#Also did you see?? frye has won World rejoice

[c0rpseattack]

no one is awake whenim online

[sumukhcomedy]

The 20 Most Positive Moments of 21 Years of the “New Browns”

In the wake of yet another disappointing Cleveland Browns season, I tried to think about the more positive moments since the Browns returned in 1999. It actually made me sadder but I put together this list of The Top 20 Positive Moments of The First 21 Years of the “New Browns.” I made some ground rules. Nothing from this terrible season would be included (and, frankly, nothing actually was even worthy in my mind of the top 20). Only one “notorious” incident is included because I found positives in it whereas there’s none to be found with Dwyane Rudd’s helmet throw or Orlando Brown pushing down a referee or Myles Garrett swinging a helmet at Mason Rudolph or any of the many games the Browns managed to blow. I tried to factor in the impact of the moment on the organization as a whole, the particular seasons, and the fans. And, as I’d find out, finding 20 was still like pulling teeth by the end. So, here we go with links to each (YouTube is amazing if you want to watch bad football)!

20. Week 16, 2016: Browns 20, Chargers 17

Nothing really introduces you to how sad the past two decades have been for the Browns than them avoiding going 0-16 being a top 20 moment. In a year that the Cavs won the championship and the Indians almost won the World Series, the Browns delivered us this. Well, have fun watching RG3’s greatest moment in Cleveland.

19. Week 5, 2013: Browns 37, Bills 24

It was Thursday night football. It was Jim Brown night. The Browns were 2-2 and had actually looked promising under formerly 3rd string quarterback Brian Hoyer. But Hoyer then went down with a season-ending injury. This likely turned into the best moment and night of Brandon Weeden’s career in the NFL and that’s saying a lot considering he only threw for 197 yards and 1 touchdown. Hoyer’s injury proved deadly to first-year head coach Rob Chudzinski. He only won one game for the remainder of the season and was fired.

18. Week 9, 2010: Browns 34, Patriots 14

Coming off a bye week, the Browns were playing the 6-1 Patriots. They shockingly blew them out as Peyton Hillis had a field day and Eric Mangini beat his mentor in Bill Belichick. Of course, by the end of the year, Mangini was fired with new “football czar” Mike Holmgren coming in. But, a blowout of the most successful organization of the 20 years your organization has been incompetent is worthy of making the list.

17. Week 15, 2018: Browns 17, Broncos 16

I’ll admit to having a bias if the Browns actually show up in a primetime, nationally televised game. In a year where they fired coach Hue Jackson mid-season and were riding a wave of excitement with interim head coach Gregg Williams and rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Browns held on in a hostile environment in Denver. It was highlighted with a Jabrill Peppers sack to end the game. Peppers was traded in the offseason.

16. Week 12, 2014: Browns 26, Falcons 24

I remember this game mostly because both head coaches (Mike Pettine and Mike Smith) did a great job in trying to get both of their respective teams to lose the game. Despite a last-minute field goal by the Falcons to go down 24-23, Brian Hoyer and the Browns managed to engineer a drive to win the game. They were 7-4 with the win. Of course, things came crashing down in subsequent weeks, Pettine had to push Johnny Manziel in to the starter role as I watched the game while experiencing one of the worst hangovers of my life and the rest is history. On a personal level, I quit drinking 6 months later. Sadly, Johnny Manziel did not.

15. Week 1, 2004: Browns 20, Ravens 3

Nothing makes a fan base feel better than to start off a season on a winning note. Of course, the Browns have only delivered this to its fans once in 21 seasons. For that reason alone, this game makes this list. Beating a division rival like the Ravens is great. Doing so to start the season is great. Other than, this game had no impact other than to spoil Deion Sanders’s first game with the Ravens. Yes, Deion Sanders was on the Ravens.

14. Week 6, 2008: Browns 35, Giants 14

2008 was a year of high expectations. The Browns were coming off a 10-6 season but they trudged out with an 0-3 record and one of the organization’s favorite things: a quarterback controversy. With those expectations came more national games and the Browns faced the defending champion New York Giants on Monday Night Football. Surprisingly, they delivered on the kind of expectations for the season by blowing out the Giants at home and giving something great to the fans. If anything, watching these highlights will remind that you Darnell Dinkins scored a touchdown on Monday Night Football and this is the easily the greatest moment in his NFL career. The season, of course, ended terribly with the Browns on a 6-game losing streak, being shut out by both the Bengals and Steelers, and the organization firing GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel.

13. Week 14, 2001: Jaguars 15, Browns 10

This was Bottlegate. Sure, this is supposed to be a list of positive moments. But, even though notorious and likely not a great look for Cleveland, this season was the first glimmers of the Browns being on the right path to winning as an organization. It was a moment that questioned officiating and replay and the Browns needed this win to cling on to their playoff hopes. The moment was a raw response from a fan base whose team was stolen away from by the league and now it felt as if a game with playoff implications was being stolen away from them as well. I can recall, even as a teenager, saying, “If I were at the game, I would have thrown something.” So, even if regrettable, it somehow made sense at the time and spoke to the fan’s energy and desperation for a winner. The Browns dropped to 6-7 with the loss and finished 7-9.

