August 19, 2020 • 44 mins
1991 Lions & Browns. 1991 was simply the best year in the history of the Lions franchise, as they accomplished things they hadn't done before (or since). Overcoming injuries and tragedy, they finished one painful step short of the Super Bowl. Meanwhile for the Browns, it was the first year in the head coaching career of Bill Belichick. As you'll hear, he's very much the same head coach now he was back then - except his surprising decisions and bold moves didn't quite work out. Why? Find out in I Love the 90s: The 1991 Lions & Bill Belichick's Browns.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio.
Greetings and Welcome inside Special Teams, the podcast with Jason
(00:22):
Smith and Mike Harmon, as we take you back to
some specific years in sports and what some special teams
were able to accomplish in those years. And this episode
starts a run we're gonna have and well, it's pretty simple.
We're gonna call it I Love the Nineties. We're gonna
look back at some specific years in the nineteen nineties
and some stories that really stood out we'll go back to.
(00:43):
And then so we'll cover the entire decade. I'm assuming
we'll do. And I Love the Eighties. At some point
when I Love the Auts, we should probably call how
Sparks to come on, because he's he's on all those
I Love the Nineties, I Love the Eighties shows are everywhere.
Here's the thing, though, I mean during the pandemic, as
we we huddle and we create content and look for content. Uh,
(01:05):
a lot of these guys are waiting by their phone
for the next call. We can have a lot of
special guests in future weeks with different years. All right,
who is topping the charts? I'll watch an infomercial late
at night. Look for love songs of the eighties. We'll
reach out to all of those bands. Remember when this
great one came out in seventy seven. I'm all out
(01:26):
of love. I'm so lost without you. I know you
were right. Yeah, they usually host those things. Yeah that's true. Yeah, Hey,
the air supplies usually. Hey remember this one. You can
use all songs if you let us host it and
pay us some money. Can we do that? A great
Every fourth song is a is air supply. There's no
question about it. Uh So I love the nineties. We're
(01:50):
gonna look back at two seasons that two NFL teams
had in What a great year? One not so great
a year, but boy was at the beginning of something special. First,
I was fresh out on the streets of Evanston, Illinois,
as a freshman at Northwestern, ready for this football season,
(02:11):
making friends and and finding out just how much people
wagered as college students. I was hitting the fall of
my senior year in college, and I'm going, wow, that's
the last time this team was really really good. How
was a long time? And they had a good run.
But the first team we're gonna look at, we go
back to the best regular season ever for the Detroit Lions.
(02:36):
We've done a podcast talking about them being the over team,
but they had so many twists and turns, and they
had tragedy they had to overcome in this season as well.
They wind up twelve and four this year. This was
the best year. This is one of those deal with
the devil type seasons for the Lions. Alright, they were
eight knowing the Silver Dome. They were undefeated indoors all
season long. They swept the Green Bay Packers. It was
(02:58):
the last time they would win lambeau Field until twenty fifteen.
I mean, it was like, all right, all the years
of frustration, Lions, I we're gonna put it together. This
is the year didn't give us. They lost twenty four
straight to them. Overall. Yeah, they just couldn't beat him
at all. First playoffs, first winning season since nineteen eighty three.
(03:20):
It was Wayne Fonce getting after I mean twelve and
for the Lions were a legitimate super Bowl threat in
This was the year that Herman Moore debuted, and what
a career he had. If he played right now, he
would be the best wide receiver in the NFL bar none.
He was taught. He was athletic. He was unstoppable in
(03:42):
the red zone. And there's no coincidence that Detroit's playoff
run of the nineties. Look, they were in the playoffs
actually six times in the nineteen nineties were all with him,
all right, they weren't there. Then suddenly Herman Moore shows
up and they were there. He was someone who could
catch three passes in the game. It would be three
for one on one and three touchdowns. I mean, he
was just that good. And he came in and I
(04:02):
was stunned. It was like a spider playing with a fly.
And if it was time now, he would be even
a taller, more athletic, or really he'd be even better.
Julio Jones, that's kind of how I look at Herman
more and how dominant he would be if he played
right now. And just think about it. In this season,
only eleven catches, right, it was. It wasn't a guy
(04:23):
that got a lot of run. UH would eventually seven
straight years of at least nine hundred receiving yards three
one hundred catch seasons, which is unheard of, UH in
that time, unless your name was large into rice UH.
And I guess Art Monk had his share as well.
But you know, he was a beast, and you think
about some of the missed opportunities when you think of
(04:44):
the greatness at skilled positions. Because we'll get to that
other guy in a minute. But Herman more coming onto
the scene, and uh, let's let's face it. We were
excited about him as fantasy owners as we got things
rolling in college and past Excel spreadsheet. It's a round.
I mean, he he went from and it's really amazing
to think that a guy with this go to a career.
(05:05):
His first three years were pretty pedestrian. You know, he
had he always had a great yard for reception average,
but his first three years were eleven fifty one and
sixty one catches. You're like, wow. And then then he
turned into a start. Yeah, then he turned into a star.
And then he was at one twenty three, one oh six,
one oh four. Back when catching a hundred passes was
the gold standard. Nowadays it's you gotta get to one fifty.
(05:26):
Oh Michael Thomas gets to one thing? All right, that's what?
But yeah, going, how do I bust what I did
a year ago? Right? I mean go back even three
when he only had sixty one played in fifteen games,
yet Pereman, Rodney Holman the tight end and not not
(05:47):
a lot of weaponry going around. And he still had
Brett Perriman. He had forty nine catches, so operational efficiency
from that offense. Look, you still just tucked it into
the gut of oney and and you lived and died
by him. Yeah, this was a season that Barry Sanders
had a career high and rushing touchdowns. He had sixteen,
He missed a game and a half, still ran for
(06:10):
fifteen hundred yards. I mean this was you know, Peake
Barry Sanders, and he came into the league at Peke
Barry Sanders, and he stayed Peake Barry Sanders. WHI he retired,
but this was the middle of his career. His yards
per carry average up around five. This was what Barry
Sanders did, and he was so dangerous. And like I said,
this was one of those boy with all these weapons
(06:32):
that the Lions had, It really was shocking. I mean,
this is the Lions to say, how come they weren't
this good for longer? Yeah, they were playoff threat, but
look at all this talent there. You mentioned Brett Perriman. Look,
you have Barry Sanders, who's the best running back in
the NFL in the nineteen nineties. He got Perriman who
was starting his big run of Detroit's big wide receiving
corps with uh with Johnny Morton who was there. It
was Herman Moore and Perraman and Johnny Morton. You had
(06:54):
Mel Gray was an All Pro kick returner, Lomas Brown,
who was the best offensive lineman Detroit ever had. You know,
Chris Spielman inside linebacker, Benny Blades at free safety, Jerry
Ball at nose tackle. They had really dominant players. I mean,
these were all the biggest some of the biggest stars
in the early nineties, and and the lines that they
were loaded with these guys. But you had five Pro bowlers,
(07:16):
you had five All pros, You had no Gray as
your return man. I mean, you had a lot of
stuff going on with this squad. Can I give you
a couple of Barry Sanders to have some fun with
eight games with at least a hundred rushing yards, four
of those games with at least a hundred and forty
Obviously a couple of monster games. He had that huge
(07:37):
effort against Minnesota in the middle of this Five games
with multiple touchdowns. But here here's the fun stat, right,
because we always used to chuckle with Barry Sanders of
zero minus one for two. He had six games with
sixty three or a few were rushing yards in the
(07:57):
season as well, so you did bottle them just hey,
you know what, we're gonna make Roddy Peter or Eric
Kramer beacha. But the thing that always stood out to
me is he caught a lot more passes than I
think you would have expected on this squad. He was
the sixth leading receiver. Uh well actually what yeah, five,
(08:18):
he was fifth with reptions. Yeah, so catch about thirty passes.
Here's a little swing out and see what you can do.
I remember losing a game in fantasy where I was winning.
We were killing the other team, and it was a
distance league. So the longer touchdowns you have are are
the bigger ones, right, So, and it was a bonus
to get to a hundred yards. So the whole game
where we were playing against Barry Sanders, and this was
(08:40):
the first time that I remember having to always hold
my breath whenever we played against Barry Sanders. We're winning,
We're up by like twenty five points, which is a
lot in a distance league because you didn't get any
points until you got to a hundred yards or you
had a touchdown. So it wasn't like now where it's
every ten yards is a point and you get point
in PPR. So we're killing them, and it's nearly the
end of the four click games are like, hey, this
(09:01):
is you know we're gonna win here, and all of
a sudden, the score jumps from US up twenty five
to US down four. I go, what the hell just happened?
We got twenty nine points. Barry Sanders ran for a
d R touchdown and it was it gave him over
a hundred and gave him a bonus. It was sixteen
points for the touchdown, and we go, yeah, we're waiting.
How are we down for now? We're gonna lose that
(09:21):
one bleeping play. I remember it came over on the
uh the ticker where a sudden it was Detroit Barry
Sanders a R touching when I went, oh, no, come on,
Barry Sanders. Barry Sanders well, but he also epitomized, you know,
working in fantasy, as both you and I have done
for many years, how a prediction on a player's performance
(09:43):
based on you know, the defense, the offensive line struggles,
all of those things. How it all turns on one
play from being wow, I'm a genius to you idiot,
you cost me? You stupid? Sick guys like Barry Sanders
were the ones that looked the Bears defense, They're gonna
hunker down at front seven. Is gonna be able to
contain him? Yeah, and they might do that nineteen times
(10:04):
on all of a sudden, he he's got a score.
I gave you everything I had. The Lions start this
season with Rodney Pete at quarterback, who you and I
have done shows with. Uh, they lose forty five nothing
Week one to Washington, So okay, well they didn't start
(10:25):
out it was gonna be a great season, Mark Rippin,
you know, yeah, and they work it well, this was
you know, this is Washington's big year. So it just
turns out that they had a great year, that one
team really beat them bad a couple of times. Well,
you know what, the books are not kind. There's a
lot of Yeah. The bread, the bread was nothing. It
was bad brand. You know, you get a sandwich and
(10:46):
you're like, boy, I really the bread really is not good.
