995 only to have the whole season implode once the announcement that they were moving came out.

Then the clincher is the Browns move to Baltimore and win a Super Bowl, while the city gets their Browns back in the form of an expansion team and have not won a playoff game in the 14 years since.

What a nightmare.

 

[quint]

Why Bill was the scapegoat is beyond me, he's not the one who moved the team.

No he wasn't, and for as effective a job as the documentary does in vocalizing the Browns fan's collective anguish, it is almost impossible to describe just how tightly the team was woven into the city's fabric then. When Modell announced the move Cleveland went off it's rocker. And if you believe Bill to be standoffish and short during media obligations currently, he openly loathed dealing with it during the early nineties.

Once it was crystal clear there was no way on earth the Brown's weren't moving to Baltimore the local scribes went after Belichick with zeal. That coupled with players giving up on what could have been a Super Bowl season and the previous goodwill he had built up with fans and management got swept under constant negative publicity.

In a way, it really was something to behold.

 

[Van Everyman]

Shouldn't there be some mention that scumbag Art Modell owed something like $200 million? He was such a horrible businessman that he had put himself that much in the hole and the reason the team moved was that Art Modell was massively in debt and was going to get a huge (something like $50 million) payment from Baltimore to move his team. Art Modell fucked over Cleveland because he wasn't man enough to go into bankruptcy like he should have. Period.

Agree that there probably could have been more about WHY Modell had to move the team -- I believe there was a single reference to "debts." But I think they decided to focus less on him in general and more on the team, what Bill and co were building, and how this stopped their development cold.

I don't think I realized that the whole ratfink coalition in NYJ originated under Bill (ie, Tanenbaum as well). Stunned that they're all singing his praises now.

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

Why Bill was the scapegoat is beyond me, he's not the one who moved the team.

I think the show touched on the way the fans responded when Belichick benched, then later cut Bernie Kosar in 1993. In "War Room" Michael Holley makes the argument that the fans never really forgave Belichick. Kosar was arguably the most popular athlete in Cleveland at the time. He was from Youngstown, OH. And he was one of the few athletes who wanted to play in Cleveland. Their anger with Belichick may have been misdirected, but the fans really deserved better.

I loved the scenes from the final home game where Ernest Byner and Steve Everitt were hugging the fans in the Dog Pound.

Another great episode in a wonderful series.

 

[Preacher]

It really does make me feel bad for the Cleveland fanbase. I work with a huge Browns fan and we watched the episode last night at work. Needless to say, he's still a little upset about the whole thing and what could have been if that team and coaching staff stayed put for a few more years.

I found it interesting that pretty much every coach said that's where they worked the hardest and learned the most.

 

[Dehere]

Agree that there probably could have been more about WHY Modell had to move the team -- I believe there was a single reference to "debts."

Yeah I watched this last night and didn't love it as much as I hoped to for exactly this reason. Pretty thin in explaining why it all went down the way it did.

On some level I could just watch any story about BB and his staff in any season. He's one of the most interesting figures in football history IMO. So the show was worth watching even if it didn't add much to what you already know about this specific season.

 

[riboflav]

It felt more like a prequel to the episode on BB's 2009 season than it did on Cleveland 1995 - that was almost backdrop.

 

[Bosoxen]

Yeah I watched this last night and didn't love it as much as I hoped to for exactly this reason. Pretty thin in explaining why it all went down the way it did.

On some level I could just watch any story about BB and his staff in any season. He's one of the most interesting figures in football history IMO. So the show was worth watching even if it didn't add much to what you already know about this specific season.

I was also initially disappointed that they didn't get much into that. But then I realized that they could probably do an entire two-hour special on just that subject matter alone. Sure, it would have been nice for them to at least give a little more mention as to the reasons why he moved the team (especially for those who don't know), but in the context of what the show was about, I was fine with them not really getting into it.

 

[quint]

I think the show touched on the way the fans responded when Belichick benched, then later cut Bernie Kosar in 1993. In "War Room" Michael Holley makes the argument that the fans never really forgave Belichick. Kosar was arguably the most popular athlete in Cleveland at the time. He was from Youngstown, OH. And he was one of the few athletes who wanted to play in Cleveland.

This has nothing to do with anything.

When Kosar was released it was due to his continued infatuation with sucking mule cock on football fields across America. The shock of his release was supplanted with the even greater shock that VinnyTestaverde was a competent NFL quarterback.

All the winning helped soften the blow.

 

[americantrotter]

I didn't think the NFL would kick dirt on Art's grave. It's not their style to be that hard-hitting.