12. Week 7, 2010: Reggie Hodges Fake Punt

As we’ll come to see in this list, the “New Browns” have managed to get most of their really memorable moments out of special teams players. That was the case when Reggie Hodges ran 68 yards on a fake punt as the Browns upset the defending champion New Orleans Saints in the SuperDome, 30-17.

11. Wild Card Playoffs, 2002: Kelly Holcomb

As devastating as the loss in the only “New Browns” playoff appearance is, quarterback Kelly Holcomb gave arguably the best performance by a Brown of this 21-year era. Holcomb went 26-for-43 with 429 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He also started a quarterback controversy for the next season that ultimately buried both his and Tim Couch’s careers.

10. Week 15, 2009: Jerome Harrison

The Browns won the game, 41-34, in a 4-game winning streak to end the season that helped save Mangini’s job. But what was most important was Jerome Harrison’s 286 rushing yards which currently ranks 3rd on the list for most rushing yards in a single game. It made the fact that #2 Jamal Lewis’s 295 yards was against the Browns a little better. It also is additionally better understanding where Harrison’s career went from here. After being traded to the Eagles, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Told by doctors that he would be a quadriplegic, Harrison has battled to now walk again.

9. Week 14, 2009: Browns 13, Steelers 6

The week prior to Harrison’s breakout game, the Steelers visited Browns Stadium for a Thursday night game. In front of a national crowd, Mangini and his team delivered an impressive defensive performance. There was something satisfying in watching the Browns sack Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger 8 times in the below-zero temperatures of Cleveland. It was the type of swarming defense and environment in the stadium that the Browns of the past brought to their fans. Sadly, Roethlisberger remains the winningest quarterback in the new Cleveland Browns Stadium history.

8. Week 2, 2007: Browns 51, Bengals 45

The Browns got killed in Week 1 against the Steelers. They traded starting quarterback Charlie Frye in between weeks. It looked like another dysfunctional season ahead. Then, strangely enough, the offense looked explosive. A shootout occurred at Browns stadium and they ended up victorious on the way to a season that saw the team nearly make the playoffs and produce 6 Pro Bowlers.

7. Week 3, 2018: Browns 21, Jets 17

The Browns looked lifeless on offense to start the game under Tyrod Taylor. After going out with an injury, rookie quarterback Mayfield entered the game and provided a spark for the Thursday night crowd in Cleveland. After an 0-16 season, the #1 overall pick engineered a comeback for the Browns’ first win in 20 games and hope for the organization.

6. Week 5, 2003: Browns 33, Steelers 13

On Sunday Night Football, Tim Couch delivered the best game of his career on the road against a bitter rival. Couch threw 20-for-25, 208 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. The game put the Browns at 2-3. They of course fell apart ending the season at 5-11 but this was a dominating, road primetime performance (rare in this 21-year “New Browns” era).

5. Week 8, 1999: Browns 21, Saints 16

The Browns were 0-7 entering this game. They fell behind 16-14 in the last minute of the game and got the ball back with 16 seconds left. With 2 seconds left, Couch heaved a Hail Mary that was tipped and amazingly caught by wide receiver Kevin Johnson. It was an unthinkable way for the “New Browns” to notch their first ever win in their return.

4. Week 11, 2007: Browns 33, Ravens 30 (OT)

In an actually meaningful season with the Browns down 3, the always reliable Phil Dawson came in to attempt a game-tying field goal. It initially looked the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out as the Ravens rejoiced. But, upon review, the ball actually went in, hitting the stanchion and bouncing back out. The game went to overtime where Dawson kicked the game winner. It was perhaps the most exciting win in the Browns near playoff run in 2007.

3. Week 10, 2007: Josh Cribbs Kickoff Return

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Browns lost the game to the Steelers, 31-28, this would be the “New Browns” greatest moment of its greatest season. In what looked like it would be a terrible play leading to the Browns being backed up within their own 5, Cribbs did the magic that made him a legend to Browns fans and returning of the great kickoffs for a touchdown not just in Browns history but in NFL history.

2. 2007 NFL Draft: Browns Pick Joe Thomas

When you are incompetent for 21 years like the “New Browns,” you are always playing for the NFL Draft. In 2007, the Browns shockingly got it right. They picked Joe Thomas with the #3 overall pick. As sad as it is that an offensive lineman could be the #2 most memorable moment in 21 years, Thomas represented everything about Cleveland and the Browns. He will be a Hall of Famer and have his place in the Browns Ring of Honor. He’s a beloved legend who never wanted to leave Cleveland and wanted to be a part of a winner here for the fans until his body wouldn’t let him do it anymore.

1. Week 17, 2002: Browns 24, Falcons 16

A team needs to have an iconic call and moment and Jim Donovan screaming “Run, William, Run!” may not be the best but it’s all the “New Browns” have. It was a great run that ultimately catapulted the Browns into their only playoff appearance of these 21 seasons and made the stadium feel as electric as it did in Municipal. 

Over the course of me writing this, the Browns fired Freddie Kitchens. So, once again, we’re waiting for next year…