You know, upgrade the bread. I mean cold cuts I
can get anywhere. It's the bread that makes the sandwich.
Uh that the Lions gave me crappy brand. The Lions
were kind of up and down until two things happened
due to injury. The first one, Rodney Pete gets hurt
in the ninth week and Eric Kramer takes over. Eric
(11:07):
Kramer whose nickname was Brass because he called an audible
on the very first series after replacing Rodney Pete. So
I was like, well, this dude was coming and he's
calling an audible already. This guy's got brass, you know what.
And Eric Kramer, who had a lot of difficulties, you know,
in his life after the NFL has sended. Oh, he
survived a suicide attempt, His son died from a heroin overdose.
(11:28):
He said he was tough for him to be married
because he had a lesson mental capacity. He has had
a really rough time. But on the field this year,
I mean every time he is filled in as a starter,
whether it was with the Lions or the Bears, he
was terrific. You know It's like he almost like, you
don't reminded me of a little bit. He almost reminded
me of what Nick Foles is like now that when
(11:49):
he was pressed into service, suddenly this guy could throw
three touchdowns at three yards a week. That's kind of
what I saw him as. Obviously, nick Foles winning the
Super Bowl and Eric Ramer never led the Bears or
the Lions there, but just the way he was able
to come in and take command of the offense and
and put up big numbers. He kind of reminds me
that that's the impact he had on the game and
on those teams is what Nick Foles had on the
Eagles when he played for them during the course of
(12:12):
his career. Tell you what a couple of fantastic runs
with with Chicago, uh and working with him, you know,
I learned a lot and it's like, all right, let's
sit out and watch a couple of players and you know,
pointing out things he would see. So made me a
better student and helped me to understand some things. Trying
to pick guys brains, man, no matter what kind of
job you're doing, keep asking questions. You might annoy people,
(12:35):
but you're gonna come out better for it. But yeah,
he he was a guy that once he came in
because he didn't he was unconscious, right you take folds.
I take the the Ryan Fitzpatrick approach to a degree
likable guy in the locker room and a guy that
wanted to lead and had no qualms about trying to
push the ball and make something happen. So the Lions
(12:59):
as as they try to maneuver their way around the season,
like I said, they were up and down a bit.
They get to five and two, they get to six
and three, six and four, but they really take off
the final six weeks of the regular season. And one
of the things that galvanized them was an absolute tragedy
that I'm sure you remember, as in week twelve, Mike
(13:19):
Utley was paralyzed offensive lineman during a game against the Rams.
He gave the thumbs up leaving the field. It didn't
know he was paralyzed from the waist down for the
rest of the season. Detroit War's number sixty on their helmets. Uh,
they said they played the rest of the season for him.
And you know, Utly kept a great attitude throughout. I
remember shortly after it happened he couldn't wait to remember
(13:41):
saying I can't wait to back with my teammates and
drink and drink beer and have pizza and you know,
watching this Mike. For me, it was the first time
I had really seen something like that happened to a player.
You know. I remember seeing in highlights the video of
Darryl Stingley who was paralyzed after the big hit from
Jack Tatum. This was in the in the mid nineteen seventies,
and I didn't really quite understand what that was all
(14:02):
about and how that could happen. And Utly was the
first time I had seen it where I'm saying, whoa,
it's just that easy, because he just kind of fell awkwardly.
You know that this wasn't a case where he was
taken by surprise or he was knocked from behind. He
just kind of fell awkwardly, and he fell onto the
crown of his helmet. And and and to see it
like that, I remember, you know, look, I'm in my
(14:23):
early twenties, and I go, that was it. Oh my god.
I'm thinking how fragile it was, and and and and
just thinking that this could happen on any play and
was And I remember thinking about that for a long time,
about Utly and following his story and and and how
tragic wasn't and and how great it was for him
having that great attitude that he had following what happened,
because not many people would have had that the resilience, uh,
(14:46):
and spirit became an inspiration. You can watch videos of
speaking engagements and first steps and everything. We watched the
NFL and some you know, there's the celebration of my
lens to a degree. Uh. Just it's it's not a
safe sport, right when we talk about you know, getting
(15:07):
involved in this from the time where kids or you know,
if your parents looking at whether you allow your child
to play. You know that there are awkward falls, the
stumble when the guy could lose his footing and just
totally unintentionally come at you and and you have a
hit that's just brutal. And so this was for me,
(15:29):
I think the same thing the first time you you
ever had that pause watching a football game. So yeah,
it's it's one that's indelibly etched into my brain. I mean,
between that or when you had a receiver for the
Bears rip both hamstrings on the same play, I mean,
you have those moments that are always in the back
(15:51):
of your head. You mentioned all the things that Mike
Utley has done in the past few years, and I
talked about the thumbs up gesture he gave coming off
the field. Uh. He turned that into the symbol for
the Mike Utley Foundation, which is a foundation he created
that year by he and his agent helps he could
cure for paralysis. And he was just a bright light
right after that was over for for anybody who had
(16:13):
a horrible tragedy like this befall them and really the
legend of Mike Utley. I look back at it and go,
I I can't believe it. I don't know how I
would have reacted, and I don't know how anybody, how
most people would react, but just how just how positive
he was right after it, when it's when that's the
point where you would think people would say, oh, why
did this happened? Do I really want to do this?
Do I want to come back to us? And instead
(16:34):
it was, like I said, right away, he was extremely positive.
And that made it easier for the Lions to rally
and to try to win. For Mike Utley, and how
did it go for them down the stretch? How are
they able to win? And what happened to them in
the playoffs? We got all that plus season of the
Cleveland Browns. Why are they back at this season? Because
(16:55):
it was Bill Belichick's first year in the NFL as
a head coach, and boy are there are some doozy
things you gotta hear about his first year. That's coming
up next right here on special teams. So what happened
(17:23):
to the Detroit Lions at the end of the season
once they made the change to Eric Kramer and trying
to get past the tragedy of Mike Utley. It's quite simple.
They didn't lose. They crushed the Vikings by twenty. They
beat the Bears by ten, They beat the Jets by
two touchdowns. They finished their sweet beating the Packers at
Green Bay. They beat the Bills in overtime to end
(17:45):
the regular season at twelve and four, and they had
Super Bowl aspirations. They get to their first playoff game
and they crush the Dallas Cowboys thirty eight to six.
Kramer was incredibly through for three forty one and three touchdowns.
Barry Sanders wasn't great, but he did have a fifty
yard touchdown run to end the scoring. Uh. This was
(18:07):
the only playoff win since nine seven for the Detroit Lions.
You look back and go. We had that one day
against Dallas and it was legendary. Yeah, I look at
the totality of this season. I mean they beat up
Dallas twice a right week two. That was when you
had Cramer pop in for a quick to two passes
(18:29):
and a touchdown, and then they beat him up again
to start the playoffs. You realize that this team, in
all the accomplishments, going twelve and four in the regular season,
the only average twenty one points a game. This is
unheard of, just absolutely impossible in today's NFL. You go
twelve and four on that, like you're talking all time
(18:51):
historic defenses running in if they had five games where
they scored thirty plus six games where they scored seventeen
or fewer, again, statistical anomalies and well perhaps showing kind
of as we look at teams and we do our
our stat bowl. I was like, well, you know, they
won some games they shouldn't have. Uh, well, it looks
(19:11):
like Detroit did that going all the way back to
once you ride the legs of number twenty Kramer with
the hot hand, especially in that game against Dallas, just
absolutely humiliating them to set up a rematch. While with
the season opener. You know, Dallas had a bit of
controversy going on themselves because they had a kind of
(19:32):
quarterback controversy going on because Troy Aikman got hurt earlier
in the season. Steve Burline came in right leaves Dallas
to the playoffs. They win their first week, and so
Burline has named the starter again for the game against
the Light. Jimmy, as much as you want to tell me,
I'll look at Troy, and Jimmy Johnson did everything he
could to not have Troy Aikman be his quarterback, right
(19:55):
drafting Steve Walsh, taking them out, putting Steve Walsh, and
trying to make it work with a guy other than
Troy Aikman. Before I finally realized, Okay, Lakeman's really good
and we gotta go forward with it. Was a motivation,
but early on it was just it was like Chuck Nolan,
Terry Bradshaw. It was like, but does Jimmy Johnson really
like Troy Aikman. I mean, does he really like it?
Because it seems like he wanted to replace him his
first three years in the league. I know he loves
(20:16):
him now. So it's are our friends at fox Man
they love each other now hall of famers both uh
Aikman goes into the game but couldn't get them down
the field and and wouldn't even put points on the
board in the second half as the Lions turned their
seventeen six leading to a thirty eight six victory. Uh.
(20:38):
This was a phenomenal achievement by the Lions, who now
find themselves in the NFC Championship game against the Redskins.
Remember this Redskins team that beat them forty five nothing
week one. But maybe they get some revenge. Maybe this
is Barry Sanders big game. Uh, Noah's none of those things.
They get demolished by the Washington Redskins. Eric him or
(21:00):
fumbled early, he had an interception. It was not a
great first half, but the Lions were only down seventeen ten.
It was a close game. Barry Sanders had a bad game.
He only ran for forty four yards and eleven carries.
And in the second half, the Redskins just blow the
doors off the Lions, outscoring them twenty four and nothing.
They win forty one, tend to go to the Super Bowl.