I thought it was a great piece and I enjoyed watching it. What struck me beyond the amount of coaches/GM's was that 17 years removed I could feel for their fan base. I dont think it bothered me at the time beyond a youthful moral hatred of the Ravens that never subsided. Now that I am older (was 18 in 95) I really feel for Cleveland. All of those people go on to greatness that should have been yours.

I never put two and two together about what should have been because I always remembered the hatred for Belichick that probably never happens if that team stays put.

I have to say that it was hard to watch those scenes from after the final game It got a little dusty in my house.

I hope that city gets a championship soon. (Not at Boston's expense, I'm not that much of a wussy)

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Loved the second viewing as well.

Still shocked at the brain power. The "slappies", BB, Newsome, Saban. It could have won not one, but multiple SBs.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Loved the second viewing as well.

Still shocked at the brain power. The "slappies", BB, Newsome, Saban. It could have won not one, but multiple SBs.

It's very ironic right now that the biggest "rival" for the Patriots is Belichick's old franchise and Ozzie Newsome's Baltimore Ravens.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

This has nothing to do with anything.

When Kosar was released it was due to his continued infatuation with sucking mule cock on football fields across America. The shock of his release was supplanted with the even greater shock that VinnyTestaverde was a competent NFL quarterback.

All the winning helped soften the blow.

A guy on another board mentioned this: from the time BB got to Cleveland in 1991 to the time they announced the team was moving in 1995 (when the team was 4-4) the Browns went 11-18 with Kosar as QB, 25-20 with anyone else.

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

This has nothing to do with anything.

When Kosar was released it was due to his continued infatuation with sucking mule cock on football fields across America. The shock of his release was supplanted with the even greater shock that VinnyTestaverde was a competent NFL quarterback.

All the winning helped soften the blow.

I'm not saying Belichick was wrong to get rid of Kosar in 1993. Bernie was toast at that point, no doubt. Going to Testaverde was absolutely the right move.

Holley made a point that, rational or not, many fans never forgave Belichick for that. I'm merely reiterating that point to explain why the Browns fans turned on the head coach who had no part in the decision to move the team to Baltimore. Whether winning softened the blow, I have no idea. I didn't live in Cleveland at the time, nor was I a fan of the team.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

This is an article from the SI vault discussing Kosar's release. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138788/index.htm
BB was right to bench Kosar for Vinnie, but it seems pretty clear that many Browns fans disagreed, and were already down on BB when he released Kosar. I did not realize that Vinnie was injured when Kosar was released, leaving the immortal Todd Philcox as the Browns' starting QB. A BB classic.

 

[Super Nomario]

This is an article from the SI vault discussing Kosar's release. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138788/index.htm
BB was right to bench Kosar for Vinnie, but it seems pretty clear that many Browns fans disagreed, and were already down on BB when he released Kosar. I did not realize that Vinnie was injured when Kosar was released, leaving the immortal Todd Philcox as the Browns' starting QB. A BB classic.

The criticism seems funny in hindsight - not just because Belichick will go down as an all-time great, but because the Browns made the playoffs the season after that while Kosar started a total of 3 games the rest of his career. It's not like teams were beating down his door trying to sign him.

 

[kenneycb]

Aside from Lawyer, who was the last player released by Belichicj that did diverging significant? Even Milloy's skills were severely diminished but his track record for duds is absurd.

 

[ShaneTrot]

I have a friend who is a huge Browns fan. He loathes BB because he released Kosar. He was borderline obnoxious at our Super Bowl party this year when the Pats lost. I asked him what did Kosar do after he was released and he still said BB was a jerk.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

Sounds like a combination of fan ignorance, the circumstances of the release, and the lack of goodwill between the fans and BB up to that point. I am a massive BB fanboy, and I admire him for wanting to be judged solely on the success of his team on the field, but it's an undeniable fact that he's made things a lot harder on himself by being such a curmudgeon. The condescending brainiac/CEO approach does not play well in the rust belt. Also, it's worth noting that Vinnie's pre-Browns career had been largely a disaster.

 

[Bergs]

This has nothing to do with anything.

Not piling on, but as others have pointed out, this is just not true. Rational or not, they LOVE Bernie in Cleveland, and a whole lot of Browns fans hated BB for that. All of my in-laws, for example. Sure, winning softened that hatred for awhile, but not forever.

 

[riboflav]

Well, I guess Cleveland fans get what they deserve, or at least, want. It seems that hanging on to has-beens is more important to them than winning it all. If that's the case, no reason for this Boston sports' fan to feel bad for them.

 

[quint]

Not piling on, but as others have pointed out, this is just not true. Rational or not, they LOVE Bernie in Cleveland, and a whole lot of Browns fans hated BB for that. All of my in-laws, for example. Sure, winning softened that hatred for awhile, but not forever.

