DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum 1986 - 2006

I just got done watching NFL's greatest games on ESPN2 with the Browns vs. Broncos game of 86 and was filled with the feelings of 20 years ago all over again.

Yes we lost the game but we were the best team in the NFL that year (yes I believe we would have won the Super Bowl) but in the end Elway stole it from us. I remember crying real tears at the end of that game and it was the last time I have felt that kind of emotion about our Browns.

Now I think about what my once proud Browns have become and it makes me numb. No tears of joy or sadness just thoughts of what a poor product I am being served year after year since our return.

As I watched the game I wondered what happened to the feelings of the old Municipal Stadium that was packed with screaming fans. A QB (BK) that was a winner from high school through college and into the NFL.Guys like Clay Mattews (what is he doing now) Minniefield & Dixon.

And last but not least the fellow Dawgs that expected to win now and not be so passive as to winning.

Yes everythink has changed but to say I love it as much as I used to would be a lie. Yeap 20 years have gone bye and I miss the hell out of the Browns of yesterday!

Sounds like Tailgate Lot material to me.

I'm with ya man. I miss those days. Hell, I have the Browns Songs on CD that I listen to just to remind me of those glory days.
I really miss the old stadium and the slight hill up to the dawg pound. We use to always bring a sheet or some sign and hang it up along the fencing down there.
The stadium and those teams sure did have a great feel to them!

Raleigh

I hear ya. We used to be proud and respected. Now we're the disfunctional butt of jokes.

All we can do, while taking a deep breath, is to repeat these 5 words...'And this too shall pass'.

Saddly we are our own worste enemy,

1986-2006 = -20

Simple enough, gimme another. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

But on the subject, probably the thing I miss most is the sense of loyalty to the team and the fans the players had before FA. That's something that is gone most likely forever, and was a HUGE part of the connection to the team back in those days.

What a great contribution to the post.

To the topic, I really pity those who don't know what it's like to experience meaningful Browns games through November and December. Even though those Denver games were losses, the excitement was unbelieveable!

The line between tailgate and pure football is a fine one, I still see it as grey. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Real Browns contests from those days were "Pure Football" <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

The current Browns VP of Broadcasting felt the need to rekindle memories of the Drive and Fumble for over 60,000 fans before the Bengals game last month on the jumbotrons. When questioned about this, his response, "it is what it is."

Once we start winning, consistently, again, I'm positive that same Muni Stadium magic will be back. There have been hints of it at the new stadium (Atlanta '02, Baltimore '06), we just need a consistent winner.

Think of the credit that OL should be getting,....85/6/7/8/9,.... <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I saw that it was on but couldn't bring myself to watch it... again....

I will say that I think our chances of winning the super bowl were better in '87.... in '86 the Giants were great, it would have been a great game... I just think the following year, against the Redskins, we would have won....

The thing that gets me, in hindsight, about the drive and the fumble is that I often wonder how things would have been different if we had made it to (or even won) a super bowl... if we win a super bowl I don't think Modell moves the team, I think the whole nightmare of the last 10 years doesn't happen and we would have been enjoying uninterrupted decent quality football.... and that's enough to make me sick.

Yeah, we were undefeated that year. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Oh shut up. <img src="/images/graemlins/plthumbsdown.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

And we'd be screaming for Art to get into the Hall,...

I'd take it. <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

You and me both brother <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I was 9 years old when that crap happened, then the following year in Denver, ahhhhh <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

My passion is still there though that was fueled by the feelings I had as a kid. I remember how it used to be and am clinging onto the hope that it will return. It will,,,,,,,wont it?

Hell, I was 32 and then I caught my wife crying because I was crying,...

I was at that game and there were a lot of people crying around me. Even my Dad got choked up and he never showed emotion. When OSU won the national championship in 02 (My first team to do so) I was crying good tears, well more like screaming and tearing up after that intense game. I can't wait till that happens after the Browns win a SB cause it will. Prob will in AZ next month too hehe, being there and all.

I was stationed in Barstow at the time,....

But the NC in 2002 was my son's first ever "Big One." And we got to experience that together, tears and all. Then we went down to "Otie's" in Hilliard and danced on the bar !!

Thats sweet. Thats the one thing me and my Dad had was the Browns and he is the reason I am the way I am today about the team. I hope to be that way with my daughters.

In 2002 that could have been a great winter. I mean the Buckeyes won the NC and the Browns played Pittsburgh the next day. Well, we all knew what happened, in typical modern Browns fashion they blew that <img src="/images/graemlins/plthumbsdown.gif" alt="" /> The cool thing though about the OSU game was instead of going out to a big OSU party I stayed home with the wife. It was the first time she really got into a football game and we both were yelling and screaming, jumping around so much the mean old guy next to us called the police.

We had bought our first big screen in anticipation of that weekend. Can't believe we couldn't get that first down---

"Game over man, game over !" Bill Paxton, Private Hudson in "Aliens."

The '86 AFC title game.... I was a year away from becoming a die-hard Browns fan.