They would go on to win the Super Bowl over
(21:21):
the Buffalo Bills, but It always bothered me this game
that it was a close game. And I know they
they got into the especially the week before the Cramer
was so hot and could throw the Lions out of
trouble with all those great receivers. But when it's seventeen ten,
you gotta keep pounding. Barry Sanders, right, Barry Sanders walking
away from the NFC Championship game with eleven carries in
(21:44):
a game that was a one touchdown game at halftime,
you scratched head and go, oh wow, really that that's
what you did. But I get it. Sometimes you get
so pass happy you think, are this is our team,
this is our team. You forget well, you know what,
Barry Sanders running front of fifty yards, that's a pretty
good equal eiser. And and he that was his style.
Maybe he had ten runs in a row where he
(22:04):
had one or two or three yards or negative four
yards and then he did one for seventy five or eighty.
But you never got that chance because he only had
eleven carries. Like anything with running backs, we watch it
all the time. I mean watch you know Derrick Henry.
I think you know what he did in the season.
There was a lot of that. Some decent runs, but
then all of a sudden, on carry fifteen head popped
(22:25):
for a thirty yard run. You know, you you need
to get that lean, get the offensive line, heat it up,
and start getting the the tongues wagging on the d line.
And for Barry Sanders, that was one of the things
because we mentioned, you know, your pro bowlers and you're
all pros. You you got your offensive lineman helping to
set the table. And you know, for for Eric Kramer,
(22:48):
over the course of the year, you know, he had
what eight starts and only had ten touchdown passes. Right
when it was all said and done, it was going
back into the gut of number twenty two. Finish drives
were or you know, you settled for field goals and
the defense made it hold up. But here they didn't
even give him a chance, no running room established and
abandoning it in the second half. I mean, they gave
(23:11):
up a quick field goal to make a but really,
you know, not an insurmountable lead. I mean, dance with
who brung you and they didn't. And Wayne Fonons I'm
sure ruge that day that opportunity lost. But then you know,
Washington wins the title, so you could say, hey, we
were beaten by the best, like you're in the middle
(23:32):
of that that Carnival Homer Simpson episode. No No No Son,
that guy no No No Son. We were beaten by
the best. So that was the season for the line,
still to date, the most successful season the Lions have
ever had. And now what was for the Cleveland Browns. Well,
(23:54):
I listen, the Browns had a season that was yeah,
but there are a lot of twists and turns because
it was Bill Belichick's first season as a head coach
in the National Football League. Now, going back to right,
Belichick was the guy right, coming off his success with
the Giants as their defensive coordinator, he gets the job
(24:16):
head coach of the Browns, his first He's thirty nine
years old. His defensive coordinator was Nick Saban. You know,
Nick Saban was left Toledo. He was the head coach
of Toledo, where he had a pretty good year. He
was nine and two in his third year, and suddenly
Nick Saban's on his way up the coaching ladder head coach,
but he decides to leave to go to the NFL
to be Bill Belichick's defensive coordinator. It was you think
(24:39):
about that. Now, boy, he was a head coach. He's
gonna go be a d C somewhere and not a
head coach somewhere. And you look at that talent and
the friendship that has been going on now for over
thirty years. This is how it started for the Browns.
Belichick was actually a lot like he is now back
in except without being a legend and having his moves
not question because he was still awkward. He didn't talk much.
(25:03):
He was very weird and distant. And the reaction of
Belichip being a head coach was this guy's a genius, right, Well,
maybe geniuses act a little weird. They don't talk to
the press as much as they should. But okay, we
think this guy is gonna be great. It's kind of
how we see Belichick now, except with all the winds
of the Super bowls he has as well. Whatever Belichick
wants to do, we're gonna do. You know, you can't
(25:24):
question him. But back then it was okay. Some of
the things he did. I kind of don't get why
he did what he did. But this was what happens
when you're year one versus you know, your thirtieth year
in the NFL, yeah, and you've won, and you've won
super Bowl after super Bowl, we planned the work, work
the plan, and look at Cleveland and even going all
the way back here with model at the Reins. Uh.
(25:46):
You're talking about an organization that still ran through coaches,
right because he was interviewed for the job two years
prior and while they passed up on him. Uh. And
eventually he gets this gig and you know, and doing
the research and having some fun reading some old columns
from the time in the local newspapers and the Uh.
(26:08):
The epitaphs that were written after his departure, called either
doctor Doom or the Voice of Doom by the media,
Madell called him mean spirited and unlikable and saying and
telling some local reporters he wished he'd hired Bill Kauer
and he had the chance, So I mean he got
(26:30):
he got a lot of hats l I hired somebody else.
I mean, just think about that. Now, Look, Bill Caller
was a great coach, But just think about I wish
I but but think about that. It's like, eventually, you
know he's in the division, right, he then become the Ravens,
and you have the bitter rivalry that goes from there.
But Belichick did after winning his fourth Super Bowl, was
(26:52):
doing his thank you and included model for his patients
at the start of his career. So for bellhot Jack,
it was a great learning experience. For madel it's like
blank that day. Now he takes over a team that
the talent was either on their way down or not
(27:12):
up to part right. He got a lot out of
a little like the Browns were terrible the year before.
They still had Bernie Kozar at quarterback. They're running back
tandem was Leroy Horne and Kevin Mack and Eric metcalf Uh.
They threw a lot of passes out of the backfield.
Michael Jackson was their big wide receiver before he changed
Michael Dison. Michael Jackson who actually wasn't bad. He had
some pretty good years. Reggie Langhorne, Webster Slaughter at wide receiver.
(27:36):
This was kind of a team that was they had
gone through their eighties salad days and now we're trying
to hold on and figure out how do we segue
to the next level of the Browns. Because the Browns
were good the back half of the night, they just
couldn't get past the Denver Broncos in the in the
a f C Championship games because they fumbled and they
gave up drives. You know, the Browns were pretty good
in the eighties, but they had to turn their page. Look,
they still relied on Frank Minnifield, Michael Dean Perry was
(27:59):
still pretty good. You know. They drafted Eric Turner, who
turned out to be a Pro Bowl player. Uh he
missed the first half of ninety one with an injury.
You know, passed away very young, very track, on stomach
cancer in two thousand. Um. But this was a team
that it was. It wasn't great, it wasn't terrible. It
was kind of the middle of the road talent wise.
So it's not like Belichick came in and they said, Okay, hey,
(28:19):
the cupboard stocked for you, go win some games. No,
not not at all. I mean Jackson was a rookie.
It was a sixth round pick back when there were
a lot more rounds. Think about the coverage now, it's
the week of the draft. No, no, really the week
of the draft, because we're gonna split this thing up
over seven days, which is what I thought they should
(28:40):
have done for But I digress. I mean when you
when you look at it and Leroy Horde is your
number two wide receiver as a running back. Yeah, that's tough, right,
I mean that that's the tough thing. I mean you
look at this offense. You know, Bernie Kosar what eighteen
no nine and that as a team they had nineteen
passing touchdowns. Leroy Horde had nine touchdown receptions. That's not
(29:03):
good for anybody. No, no, no, well, if you haven't
been fantasy, it's good. Well yeah, I mean yes, for
for those early adopters of fantasy football. If you were
on the cusp, Hey, this is like, hey, I'm buying
Apple while they're still working in garages, uh and Microsoft
whatever else. Um, yeah, same thing here I'm doing. I'm
(29:25):
doing early fantasy towards the back end of my my
collegiate career, uh and towards the mid nineties where I
started getting involved. But I mean you didn't have a
much depth. Yeah, you had a couple of good fundamental
players in terms of the the the thankless jobs, right,
not in the stats. I mean, you mentioned Michael Dean Perry,
(29:45):
you mentioned Minifield, and you've got some guys of that ILK,
but you didn't you didn't walk in with a great
cast here. So the expectations and I don't know how
high they could have been. Eventually they would get there
and all right, we got enough on paper, let's go.
Because people start making those wild predictions and say this
is the year they break through. Okay, we always know
(30:09):
how those go. Those are the roll of the dice,
you know, stone cold lock kind of segments that we
do if I need a dark horse, because I can't
I can't pick chalk. Where's something where things could break crazy? Uh,
And on the brilliance and the reputation because also thinking
about it, you mentioned nine years old as he gets
this thing started, and that's that's still relatively unheard of
(30:33):
unless Al Davis was the hiring manager. And we saw
some bits and pieces, as I said in the beginning,
of who Belichick would turn into as a head coach
and certain things I'm gonna tell you're gonna say, oh,
I completely see him doing that. Oh I can completely
see him doing that. They start off Owen one and
their first win, ironically for Belichick, is against New England. Yeah. Uh.
They held Tommy Hodson, who was the Patriots touts down. Tommy.
(30:59):
They held Tommy Hodson to see no, no, no, no no.
If you told the Patriots listen, you just gotta wait
ten years and another tom he's gonna show up and
you're actually gonna be good. Patriots fans would have said, Okay,
New England throws for six yards through three quarters. All right,
here's the best part of the game. Randy Hilliard blitzed
off the edge all game. He had two sacks. Right,
(31:19):
Belichick deside him and to use Randy Hilliard off the edge.
He played nine seasons in the NFL. He had three
sacks overall, but Belichick used him off the edge in
this to get to Hodson too in this game. So
this is where he started to see the mad scientist version,
right exactly. It's like, this is my greatest game ever.
And then it's like, okay, you're you're just a guy
(31:39):
now for the rest of your career. But this is
what Belichick did. I'm gonna take a guy and put
in position. He's not used to this, and this is
what we're gonna do. He's done it with running backs
to the frustration. Yeah, I mean, like, hey, we'll wait,
Rex Burkheads coming in. He wants to say something, Hey, uh.
Now I mentioned Reggie Langhorne. He assigned Reggie Langhorn the
(32:00):
practice squad after he didn't hustle in practice. He got
fined forty five K and he appealed and he ended
up winning. So Langhorne winds up winning the appeal, and
but it didn't matter because Belichick wanted to put him
on the practice squad because he didn't hustle. So these
two things right here, you are seeing that he's this.
You could see him doing this now with somebody in
(32:20):
New England, not putting him on the practice squad, but
putting them somewhere where. Okay about you're not hustling here.