I completely take your (and BOtL's) word for it. As I tried to explain (probably poorly) once the wheels fell off, Belichick was an easy target for Cleveland's beat writers.

I have two relatives that are huge Browns fans. During 1993 there was palpable disgust over Bill's handling of Kosar that subsided a shitton during 1994 because of how well the team played. Once the final few weeks of 1995 played out he became something of an Antichrist.

Like I said a bit up thread, it was just something to behold.

 

[Super Nomario]

I completely take your (and BOtL's) word for it. As I tried to explain (probably poorly) once the wheels fell off, Belichick was an easy target for Cleveland's beat writers.

I have two relatives that are huge Browns fans. During 1993 there was palpable disgust over Bill's handling of Kosar that subsided a shitton during 1994 because of how well the team played. Once the final few weeks of 1995 played out he became something of an Antichrist.

Like I said a bit up thread, it was just something to behold.

And I think the media would have turned on BB pretty fast here if he hadn't been so successful early. Imagine the refs don't overturn the tuck rule play in the Snow Bowl game against Oakland (remember, instant replay only got introduced in 1999). After three seasons, the Pats would have had a 5-11 finish, an 11-5 season where they got bounced in their first playoff game, and a 9-7 near-miss. Then Belichick releases Lawyer Milloy and the Pats lose 31-0 to the Bills in week 1 of 2003. Now you've got a coach who hasn't won a playoff game in three seasons, who jettisoned a legend in Drew Bledsoe for an unproven kid, who just released the defensive heart and soul, and they got their asses handed to them by Buffalo.

 

[quint]

And I think the media would have turned on BB pretty fast here if he hadn't been so successful early. Imagine the refs don't overturn the tuck rule play in the Snow Bowl game against Oakland (remember, instant replay only got introduced in 1999). After three seasons, the Pats would have had a 5-11 finish, an 11-5 season where they got bounced in their first playoff game, and a 9-7 near-miss. Then Belichick releases Lawyer Milloy and the Pats lose 31-0 to the Bills in week 1 of 2003. Now you've got a coach who hasn't won a playoff game in three seasons, who jettisoned a legend in Drew Bledsoe for an unproven kid, who just released the defensive heart and soul, and they got their asses handed to them by Buffalo.

Not that I disagree with your overall point, but he did catch shit for the Milloy release and a lot of it. That being said, your timeline is off a bit. They did win the SB in February of 2002. The Milloy release was in September of 2003. And that unproven kid was MVP of said championship game. He also led the league in TD passes during the 2002 NFL season.

 

[Super Nomario]

Not that I disagree with your overall point, but he did catch shit for the Milloy release and a lot of it. That being said, your timeline is off a bit. They did win the SB in February of 2002. The Milloy release was in September of 2003. And that unproven kid was MVP of said championship game. He also led the league in TD passes during the 2002 NFL season.

I'm saying, if they had lost that game against Oakland (and there were so many spots they could have), then they don't win the Super Bowl that season. The following season (2002-2003) they missed the playoffs, and at the time of the Milloy release BB would have only had one playoff appearance in three seasons, and a home loss at that. I agree he did catch a lot of shit for cutting Milloy; I just think it could have gone Kosar-level if Belichick hadn't already had a championship on his resume.

 

[ilol@u]

I'm saying, if they had lost that game against Oakland (and there were so many spots they could have), then they don't win the Super Bowl that season. The following season (2002-2003) they missed the playoffs, and at the time of the Milloy release BB would have only had one playoff appearance in three seasons, and a home loss at that. I agree he did catch a lot of shit for cutting Milloy; I just think it could have gone Kosar-level if Belichick hadn't already had a championship on his resume.

I personally think its lazy to assume that things would have gone exactly the same (cutting Milloy, no playoffs in 02, ect.) had the Patriots lost against Oakland. Who knows, maybe they go 19-0 in 2002 had they lost against Oakland?
Regardless I watched this documentary today, it was great. I just didn't understand why the documentary didn't focus on why the team moved and the reasons behind that.

 

[Super Nomario]

I personally think its lazy to assume that things would have gone exactly the same (cutting Milloy, no playoffs in 02, ect.) had the Patriots lost against Oakland. Who knows, maybe they go 19-0 in 2002 had they lost against Oakland?

Or maybe they go 5-11. But I don't have any particular reason to things things would have gone differently, other than in a "a butterfly flaps its wings in Tokyo" kind of way. I mean, the schedule was already set at that point. Did anyone get hurt in the playoffs that affected his availability in the next season?

