Meadowdale H.S. graduation 2012
Middletown H.S. graduation 2012
Dunbar H.S. graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2012 > January > 04 > Entry
‘Red Right 88’ anniversary is today
Today marks the 31st anniversary of the game that came to be known as “Red Right 88,” the playoff game against the Oakland Raiders that the Browns lost because they had no confidence in injured placekicker Don Cockroft and Brian Sipe tried to be a hero with an ill-advised pass in the end zone to Ozzie Newsome that was intercepted by Mike Davis.
The play, called “Red Right 88” in its shortened version, is on YouTube in case anyone wants to relive the agony or experience it for the first time. The wind-chill factor is what I’ll remember most. It was 36 below, not quite as bad as the “Freezer Bowl” that the Bengals and Chargers would play a year later in Cincinnati, but don’t tell that to my extremities.
That was a fun year to be a Browns fan, relatively speaking. Lots of heart-stopping finishes leading to the team’s first playoff appearance since 1972.
Seven seasons was considered an unconscionable postseason drought for an organization that had been a perennial contender from its earliest days into the NFL right up until losing in the playoffs to the ‘72 Miami Dolphins, who went on to win the Super Bowl and finish 17-0.
Fast-forwarding to the present, it’s now been nine years since the Browns last made the playoffs and 17 years since they last advanced in the postseason (under Bill Belichick, by the way).
Throw in three years when the team simply didn’t exist and it doesn’t get much sadder for a franchise in a league that goes out of its way to promote parity.
Fear not, though. Pat Schurmur tells us better times are ahead. But it’s the third year of the Mike Holmgren-as-president era and the Browns still can’t tell you who their quarterback will be next season.
All we have to look forward to, it seems, is the Brad Childress press conference announcing the former Minnesota Vikings head coach as offensive coo——-.
Oh, sorry, I was yawning.
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By Joe
January 4, 2012 5:46 PM | Link to this
I remember exactly where I was watching that game, at a friends house who happened to be a Raiders fan. Right after the play happened my friend got called out of the room by his wife. He came back a few minutes later saying his wife’s grandfather just died. Another friend watching the game with us said “he must have been a Browns fan”. Needless to say we all laughed our a** off.
By Browns Fan
January 5, 2012 2:36 PM | Link to this
Ha! What a memory and what a joy it was to have a chance at winning back then before Art gutted the Browns.
By Tony
January 6, 2012 9:19 AM | Link to this
Cleveland needs a lot of help on offense to even compete in the North. Hillis looked like he was going to be the RB of the now and the future but his days are numbered. Need OL help to keep the QB upright and need a #1 WR to catch the ball. So, where to go with the draft? I would say go after OL in FA, give McCoy 1 more year draft Trent Richardson in round 1 and hope to steal a wideout in Round 2 like Kendall Wright. Or, dump McCoy, draft Griffin and Wright, go after RB and OL in FA. The first option is probably better as Barkley and Jones will both be available in 2013 and Cleveland will probably be in position to get 1 of them.
By Mikey Brown
January 6, 2012 3:58 PM | Link to this
McClellan..you write like a 7th grader…Yawning is usually reserved for your handful of readers. You should’ve asked Tony to write it for you, he seems to understand the game.