You are, you know, week two of the season, and
I'm a brand new head coach and here's a guy
that's been a tenured player here in the National Football League,
and I want to try to put you on the
practice squad. The thing that hurt Belichick is that he
didn't have what he needed to be able to pull
(32:41):
moves like this off and still keep everybody involved. Right,
you need the strong veteran leadership in the cash to
make the big moves without losing support. And there are
a lot of veterans on this team. But he's the
new head coach. So you know, Bernie Kozar has gone
through the wars already, you know, so have a lot
of these other players. So is Slaughter, so his minifield,
so of all these players. So here's this, he's a
(33:03):
new guy. Look at what he's doing so far. So
it takes a while to build a culture when that's
the kind of coach or I'm just gonna do whatever
the hell I want to and you either buy it
or you don't. And it takes a while to get
that by it. Yeah, and a couple of the moves
along the way, right, you have this is the inaugural season.
But eventually UH pushes Bernie out and then you have
(33:25):
the Vinny Vinny tested Vernie. How many Vinnys are there?
Soon as we say, Vinny, that's the only guy that matter.
Uh and Eric's sire, remember Eric, right, he signed Andre
Rise And even though a bunch of folks are going,
don't do that. Oh yeah, that seventeen million dollar deal
for him. Season ticket sales fell four out of five years.
(33:46):
As you can tell, I really enjoyed going back into
the origin story. And Akron columnists UH celebrated his eventual
dismissal by calling it the five year reign of error
is over. Where terror know error error? It was it
was hard, you know, and look, and this year it
was a lot of starts and stops. Like Cleveland couldn't
(34:07):
run the football and they couldn't stop the run. That
was their problem. They had pedestrian running backs and they
couldn't stop the run. But they were still sitting at
four and four middle of the season. The a f
C was really bad this year. In fact, the final
wild card spot would go to an eight and eight team.
But this is where not being able to run the
football crushed and they lost a huge game when they
led Philadelphia by twenty three points, but they couldn't run
(34:27):
the football and kill the clock and they lost that game.
And that seemed to be the theme the rest of
the season. But for the Browns, they still are lurking
at the edge of the playoff chase. When they are
six and seven, they're just a game out of the
playoff race. And suddenly Belichick's getting a little bit of
all right, well, look at the Browns. Look, the Browns
have been bad. They were bad a year before. Maybe
(34:48):
now Belichick can bring him back. Like I said, it
was full of stops and starts. Yeah, you're on the
road with a big win against Indianapolis, so hey, why
not us? Uh? So why not us? What happened to
knock the Browns out of the playoffs? A coaching decision
that Bill Belichick made that you want to scratch your
(35:11):
head and go, I might do that differently again. All
that and more, plus we find out where are they
now from? All these players on the Lions and Brown's
coming up next right here on special teams. So how
(35:38):
did it go for the Cleveland brown six and seven?
The game out of the playoff race Belichick's first year?
Maybe he's a great head coach. Well, they lose a
game to Denver, and they lose a game in the
snow down seventeen fourteen to the Houston Oilers. There on
the two yard line with one play left, Bill Belichick
decides to have matched over kick a field goal, except
(36:00):
in the snow stover slips and hooks the field goal
to the left. This was the waterloo game for the
Cleveland Browns that really stood for so many house so
close but yet so far away during this season because
they lost a lot of close games a second half
of the season. I mean, you'd think Belichick, alright, two
(36:21):
yard line with one play left, let's kick a field
goal and and go to overtime. All right, that's what
we gotta do, except it's too snowy and stover mrs.
You think Belichick would do that now? Or would would
he find a way when he had Tom Brady his quarterback,
to say, let's stick this thing in the end zone
and win the game. Right here, I gotta play. That's
gonna get us two yards and get us into the
end zone. I gotta think, you know, with all the
(36:41):
rub routes and everything, they're gonna find a quick click.
They would rub in a second, right, guys, are just rubbed?
Was wide open or James White out of the backfield,
or talking about Leroy Horde, he would have been found open.
He would have got two yards. Hey, he would have
thrown him. Leroy Horde could have got two yards for you,
because that's all he got was two yards. I think
(37:02):
that was that was Lee Roy Horde's quote. Right, if
you need two yards, I'll get you two yards. If
you need yards, I'll get you two yards. R That
was that was le roy Ard uh So the Browns lose,
they don't make the playoffs, but still it's amazing that
he took a team that was so middle to lower
third of the road talented and he had them that
close to the playoffs all the way till Week fifteen.
(37:23):
But that was kind of the theme for Belichick his
years went on. You know, you mentioned Vinnie test Of
already benching Bernie Kozar for Vinnie test Of already Kozar
was in later years. These are some of the things
that Belichick did that did not win him any favors
in Cleveland. You know, he didn't see that if I
bench Bernie Kozar, even though it's time, he's a llegend
(37:45):
in this city, and just get and they and they
Benjamin waved him and it was what what whoa what
the hell? Then? Of course, Kozar goes on to get
his revenge, playing pretty well in NFC Championship Game for
the Dallas Cowboys and helping them get to the Super
Bowl a couple of years later. But that was stunny,
even though the move had to happen, and test have
already played pretty well. You gotta handle that differently. You
(38:05):
mentioned signing Andre Riise and had a tumultuous season. This
is when him and Lisa left. Die Lopes was the
was the big story, the big uh throughout the season.
It was the two of them were together and she
lit a fire that burned his mansion down. He got
booed all season. He had a bad year. You know,
all of these things came back to bite Bill Belichick
(38:26):
in the butt that this didn't work for him. Which
once you have the cash a you can go sign
questionable players and bring them in and say, you know what,
we got this. You know that he went and signed
Andre Rise that didn't work out. But after winning for
a while, let's go make a trade for Randy Moss.
Oh my god, nobody wants this guy. No I got
look at what he did. He needed an owner who
(38:47):
believed in him and would let him do this thing.
But for every step forward, there was a step to
the side or a step back. And Belichick learned a
whole hell of a lot because he's he's the He's
the quintessential Dictionary definition of who's the guy that learned
a lot his first job as head coach and then
really kicked ass the second job. That's what Belichick did
(39:07):
because some of these things he did again, he just
did them in different ways because he learned how to
do them better the second time around. Yeah, I mean,
and and don't forget, I mean he did stop over
with the Jets. It was a stop over with the Jets. Well,
I mean it was. That was his second head coaching job.
But he was undefeated, absolutely no question about it. Put
(39:31):
a plaque up for him. But yeah, talking about it
before the grateful that he got more years, right, I mean,
because he did get several years to try to build
and get it right. And you think about the NFL
now you don't and you may not get that second shot.
He might become everybody's favorite interim coach. As a coordinator,
(39:55):
I mean, he might have gone back to being the
greatest defensive coordinator. Again. It's like the American president and uh,
you know Martin Sheen and Michael Douglas. Uh talking about
It's like, if it wasn't for me, you'd be the
most popular, you know. Professor at the University of Wisconsin
said thing here, Bill Belichick had a guy that believed him,
(40:16):
believed in him, and Craft and companies saw enough to say,
all right, it might be a little unconventional. He may
not say a lot, but we can make this work.
And low and behold, there you have it. So that
was the season for the Cleveland Browns. Didn't turn out
well for Belichick after five years, but it turned out
better for him in the long run. How about somewhere
(40:37):
are they now as we are some Lions and Browns
from these teams? Sheldon White, quarterback, executive director of Player
Personnel and Recruiting Michigan State. Always gotta have a coach
or executive uh in the buildings as we go. Tracy Hayworth,
head coach, Grundy County High I just thought that sounded cool.
In Colm out, Tennesseee, you've got Dennis Gibson, linebacker, rent
(41:01):
restaurant tour, pizza places, and UH place called Uptown Food
and Beverage. Uh. You and I like to eat, So
we got that in UH. And then you have Mike
Farr Second Chance Motors, UH financing subprime folks eventually ended
up in the middle of something with the Exchange Commission. UH,
so we'll push that one off to the side. Frank
Minnifield All Pro Honors U, All Pro Homes is what
(41:25):
he ended up putting together. Home Building Operation He's also
on the Chamber of Commerce in Lexington. You know he
started his career with the Chicago Blitz before he made
it to the NFL and his four time Pro Bowls.
How about that the Chicago Blitz. Everybody, nicely done. Brian
Brannan nine years in the league. He's an executive for
(41:46):
Key Bank. He got Joe Morris, remember he this was
his last year in the NFL. He was part of
the squad uh real Estate and Insurance. Uh. He was
a part owner of the New Jersey Red Dogs with
Carl Banks and Harry Carson. And I say the best
for last because while we gotta get another Syracuse guy
in here. Todd phil Cox Yeah, quarterback, Yeah, Todd phil
(42:11):
Cox ready nine years in the league, appeared in fifteen games.
He is the coast Guard license captain of a business
called Salty Charters Fishing, cruising and sightseeing down in Jacksonville, Florida.
(42:31):
Can you tell me about what time when you beat
Penn State hard dude, we gotta go, we gotta go,
and you go his sight seeing. It's like, why are
you guys here As you're sitting there with your Syracuse
shirt smiling at him from here to come on. How
brilliant would that be? So that's our look back at
the seasons of the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns.
(42:53):
Belichick's first year as a head coach the Lions best
season ever. I'm Jason Smith. He's Mike Harmon. Our radio
show was Monday through Friday on Fox Sports Radio ten
pm to two am on the East Coast, seven to
eleven on the West Coast. You have an idea for
a future episode of Special Teams, hit us up Twitter
at how about a Fresca Mike gets swollen Dome. We
got a couple of episodes coming up that by popular
(43:14):
demand we're gonna throw out there. So keeping coming. We'll
talk to you next week. Is I Love the Nineties
continues on Special Teams. Before you go, rate and review
the show. Whether you're listening on I Heart Radio, I
(43:36):
Heart radio apps, Apple, whatever it is, give us a rate,
tell us you like it. We will love you forever
and ever and ever. Special Teams is a production of
(43:57):
I Heart Radio. For more podcast from my Heart Radio,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio.