But at any rate, my point is that the Super Bowl victory made those setbacks a lot less of a big deal. I remember being disappointed that the Pats missed the playoffs in '03, but I was more pissed that the stupid Browns made it with the same record than I felt like the Pats themselves were a failure. After all, they'd just won the Super Bowl, and they had a lot of promise. When they cut Milloy, it was surprising, but BB got more of the benefit of the doubt (at least from me) because they'd won the Super Bowl.

 

[Leather]

Questioning what would have happened to BB if the Pats hadn't won the Superbowl in 2002 (or 2004) is missing the point, and entirely irrelevant. The situation regarding the Cleveland franchise is so unusual that it can't really be compared to New England; it was never about the coach, and entirely about the team leaving.

I think what Quint is saying is easily reconcilable with what others are saying regarding Cleveland's antagonism toward BB in the wake of the Browns leaving for Baltimore. That is, for a fanbase dealt that hard a blow, it would be very easy to look back on Belichick's stint in Cleveland as that of a patsy put in place to do the Bad Owner's Bidding. Not only was he non-responsive to the press (which, after the move, would seem suspicious), he benched a guy that the fanbase loved and thought was very good (again, in hindsight after the move this might have seemed to be part-and-parcel with tanking the franchise).

None of that is true, of course, but rather than considering what would have happened with BB in New England had he simply not done well, a more likely scenario would be:

A) Bob Kraft hires Belichick, who is an asshole to the press.
B) Belichick benches Bledsoe for Brady
C) The team improves somewhat but loses in the first round of the playoffs. Fans wonder what would have been had Bledsoe not been benched.
D) Kraft announces that he's moving the team to St. Louis.

In that light, it would be very easy to see Belichick's hiring as part of a larger plan to move the team, especially given his decision to bench a guy (Bledsoe) that was far superior to his replacement and his absolute refusal to talk openly to the press about the decision. And, given that, it would be hard not to think that he was somehow in on the plan to move the team all along.

 

[crystalline]

D) Kraft announces that he's moving the team to St. Louis.
In that light, it would be very easy to see Belichick's hiring as part of a larger plan to move the team, especially given his decision to bench a guy (Bledsoe) that was far superior to his replacement and his absolute refusal to talk openly to the press about the decision. And, given that, it would be hard not to think that he was somehow in on the plan to move the team all along.

So it's an interesting hypothetical to imagine if Kraft wanted to move the team.

But SN's point is different. There's a different universe, not very different than what actually happened, where the Pats lose to Oakland. Then it's not far fetched to imagine Belichick in serious hot water after the Milloy Buffalo loss.
I don't really think where we stand today would be that different, as BB wouldn't have been fired in-season and the media and fans hating him probably wouln't have kept him from turning the season around.
And all things considered, Belichick's doing the right thing in the longterm by focusing on performance, giving the media no information, and not trying to make any friends. At least it's the right thing in this market. Like Nomario though I wonder how firmly Kraft believed in him before the 2nd trophy, and I wonder how that would have been different if they hadn't won the first.

 

[Van Everyman]

Just re-watched this during "Dynasty Week" on NFL Network. Still feel they could have gone a bit more into Art's debts.

One interesting comment from Bill after the conclusion that I'm not sure he'd make (or make the same way) in the wake often Aaron Hernandez thing: that he "learned things that happen off the field impact things that happen on the field" – and that he pays a little more attention to that now.

Tho the fundamental point is spot on: that as with all the scenarios around the Tuck Rule/Lawyer Milloy/etc., so much of this game is out of your hands, even if you're a certified genius. Which Bill absolutely is.

 

[KiltedFool]

Remember the Peter Kings of this world are still trying to get Art Modell into the Hall of Fame, so it's not a large surprise that his piss poor business acumen and full scale douchebaggery get swept under the rug.  Modell made Dan Snyder and Frank McCourt look like sober sensible owners.
 
The hatred for that man that still echoes in Cleveland to this day would surprise you, it only happened 20 minutes ago to most native Clevelanders.

 

[Chief Wahoo]

 
The hatred for that man that still echoes in Cleveland to this day would surprise you, it only happened 20 minutes ago to most native Clevelanders.

 
As a native I can absolutely confirm that.  I remember flying home from Boston in '95 for Christmas.  Before I even got out of Hopkins airport I signed 2 or 3 petitions to keep the Browns in town & saw innumerable signs/ads protesting the move.
 
When the move wasn't the top issue on local news it was in the top 3, day after day.  I remember watching one game at the end of that season that was commercial free - no companies wanted to be associated with the Browns at that time.  Stadium walls were bare too.
 
After Art Modell died every NFL team did some sort of a tribute for him.  Except for the Browns - Modell's son knew how that would be received in Cleveland and personally asked that they not do it AFAIK.
 
My father & I still talk about it to this day.
 
Muck Fodell as t-shirts of the time said.