Brian Sipe Era and The Kardiac Kids (1974–1984)
Transition and poor play marked the mid- to late-1970s. Though Collier agreed to come back to the Browns as a quarterbacks coach on an informal basis, his retirement severed the last direct link to Brown and the team's early years. Meanwhile, a new generation of players began to replace the old hands who kept Cleveland in playoff contention through most of the 1960s. Gene Hickerson, an anchor on the offensive line in the 1960s, retired at the end of the 1973 season. An aging Leroy Kelly left the same year to play in the short-lived World Football League. Offensive lineman Dick Schafrath, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, retired in 1971.
Against that backdrop, the Browns finished the 1974 season with a 4–10 record, only the second losing season in the team's history. Phipps' woes persisted, and he shared playing time with rookie quarterback Brian Sipe, who Cleveland selected in the 13th round of the 1972 draft out of San Diego State. Modell fired Skorich after the season. "You've got to be a winner in this game, and I just didn't produce," Skorich said at the time. After pursuing Dolphins offensive line coach Monte Clark, Modell hired Forrest Gregg as Skorch's replacement. Gregg, an assistant coach and former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman, preached a hard-nosed, physical brand of football, learned as an offensive lineman on Green Bay's dynastic 1960s teams under Lombardi. His success as a player, however, did not immediately translate into success as a coach. The regular season began with the worst losing streak in Cleveland's history. Gregg's first win did not come until November 23 against Paul Brown's Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland finished with a 3–11 record.
The team improved the following year, ending with a 9–5 record but missing the playoffs. The highlight of that season was an 18–16 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 10. Kicker Don Cockroft booted four field goals, while defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones' pile-driving sack of quarterback Terry Bradshaw added fuel to the heated rivalry between the teams. While Gregg won the NFL's Coach of the Year award for turning the Browns around as Sipe became the starting quarterback, by the beginning of the 1977 season the same kind of friction that dogged Paul Brown's relationship with Modell was surfacing between the owner and the hotheaded Gregg. Cleveland got off to a strong start that year, but Sipe hurt his shoulder and elbow in a November 13 game against the Steelers, and backup Dave Mays took the reins. With Mays as the quarterback – Modell traded Phipps to the Chicago Bears for a couple of draft picks – Cleveland slipped to 6–7 going into the final game of the season and Modell asked Gregg to resign.
Modell said he would look outside the Browns organization for a new coach, a break from past hirings that drew from the team's own ranks. Peter Hadhazy, who Modell had hired as the Browns' first general manager, recommended a 45-year-old New Orleans Saints receivers coach named Sam Rutigliano. After an interview before Christmas in which Modell and Rutigliano spent hours talking and watching game film in Modell's basement, the owner named him head coach on December 27, 1977. An affable, charismatic man with an even temper, Rutigliano was a stark contrast to Gregg. Sipe immediately flourished under Rutigliano, racking up 21 touchdowns and 2,906 passing yards during the 1978 season, when the NFL moved to a 16-game schedule. His prime targets were Reggie Rucker, a veteran receiver the Browns signed in 1975, and Ozzie Newsome, a rookie tight end out of Alabama who the Browns drafted with a pick acquired in the Phipps trade. Cleveland won its first three games, but poor defense dashed the team's playoff chances and the Browns finished with an 8–8 record.
Read more about this topic: 60th Moments
Famous quotes containing the words brian, era and/or kids:
“... cooking is just like religion. Rules don’t no more make a cook than sermons make a saint.”
—Anonymous, U.S. cook. As quoted in I Dream a World, by Leah Chase, who was quoted in turn by Brian Lanker (1989)
“Erasmus was the light of his century; others were its strength: he lighted the way; others knew how to walk on it while he himself remained in the shadow as the source of light always does. But he who points the way into a new era is no less worthy of veneration than he who is the first to enter it; those who work invisibly have also accomplished a feat.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“The greatest part of each day, each year, each lifetime is made up of small, seemingly insignificant moments. Those moments may be cooking dinner...relaxing on the porch with your own thoughts after the kids are in bed, playing catch with a child before dinner, speaking out against a distasteful joke, driving to the recycling center with a week’s newspapers. But they are not insignificant, especially when these moments are models for kids.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)