Greetings and Welcome inside Special Teams, the podcast with Jason
(00:22):
Smith and Mike Harmon, as we take you back to
some specific years in sports and what some special teams
were able to accomplish in those years. And this episode
starts a run we're gonna have and well, it's pretty simple.
We're gonna call it I Love the Nineties. We're gonna
look back at some specific years in the nineteen nineties
and some stories that really stood out we'll go back to.
(00:43):
And then so we'll cover the entire decade. I'm assuming
we'll do. And I Love the Eighties. At some point
when I Love the Auts, we should probably call how
Sparks to come on, because he's he's on all those
I Love the Nineties, I Love the Eighties shows are everywhere.
Here's the thing, though, I mean during the pandemic, as
we we huddle and we create content and look for content. Uh,
(01:05):
a lot of these guys are waiting by their phone
for the next call. We can have a lot of
special guests in future weeks with different years. All right,
who is topping the charts? I'll watch an infomercial late
at night. Look for love songs of the eighties. We'll
reach out to all of those bands. Remember when this
great one came out in seventy seven. I'm all out
(01:26):
of love. I'm so lost without you. I know you
were right. Yeah, they usually host those things. Yeah that's true. Yeah, Hey,
the air supplies usually. Hey remember this one. You can
use all songs if you let us host it and
pay us some money. Can we do that? A great
Every fourth song is a is air supply. There's no
question about it. Uh So I love the nineties. We're
(01:50):
gonna look back at two seasons that two NFL teams
had in What a great year? One not so great
a year, but boy was at the beginning of something special. First,
I was fresh out on the streets of Evanston, Illinois,
as a freshman at Northwestern, ready for this football season,
(02:11):
making friends and and finding out just how much people
wagered as college students. I was hitting the fall of
my senior year in college, and I'm going, wow, that's
the last time this team was really really good. How
was a long time? And they had a good run.
But the first team we're gonna look at, we go
back to the best regular season ever for the Detroit Lions.
(02:36):
We've done a podcast talking about them being the over team,
but they had so many twists and turns, and they
had tragedy they had to overcome in this season as well.
They wind up twelve and four this year. This was
the best year. This is one of those deal with
the devil type seasons for the Lions. Alright, they were
eight knowing the Silver Dome. They were undefeated indoors all
season long. They swept the Green Bay Packers. It was
(02:58):
the last time they would win lambeau Field until twenty fifteen.
I mean, it was like, all right, all the years
of frustration, Lions, I we're gonna put it together. This
is the year didn't give us. They lost twenty four
straight to them. Overall. Yeah, they just couldn't beat him
at all. First playoffs, first winning season since nineteen eighty three.
(03:20):
It was Wayne Fonce getting after I mean twelve and
for the Lions were a legitimate super Bowl threat in
This was the year that Herman Moore debuted, and what
a career he had. If he played right now, he
would be the best wide receiver in the NFL bar none.
He was taught. He was athletic. He was unstoppable in
(03:42):
the red zone. And there's no coincidence that Detroit's playoff
run of the nineties. Look, they were in the playoffs
actually six times in the nineteen nineties were all with him,
all right, they weren't there. Then suddenly Herman Moore shows
up and they were there. He was someone who could
catch three passes in the game. It would be three
for one on one and three touchdowns. I mean, he
was just that good. And he came in and I
(04:02):
was stunned. It was like a spider playing with a fly.
And if it was time now, he would be even
a taller, more athletic, or really he'd be even better.
Julio Jones, that's kind of how I look at Herman
more and how dominant he would be if he played
right now. And just think about it. In this season,
only eleven catches, right, it was. It wasn't a guy
(04:23):
that got a lot of run. UH would eventually seven
straight years of at least nine hundred receiving yards three
one hundred catch seasons, which is unheard of, UH in
that time, unless your name was large into rice UH.
And I guess Art Monk had his share as well.
But you know, he was a beast, and you think
about some of the missed opportunities when you think of
(04:44):
the greatness at skilled positions. Because we'll get to that
other guy in a minute. But Herman more coming onto
the scene, and uh, let's let's face it. We were
excited about him as fantasy owners as we got things
rolling in college and past Excel spreadsheet. It's a round.
I mean, he he went from and it's really amazing
to think that a guy with this go to a career.
(05:05):
His first three years were pretty pedestrian. You know, he
had he always had a great yard for reception average,
but his first three years were eleven fifty one and
sixty one catches. You're like, wow. And then then he
turned into a start. Yeah, then he turned into a star.
And then he was at one twenty three, one oh six,
one oh four. Back when catching a hundred passes was
the gold standard. Nowadays it's you gotta get to one fifty.
(05:26):
Oh Michael Thomas gets to one thing? All right, that's what?
But yeah, going, how do I bust what I did
a year ago? Right? I mean go back even three
when he only had sixty one played in fifteen games,
yet Pereman, Rodney Holman the tight end and not not
(05:47):
a lot of weaponry going around. And he still had
Brett Perriman. He had forty nine catches, so operational efficiency
from that offense. Look, you still just tucked it into
the gut of oney and and you lived and died
by him. Yeah, this was a season that Barry Sanders
had a career high and rushing touchdowns. He had sixteen,
He missed a game and a half, still ran for
(06:10):
fifteen hundred yards. I mean this was you know, Peake
Barry Sanders, and he came into the league at Peke
Barry Sanders, and he stayed Peake Barry Sanders. WHI he retired,
but this was the middle of his career. His yards
per carry average up around five. This was what Barry
Sanders did, and he was so dangerous. And like I said,
this was one of those boy with all these weapons
(06:32):
that the Lions had, It really was shocking. I mean,
this is the Lions to say, how come they weren't
this good for longer? Yeah, they were playoff threat, but
look at all this talent there. You mentioned Brett Perriman. Look,
you have Barry Sanders, who's the best running back in
the NFL in the nineteen nineties. He got Perriman who
was starting his big run of Detroit's big wide receiving
corps with uh with Johnny Morton who was there. It
was Herman Moore and Perraman and Johnny Morton. You had
(06:54):
Mel Gray was an All Pro kick returner, Lomas Brown,
who was the best offensive lineman Detroit ever had. You know,
Chris Spielman inside linebacker, Benny Blades at free safety, Jerry
Ball at nose tackle. They had really dominant players. I mean,
these were all the biggest some of the biggest stars
in the early nineties, and and the lines that they
were loaded with these guys. But you had five Pro bowlers,
(07:16):
you had five All pros, You had no Gray as
your return man. I mean, you had a lot of
stuff going on with this squad. Can I give you
a couple of Barry Sanders to have some fun with
eight games with at least a hundred rushing yards, four
of those games with at least a hundred and forty
Obviously a couple of monster games. He had that huge
(07:37):
effort against Minnesota in the middle of this Five games
with multiple touchdowns. But here here's the fun stat, right,
because we always used to chuckle with Barry Sanders of
zero minus one for two. He had six games with
sixty three or a few were rushing yards in the
(07:57):
season as well, so you did bottle them just hey,
you know what, we're gonna make Roddy Peter or Eric
Kramer beacha. But the thing that always stood out to
me is he caught a lot more passes than I
think you would have expected on this squad. He was
the sixth leading receiver. Uh well actually what yeah, five,
(08:18):
he was fifth with reptions. Yeah, so catch about thirty passes.
Here's a little swing out and see what you can do.
I remember losing a game in fantasy where I was winning.
We were killing the other team, and it was a
distance league. So the longer touchdowns you have are are
the bigger ones, right, So, and it was a bonus
to get to a hundred yards. So the whole game
where we were playing against Barry Sanders, and this was
(08:40):
the first time that I remember having to always hold
my breath whenever we played against Barry Sanders. We're winning,
We're up by like twenty five points, which is a
lot in a distance league because you didn't get any
points until you got to a hundred yards or you
had a touchdown. So it wasn't like now where it's
every ten yards is a point and you get point
in PPR. So we're killing them, and it's nearly the
end of the four click games are like, hey, this
(09:01):
is you know we're gonna win here, and all of
a sudden, the score jumps from US up twenty five
to US down four. I go, what the hell just happened?
We got twenty nine points. Barry Sanders ran for a
d R touchdown and it was it gave him over
a hundred and gave him a bonus. It was sixteen
points for the touchdown, and we go, yeah, we're waiting.
How are we down for now? We're gonna lose that
(09:21):
one bleeping play. I remember it came over on the
uh the ticker where a sudden it was Detroit Barry
Sanders a R touching when I went, oh, no, come on,
Barry Sanders. Barry Sanders well, but he also epitomized, you know,
working in fantasy, as both you and I have done
for many years, how a prediction on a player's performance
(09:43):
based on you know, the defense, the offensive line struggles,
all of those things. How it all turns on one
play from being wow, I'm a genius to you idiot,
you cost me? You stupid? Sick guys like Barry Sanders
were the ones that looked the Bears defense, They're gonna
hunker down at front seven. Is gonna be able to
contain him? Yeah, and they might do that nineteen times
(10:04):
on all of a sudden, he he's got a score.
I gave you everything I had. The Lions start this
season with Rodney Pete at quarterback, who you and I
have done shows with. Uh, they lose forty five nothing
Week one to Washington, So okay, well they didn't start
(10:25):
out it was gonna be a great season, Mark Rippin,
you know, yeah, and they work it well, this was
you know, this is Washington's big year. So it just
turns out that they had a great year, that one
team really beat them bad a couple of times. Well,
you know what, the books are not kind. There's a
lot of Yeah. The bread, the bread was nothing. It
was bad brand. You know, you get a sandwich and
(10:46):
you're like, boy, I really the bread really is not good.
You know, upgrade the bread. I mean cold cuts I
can get anywhere. It's the bread that makes the sandwich.
Uh that the Lions gave me crappy brand. The Lions
were kind of up and down until two things happened
due to injury. The first one, Rodney Pete gets hurt
in the ninth week and Eric Kramer takes over. Eric
(11:07):
Kramer whose nickname was Brass because he called an audible
on the very first series after replacing Rodney Pete. So
I was like, well, this dude was coming and he's
calling an audible already. This guy's got brass, you know what.
And Eric Kramer, who had a lot of difficulties, you know,
in his life after the NFL has sended. Oh, he
survived a suicide attempt, His son died from a heroin overdose.
(11:28):
He said he was tough for him to be married
because he had a lesson mental capacity. He has had
a really rough time. But on the field this year,
I mean every time he is filled in as a starter,
whether it was with the Lions or the Bears, he
was terrific. You know It's like he almost like, you
don't reminded me of a little bit. He almost reminded
me of what Nick Foles is like now that when
(11:49):
he was pressed into service, suddenly this guy could throw
three touchdowns at three yards a week. That's kind of
what I saw him as. Obviously, nick Foles winning the
Super Bowl and Eric Ramer never led the Bears or
the Lions there, but just the way he was able
to come in and take command of the offense and
and put up big numbers. He kind of reminds me
that that's the impact he had on the game and
on those teams is what Nick Foles had on the
Eagles when he played for them during the course of
(12:12):
his career. Tell you what a couple of fantastic runs
with with Chicago, uh and working with him, you know,
I learned a lot and it's like, all right, let's
sit out and watch a couple of players and you know,
pointing out things he would see. So made me a
better student and helped me to understand some things. Trying
to pick guys brains, man, no matter what kind of
job you're doing, keep asking questions. You might annoy people,
(12:35):
but you're gonna come out better for it. But yeah,
he he was a guy that once he came in
because he didn't he was unconscious, right you take folds.
I take the the Ryan Fitzpatrick approach to a degree
likable guy in the locker room and a guy that
wanted to lead and had no qualms about trying to
push the ball and make something happen. So the Lions
(12:59):
as as they try to maneuver their way around the season,
like I said, they were up and down a bit.
They get to five and two, they get to six
and three, six and four, but they really take off
the final six weeks of the regular season. And one
of the things that galvanized them was an absolute tragedy
that I'm sure you remember, as in week twelve, Mike
(13:19):
Utley was paralyzed offensive lineman during a game against the Rams.
He gave the thumbs up leaving the field. It didn't
know he was paralyzed from the waist down for the
rest of the season. Detroit War's number sixty on their helmets. Uh,
they said they played the rest of the season for him.
And you know, Utly kept a great attitude throughout. I
remember shortly after it happened he couldn't wait to remember
(13:41):
saying I can't wait to back with my teammates and
drink and drink beer and have pizza and you know,
watching this Mike. For me, it was the first time
I had really seen something like that happened to a player.
You know. I remember seeing in highlights the video of
Darryl Stingley who was paralyzed after the big hit from
Jack Tatum. This was in the in the mid nineteen seventies,
and I didn't really quite understand what that was all
(14:02):
about and how that could happen. And Utly was the
first time I had seen it where I'm saying, whoa,
it's just that easy, because he just kind of fell awkwardly.
You know that this wasn't a case where he was
taken by surprise or he was knocked from behind. He
just kind of fell awkwardly, and he fell onto the
crown of his helmet. And and and to see it
like that, I remember, you know, look, I'm in my
(14:23):
early twenties, and I go, that was it. Oh my god.
I'm thinking how fragile it was, and and and and
just thinking that this could happen on any play and
was And I remember thinking about that for a long time,
about Utly and following his story and and and how
tragic wasn't and and how great it was for him
having that great attitude that he had following what happened,
because not many people would have had that the resilience, uh,
(14:46):
and spirit became an inspiration. You can watch videos of
speaking engagements and first steps and everything. We watched the
NFL and some you know, there's the celebration of my
lens to a degree. Uh. Just it's it's not a
safe sport, right when we talk about you know, getting
(15:07):
involved in this from the time where kids or you know,
if your parents looking at whether you allow your child
to play. You know that there are awkward falls, the
stumble when the guy could lose his footing and just
totally unintentionally come at you and and you have a
hit that's just brutal. And so this was for me,
(15:29):
I think the same thing the first time you you
ever had that pause watching a football game. So yeah,
it's it's one that's indelibly etched into my brain. I mean,
between that or when you had a receiver for the
Bears rip both hamstrings on the same play, I mean,
you have those moments that are always in the back
(15:51):
of your head. You mentioned all the things that Mike
Utley has done in the past few years, and I
talked about the thumbs up gesture he gave coming off
the field. Uh. He turned that into the symbol for
the Mike Utley Foundation, which is a foundation he created
that year by he and his agent helps he could
cure for paralysis. And he was just a bright light
right after that was over for for anybody who had
(16:13):
a horrible tragedy like this befall them and really the
legend of Mike Utley. I look back at it and go,
I I can't believe it. I don't know how I
would have reacted, and I don't know how anybody, how
most people would react, but just how just how positive
he was right after it, when it's when that's the
point where you would think people would say, oh, why
did this happened? Do I really want to do this?
Do I want to come back to us? And instead
(16:34):
it was, like I said, right away, he was extremely positive.
And that made it easier for the Lions to rally
and to try to win. For Mike Utley, and how
did it go for them down the stretch? How are
they able to win? And what happened to them in
the playoffs? We got all that plus season of the
Cleveland Browns. Why are they back at this season? Because
(16:55):
it was Bill Belichick's first year in the NFL as
a head coach, and boy are there are some doozy
things you gotta hear about his first year. That's coming
up next right here on special teams. So what happened
(17:23):
to the Detroit Lions at the end of the season
once they made the change to Eric Kramer and trying
to get past the tragedy of Mike Utley. It's quite simple.
They didn't lose. They crushed the Vikings by twenty. They
beat the Bears by ten, They beat the Jets by
two touchdowns. They finished their sweet beating the Packers at
Green Bay. They beat the Bills in overtime to end
(17:45):
the regular season at twelve and four, and they had
Super Bowl aspirations. They get to their first playoff game
and they crush the Dallas Cowboys thirty eight to six.
Kramer was incredibly through for three forty one and three touchdowns.
Barry Sanders wasn't great, but he did have a fifty
yard touchdown run to end the scoring. Uh. This was
(18:07):
the only playoff win since nine seven for the Detroit Lions.
You look back and go. We had that one day
against Dallas and it was legendary. Yeah, I look at
the totality of this season. I mean they beat up
Dallas twice a right week two. That was when you
had Cramer pop in for a quick to two passes
(18:29):
and a touchdown, and then they beat him up again
to start the playoffs. You realize that this team, in
all the accomplishments, going twelve and four in the regular season,
the only average twenty one points a game. This is
unheard of, just absolutely impossible in today's NFL. You go
twelve and four on that, like you're talking all time
(18:51):
historic defenses running in if they had five games where
they scored thirty plus six games where they scored seventeen
or fewer, again, statistical anomalies and well perhaps showing kind
of as we look at teams and we do our
our stat bowl. I was like, well, you know, they
won some games they shouldn't have. Uh, well, it looks
(19:11):
like Detroit did that going all the way back to
once you ride the legs of number twenty Kramer with
the hot hand, especially in that game against Dallas, just
absolutely humiliating them to set up a rematch. While with
the season opener. You know, Dallas had a bit of
controversy going on themselves because they had a kind of
(19:32):
quarterback controversy going on because Troy Aikman got hurt earlier
in the season. Steve Burline came in right leaves Dallas
to the playoffs. They win their first week, and so
Burline has named the starter again for the game against
the Light. Jimmy, as much as you want to tell me,
I'll look at Troy, and Jimmy Johnson did everything he
could to not have Troy Aikman be his quarterback, right
(19:55):
drafting Steve Walsh, taking them out, putting Steve Walsh, and
trying to make it work with a guy other than
Troy Aikman. Before I finally realized, Okay, Lakeman's really good
and we gotta go forward with it. Was a motivation,
but early on it was just it was like Chuck Nolan,
Terry Bradshaw. It was like, but does Jimmy Johnson really
like Troy Aikman. I mean, does he really like it?
Because it seems like he wanted to replace him his
first three years in the league. I know he loves
(20:16):
him now. So it's are our friends at fox Man
they love each other now hall of famers both uh
Aikman goes into the game but couldn't get them down
the field and and wouldn't even put points on the
board in the second half as the Lions turned their
seventeen six leading to a thirty eight six victory. Uh.
(20:38):
This was a phenomenal achievement by the Lions, who now
find themselves in the NFC Championship game against the Redskins.
Remember this Redskins team that beat them forty five nothing
week one. But maybe they get some revenge. Maybe this
is Barry Sanders big game. Uh, Noah's none of those things.
They get demolished by the Washington Redskins. Eric him or
(21:00):
fumbled early, he had an interception. It was not a
great first half, but the Lions were only down seventeen ten.
It was a close game. Barry Sanders had a bad game.
He only ran for forty four yards and eleven carries.
And in the second half, the Redskins just blow the
doors off the Lions, outscoring them twenty four and nothing.
They win forty one, tend to go to the Super Bowl.
They would go on to win the Super Bowl over
(21:21):
the Buffalo Bills, but It always bothered me this game
that it was a close game. And I know they
they got into the especially the week before the Cramer
was so hot and could throw the Lions out of
trouble with all those great receivers. But when it's seventeen ten,
you gotta keep pounding. Barry Sanders, right, Barry Sanders walking
away from the NFC Championship game with eleven carries in
(21:44):
a game that was a one touchdown game at halftime,
you scratched head and go, oh wow, really that that's
what you did. But I get it. Sometimes you get
so pass happy you think, are this is our team,
this is our team. You forget well, you know what,
Barry Sanders running front of fifty yards, that's a pretty
good equal eiser. And and he that was his style.
Maybe he had ten runs in a row where he
(22:04):
had one or two or three yards or negative four
yards and then he did one for seventy five or eighty.
But you never got that chance because he only had
eleven carries. Like anything with running backs, we watch it
all the time. I mean watch you know Derrick Henry.
I think you know what he did in the season.
There was a lot of that. Some decent runs, but
then all of a sudden, on carry fifteen head popped
(22:25):
for a thirty yard run. You know, you you need
to get that lean, get the offensive line, heat it up,
and start getting the the tongues wagging on the d line.
And for Barry Sanders, that was one of the things
because we mentioned, you know, your pro bowlers and you're
all pros. You you got your offensive lineman helping to
set the table. And you know, for for Eric Kramer,
(22:48):
over the course of the year, you know, he had
what eight starts and only had ten touchdown passes. Right
when it was all said and done, it was going
back into the gut of number twenty two. Finish drives
were or you know, you settled for field goals and
the defense made it hold up. But here they didn't
even give him a chance, no running room established and
abandoning it in the second half. I mean, they gave
(23:11):
up a quick field goal to make a but really,
you know, not an insurmountable lead. I mean, dance with
who brung you and they didn't. And Wayne Fonons I'm
sure ruge that day that opportunity lost. But then you know,
Washington wins the title, so you could say, hey, we
were beaten by the best, like you're in the middle
(23:32):
of that that Carnival Homer Simpson episode. No No No Son,
that guy no No No Son. We were beaten by
the best. So that was the season for the line,
still to date, the most successful season the Lions have
ever had. And now what was for the Cleveland Browns. Well,
(23:54):
I listen, the Browns had a season that was yeah,
but there are a lot of twists and turns because
it was Bill Belichick's first season as a head coach
in the National Football League. Now, going back to right,
Belichick was the guy right, coming off his success with
the Giants as their defensive coordinator, he gets the job
(24:16):
head coach of the Browns, his first He's thirty nine
years old. His defensive coordinator was Nick Saban. You know,
Nick Saban was left Toledo. He was the head coach
of Toledo, where he had a pretty good year. He
was nine and two in his third year, and suddenly
Nick Saban's on his way up the coaching ladder head coach,
but he decides to leave to go to the NFL
to be Bill Belichick's defensive coordinator. It was you think
(24:39):
about that. Now, boy, he was a head coach. He's
gonna go be a d C somewhere and not a
head coach somewhere. And you look at that talent and
the friendship that has been going on now for over
thirty years. This is how it started for the Browns.
Belichick was actually a lot like he is now back
in except without being a legend and having his moves
not question because he was still awkward. He didn't talk much.
(25:03):
He was very weird and distant. And the reaction of
Belichip being a head coach was this guy's a genius, right, Well,
maybe geniuses act a little weird. They don't talk to
the press as much as they should. But okay, we
think this guy is gonna be great. It's kind of
how we see Belichick now, except with all the winds
of the Super bowls he has as well. Whatever Belichick
wants to do, we're gonna do. You know, you can't
(25:24):
question him. But back then it was okay. Some of
the things he did. I kind of don't get why
he did what he did. But this was what happens
when you're year one versus you know, your thirtieth year
in the NFL, yeah, and you've won, and you've won
super Bowl after super Bowl, we planned the work, work
the plan, and look at Cleveland and even going all
the way back here with model at the Reins. Uh.
(25:46):
You're talking about an organization that still ran through coaches,
right because he was interviewed for the job two years
prior and while they passed up on him. Uh. And
eventually he gets this gig and you know, and doing
the research and having some fun reading some old columns
from the time in the local newspapers and the Uh.
(26:08):
The epitaphs that were written after his departure, called either
doctor Doom or the Voice of Doom by the media,
Madell called him mean spirited and unlikable and saying and
telling some local reporters he wished he'd hired Bill Kauer
and he had the chance, So I mean he got
(26:30):
he got a lot of hats l I hired somebody else.
I mean, just think about that. Now, Look, Bill Caller
was a great coach, But just think about I wish
I but but think about that. It's like, eventually, you
know he's in the division, right, he then become the Ravens,
and you have the bitter rivalry that goes from there.
But Belichick did after winning his fourth Super Bowl, was
(26:52):
doing his thank you and included model for his patients
at the start of his career. So for bellhot Jack,
it was a great learning experience. For madel it's like
blank that day. Now he takes over a team that
the talent was either on their way down or not
(27:12):
up to part right. He got a lot out of
a little like the Browns were terrible the year before.
They still had Bernie Kozar at quarterback. They're running back
tandem was Leroy Horne and Kevin Mack and Eric metcalf Uh.
They threw a lot of passes out of the backfield.
Michael Jackson was their big wide receiver before he changed
Michael Dison. Michael Jackson who actually wasn't bad. He had
some pretty good years. Reggie Langhorne, Webster Slaughter at wide receiver.
(27:36):
This was kind of a team that was they had
gone through their eighties salad days and now we're trying
to hold on and figure out how do we segue
to the next level of the Browns. Because the Browns
were good the back half of the night, they just
couldn't get past the Denver Broncos in the in the
a f C Championship games because they fumbled and they
gave up drives. You know, the Browns were pretty good
in the eighties, but they had to turn their page. Look,
they still relied on Frank Minnifield, Michael Dean Perry was
(27:59):
still pretty good. You know. They drafted Eric Turner, who
turned out to be a Pro Bowl player. Uh he
missed the first half of ninety one with an injury.
You know, passed away very young, very track, on stomach
cancer in two thousand. Um. But this was a team
that it was. It wasn't great, it wasn't terrible. It
was kind of the middle of the road talent wise.
So it's not like Belichick came in and they said, Okay, hey,
(28:19):
the cupboard stocked for you, go win some games. No,
not not at all. I mean Jackson was a rookie.
It was a sixth round pick back when there were
a lot more rounds. Think about the coverage now, it's
the week of the draft. No, no, really the week
of the draft, because we're gonna split this thing up
over seven days, which is what I thought they should
(28:40):
have done for But I digress. I mean when you
when you look at it and Leroy Horde is your
number two wide receiver as a running back. Yeah, that's tough, right,
I mean that that's the tough thing. I mean you
look at this offense. You know, Bernie Kosar what eighteen
no nine and that as a team they had nineteen
passing touchdowns. Leroy Horde had nine touchdown receptions. That's not
(29:03):
good for anybody. No, no, no, well, if you haven't
been fantasy, it's good. Well yeah, I mean yes, for
for those early adopters of fantasy football. If you were
on the cusp, Hey, this is like, hey, I'm buying
Apple while they're still working in garages, uh and Microsoft
whatever else. Um, yeah, same thing here I'm doing. I'm
(29:25):
doing early fantasy towards the back end of my my
collegiate career, uh and towards the mid nineties where I
started getting involved. But I mean you didn't have a
much depth. Yeah, you had a couple of good fundamental
players in terms of the the the thankless jobs, right,
not in the stats. I mean, you mentioned Michael Dean Perry,
(29:45):
you mentioned Minifield, and you've got some guys of that ILK,
but you didn't you didn't walk in with a great
cast here. So the expectations and I don't know how
high they could have been. Eventually they would get there
and all right, we got enough on paper, let's go.
Because people start making those wild predictions and say this
is the year they break through. Okay, we always know
(30:09):
how those go. Those are the roll of the dice,
you know, stone cold lock kind of segments that we
do if I need a dark horse, because I can't
I can't pick chalk. Where's something where things could break crazy? Uh,
And on the brilliance and the reputation because also thinking
about it, you mentioned nine years old as he gets
this thing started, and that's that's still relatively unheard of
(30:33):
unless Al Davis was the hiring manager. And we saw
some bits and pieces, as I said in the beginning,
of who Belichick would turn into as a head coach
and certain things I'm gonna tell you're gonna say, oh,
I completely see him doing that. Oh I can completely
see him doing that. They start off Owen one and
their first win, ironically for Belichick, is against New England. Yeah. Uh.
They held Tommy Hodson, who was the Patriots touts down. Tommy.
(30:59):
They held Tommy Hodson to see no, no, no, no no.
If you told the Patriots listen, you just gotta wait
ten years and another tom he's gonna show up and
you're actually gonna be good. Patriots fans would have said, Okay,
New England throws for six yards through three quarters. All right,
here's the best part of the game. Randy Hilliard blitzed
off the edge all game. He had two sacks. Right,
(31:19):
Belichick deside him and to use Randy Hilliard off the edge.
He played nine seasons in the NFL. He had three
sacks overall, but Belichick used him off the edge in
this to get to Hodson too in this game. So
this is where he started to see the mad scientist version,
right exactly. It's like, this is my greatest game ever.
And then it's like, okay, you're you're just a guy
(31:39):
now for the rest of your career. But this is
what Belichick did. I'm gonna take a guy and put
in position. He's not used to this, and this is
what we're gonna do. He's done it with running backs
to the frustration. Yeah, I mean, like, hey, we'll wait,
Rex Burkheads coming in. He wants to say something, Hey, uh.
Now I mentioned Reggie Langhorne. He assigned Reggie Langhorn the
(32:00):
practice squad after he didn't hustle in practice. He got
fined forty five K and he appealed and he ended
up winning. So Langhorne winds up winning the appeal, and
but it didn't matter because Belichick wanted to put him
on the practice squad because he didn't hustle. So these
two things right here, you are seeing that he's this.
You could see him doing this now with somebody in
(32:20):
New England, not putting him on the practice squad, but
putting them somewhere where. Okay about you're not hustling here.
You are, you know, week two of the season, and
I'm a brand new head coach and here's a guy
that's been a tenured player here in the National Football League,
and I want to try to put you on the
practice squad. The thing that hurt Belichick is that he
didn't have what he needed to be able to pull
(32:41):
moves like this off and still keep everybody involved. Right,
you need the strong veteran leadership in the cash to
make the big moves without losing support. And there are
a lot of veterans on this team. But he's the
new head coach. So you know, Bernie Kozar has gone
through the wars already, you know, so have a lot
of these other players. So is Slaughter, so his minifield,
so of all these players. So here's this, he's a
(33:03):
new guy. Look at what he's doing so far. So
it takes a while to build a culture when that's
the kind of coach or I'm just gonna do whatever
the hell I want to and you either buy it
or you don't. And it takes a while to get
that by it. Yeah, and a couple of the moves
along the way, right, you have this is the inaugural season.
But eventually UH pushes Bernie out and then you have
(33:25):
the Vinny Vinny tested Vernie. How many Vinnys are there?
Soon as we say, Vinny, that's the only guy that matter.
Uh and Eric's sire, remember Eric, right, he signed Andre
Rise And even though a bunch of folks are going,
don't do that. Oh yeah, that seventeen million dollar deal
for him. Season ticket sales fell four out of five years.
(33:46):
As you can tell, I really enjoyed going back into
the origin story. And Akron columnists UH celebrated his eventual
dismissal by calling it the five year reign of error
is over. Where terror know error error? It was it
was hard, you know, and look, and this year it
was a lot of starts and stops. Like Cleveland couldn't
(34:07):
run the football and they couldn't stop the run. That
was their problem. They had pedestrian running backs and they
couldn't stop the run. But they were still sitting at
four and four middle of the season. The a f
C was really bad this year. In fact, the final
wild card spot would go to an eight and eight team.
But this is where not being able to run the
football crushed and they lost a huge game when they
led Philadelphia by twenty three points, but they couldn't run
(34:27):
the football and kill the clock and they lost that game.
And that seemed to be the theme the rest of
the season. But for the Browns, they still are lurking
at the edge of the playoff chase. When they are
six and seven, they're just a game out of the
playoff race. And suddenly Belichick's getting a little bit of
all right, well, look at the Browns. Look, the Browns
have been bad. They were bad a year before. Maybe
(34:48):
now Belichick can bring him back. Like I said, it
was full of stops and starts. Yeah, you're on the
road with a big win against Indianapolis, so hey, why
not us? Uh? So why not us? What happened to
knock the Browns out of the playoffs? A coaching decision
that Bill Belichick made that you want to scratch your
(35:11):
head and go, I might do that differently again. All
that and more, plus we find out where are they
now from? All these players on the Lions and Brown's
coming up next right here on special teams. So how
(35:38):
did it go for the Cleveland brown six and seven?
The game out of the playoff race Belichick's first year?
Maybe he's a great head coach. Well, they lose a
game to Denver, and they lose a game in the
snow down seventeen fourteen to the Houston Oilers. There on
the two yard line with one play left, Bill Belichick
decides to have matched over kick a field goal, except
(36:00):
in the snow stover slips and hooks the field goal
to the left. This was the waterloo game for the
Cleveland Browns that really stood for so many house so
close but yet so far away during this season because
they lost a lot of close games a second half
of the season. I mean, you'd think Belichick, alright, two
(36:21):
yard line with one play left, let's kick a field
goal and and go to overtime. All right, that's what
we gotta do, except it's too snowy and stover mrs.
You think Belichick would do that now? Or would would
he find a way when he had Tom Brady his quarterback,
to say, let's stick this thing in the end zone
and win the game. Right here, I gotta play. That's
gonna get us two yards and get us into the
end zone. I gotta think, you know, with all the
(36:41):
rub routes and everything, they're gonna find a quick click.
They would rub in a second, right, guys, are just rubbed?
Was wide open or James White out of the backfield,
or talking about Leroy Horde, he would have been found open.
He would have got two yards. Hey, he would have
thrown him. Leroy Horde could have got two yards for you,
because that's all he got was two yards. I think
(37:02):
that was that was Lee Roy Horde's quote. Right, if
you need two yards, I'll get you two yards. If
you need yards, I'll get you two yards. R That
was that was le roy Ard uh So the Browns lose,
they don't make the playoffs, but still it's amazing that
he took a team that was so middle to lower
third of the road talented and he had them that
close to the playoffs all the way till Week fifteen.
(37:23):
But that was kind of the theme for Belichick his
years went on. You know, you mentioned Vinnie test Of
already benching Bernie Kozar for Vinnie test Of already Kozar
was in later years. These are some of the things
that Belichick did that did not win him any favors
in Cleveland. You know, he didn't see that if I
bench Bernie Kozar, even though it's time, he's a llegend
(37:45):
in this city, and just get and they and they
Benjamin waved him and it was what what whoa what
the hell? Then? Of course, Kozar goes on to get
his revenge, playing pretty well in NFC Championship Game for
the Dallas Cowboys and helping them get to the Super
Bowl a couple of years later. But that was stunny,
even though the move had to happen, and test have
already played pretty well. You gotta handle that differently. You
(38:05):
mentioned signing Andre Riise and had a tumultuous season. This
is when him and Lisa left. Die Lopes was the
was the big story, the big uh throughout the season.
It was the two of them were together and she
lit a fire that burned his mansion down. He got
booed all season. He had a bad year. You know,
all of these things came back to bite Bill Belichick
(38:26):
in the butt that this didn't work for him. Which
once you have the cash a you can go sign
questionable players and bring them in and say, you know what,
we got this. You know that he went and signed
Andre Rise that didn't work out. But after winning for
a while, let's go make a trade for Randy Moss.
Oh my god, nobody wants this guy. No I got
look at what he did. He needed an owner who
(38:47):
believed in him and would let him do this thing.
But for every step forward, there was a step to
the side or a step back. And Belichick learned a
whole hell of a lot because he's he's the He's
the quintessential Dictionary definition of who's the guy that learned
a lot his first job as head coach and then
really kicked ass the second job. That's what Belichick did
(39:07):
because some of these things he did again, he just
did them in different ways because he learned how to
do them better the second time around. Yeah, I mean,
and and don't forget, I mean he did stop over
with the Jets. It was a stop over with the Jets. Well,
I mean it was. That was his second head coaching job.
But he was undefeated, absolutely no question about it. Put
(39:31):
a plaque up for him. But yeah, talking about it
before the grateful that he got more years, right, I mean,
because he did get several years to try to build
and get it right. And you think about the NFL
now you don't and you may not get that second shot.
He might become everybody's favorite interim coach. As a coordinator,
(39:55):
I mean, he might have gone back to being the
greatest defensive coordinator. Again. It's like the American president and uh,
you know Martin Sheen and Michael Douglas. Uh talking about
It's like, if it wasn't for me, you'd be the
most popular, you know. Professor at the University of Wisconsin
said thing here, Bill Belichick had a guy that believed him,
(40:16):
believed in him, and Craft and companies saw enough to say,
all right, it might be a little unconventional. He may
not say a lot, but we can make this work.
And low and behold, there you have it. So that
was the season for the Cleveland Browns. Didn't turn out
well for Belichick after five years, but it turned out
better for him in the long run. How about somewhere
(40:37):
are they now as we are some Lions and Browns
from these teams? Sheldon White, quarterback, executive director of Player
Personnel and Recruiting Michigan State. Always gotta have a coach
or executive uh in the buildings as we go. Tracy Hayworth,
head coach, Grundy County High I just thought that sounded cool.
In Colm out, Tennesseee, you've got Dennis Gibson, linebacker, rent
(41:01):
restaurant tour, pizza places, and UH place called Uptown Food
and Beverage. Uh. You and I like to eat, So
we got that in UH. And then you have Mike
Farr Second Chance Motors, UH financing subprime folks eventually ended
up in the middle of something with the Exchange Commission. UH,
so we'll push that one off to the side. Frank
Minnifield All Pro Honors U, All Pro Homes is what
(41:25):
he ended up putting together. Home Building Operation He's also
on the Chamber of Commerce in Lexington. You know he
started his career with the Chicago Blitz before he made
it to the NFL and his four time Pro Bowls.
How about that the Chicago Blitz. Everybody, nicely done. Brian
Brannan nine years in the league. He's an executive for
(41:46):
Key Bank. He got Joe Morris, remember he this was
his last year in the NFL. He was part of
the squad uh real Estate and Insurance. Uh. He was
a part owner of the New Jersey Red Dogs with
Carl Banks and Harry Carson. And I say the best
for last because while we gotta get another Syracuse guy
in here. Todd phil Cox Yeah, quarterback, Yeah, Todd phil
(42:11):
Cox ready nine years in the league, appeared in fifteen games.
He is the coast Guard license captain of a business
called Salty Charters Fishing, cruising and sightseeing down in Jacksonville, Florida.
(42:31):
Can you tell me about what time when you beat
Penn State hard dude, we gotta go, we gotta go,
and you go his sight seeing. It's like, why are
you guys here As you're sitting there with your Syracuse
shirt smiling at him from here to come on. How
brilliant would that be? So that's our look back at
the seasons of the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns.
(42:53):
Belichick's first year as a head coach the Lions best
season ever. I'm Jason Smith. He's Mike Harmon. Our radio
show was Monday through Friday on Fox Sports Radio ten
pm to two am on the East Coast, seven to
eleven on the West Coast. You have an idea for
a future episode of Special Teams, hit us up Twitter
at how about a Fresca Mike gets swollen Dome. We
got a couple of episodes coming up that by popular
(43:14):
demand we're gonna throw out there. So keeping coming. We'll
talk to you next week. Is I Love the Nineties
continues on Special Teams. Before you go, rate and review
the show. Whether you're listening on I Heart Radio, I
(43:36):
Heart radio apps, Apple, whatever it is, give us a rate,
tell us you like it. We will love you forever
and ever and ever. Special Teams is a production of
(43:57):
I Heart Radio. For more podcast from my Heart Radio,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.