1
00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: Welcome to a special edition of the best podcast available

2
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,120
Speaker 1: on Jason Gibbs alongside Andrew Gribble. It is a special

3
00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,599
Speaker 1: week here in Barria as the Browns salute one of

4
00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:26,240
Speaker 1: their own radio radio analysts and former great on the gridiron,

5
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:32,120
Speaker 1: Doug Deacon Gribbs. Uh, fifty years. That's longer than you

6
00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,400
Speaker 1: and I have both been alive. That's how long Doug

7
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,919
Speaker 1: Geacon has been affiliated with the Cleveland Browns. You and

8
00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,159
Speaker 1: I have had plenty of experiences with Doug in our

9
00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,519
Speaker 1: nine plus years of doing this. Uh. Just an unbelievable

10
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,840
Speaker 1: person on the field, off the field, and a wonderful

11
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,120
Speaker 1: guy to get to know and just talk a little

12
00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,440
Speaker 1: bit about your experiences. And it's a it's an emotional week,

13
00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,640
Speaker 1: I think for all of us as Doug gets ready

14
00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,480
Speaker 1: to wrap up a legendary career here with the Browns. Yeah.

15
00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:06,840
Speaker 1: I mean you you threw it out there with the numbers.

16
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,880
Speaker 1: I mean fifty of seventy five years essentially, so that's

17
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,280
Speaker 1: two thirds if I do my math correctly there with

18
00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:14,400
Speaker 1: where Doug Deacon has been a part of the Browns.

19
00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:16,720
Speaker 1: And I think it was Tony Grossi who pointed this out,

20
00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,560
Speaker 1: but just think of all the games he has been to,

21
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,560
Speaker 1: Like he has been to all of almost all of

22
00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,679
Speaker 1: those games because he started every game, uh, and he

23
00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,880
Speaker 1: had the contecutive games streak and he's only missed two

24
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:30,920
Speaker 1: games while being in the booths. So he has been

25
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,280
Speaker 1: home road for all of these games since nineteen seventy

26
00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:36,280
Speaker 1: one when the Browns drafted him. Uh. And then for

27
00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:37,880
Speaker 1: all of us to get to work with Doug and

28
00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,240
Speaker 1: really more importantly talk with him on the practice fields

29
00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,000
Speaker 1: during during training camp and things like that since he's

30
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,280
Speaker 1: always around here. Uh. Just a remarkable guy, uh, a

31
00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,720
Speaker 1: guy that can needle everyone. And I think that's a

32
00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,760
Speaker 1: good thing. That's the best quality of Doug. If you're

33
00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,280
Speaker 1: being needled by Doun, that means he he likes you

34
00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,760
Speaker 1: and is welcome you into his kind of his inner circle.

35
00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:01,960
Speaker 1: But it's a very large inner circle, because I don't

36
00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,240
Speaker 1: know if anyone has more friends than Doug Deacon And

37
00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,480
Speaker 1: so it's just an incredible guy that I remember growing

38
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,720
Speaker 1: up watching The Morning Exchange in the early nineties when

39
00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,680
Speaker 1: he was made his regular appearances there, and then for

40
00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,840
Speaker 1: me and my childhood, this is not a darker chapter

41
00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:19,480
Speaker 1: in Brown's history, but there was a lot of Brown's

42
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,760
Speaker 1: games that didn't get put on TV. Uh, they were

43
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,880
Speaker 1: blacked out, and so you'd had to listen to the

44
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,079
Speaker 1: radio to hear the games, especially in the nineties. So

45
00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,760
Speaker 1: I grew up on that. And then you just, uh,

46
00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,280
Speaker 1: it becomes the background voice. And and anytime you're driving

47
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,160
Speaker 1: or just hanging outside and listening in your garage, Doug

48
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,440
Speaker 1: Deacon has always been there. So, as Jim said, it's

49
00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,919
Speaker 1: going to be hard to imagine a radio broadcast without

50
00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,480
Speaker 1: Doug moving forward. But just an incredible achievement to register

51
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 1: fifty years of the franchise. It really is pro bowler. Uh.

52
00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,959
Speaker 1: Winner of the Byron Whizzer White NFL Man of the

53
00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,919
Speaker 1: Year Award. He was the inaugural winner of the Cleveland

54
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,880
Speaker 1: Touchdown Club Humanitarian Award that was soon renamed for Doug.

55
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,760
Speaker 1: Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame Inductee two thousand three,

56
00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,079
Speaker 1: Ohio Broadcaster Hall of Fame Inductee two thousand and twelve,

57
00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,160
Speaker 1: Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Lifetime Achievement Award, and plenty of

58
00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:24,080
Speaker 1: other accolades as well. And Gribbs, you said it, you know,

59
00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,400
Speaker 1: if he was messing with you, he he liked you.

60
00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,680
Speaker 1: And it was also the case on the road where

61
00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:35,160
Speaker 1: you could find Doug at the hotel bar taking care

62
00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,600
Speaker 1: of people, uh, picking up tabs for Browns fans when

63
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,200
Speaker 1: we were on the road, picking up our tab and

64
00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,960
Speaker 1: drinking plenty of libations, telling stories, and it was always

65
00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,440
Speaker 1: great to be uh traveling with Doug Deacon and be

66
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,520
Speaker 1: around him, especially in the hotel. Yeah. And I think

67
00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,720
Speaker 1: when you think about it, that this is a franchise

68
00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:56,920
Speaker 1: that's undergoing a lot of transition over the years, but

69
00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,640
Speaker 1: Doug has kind of been the one stable part of

70
00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,120
Speaker 1: it and throughout it, whether it was as a player

71
00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,200
Speaker 1: or a broadcast or or that kind of murky in

72
00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,440
Speaker 1: between where he was working for the Cleveland Browns Trust,

73
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,440
Speaker 1: He's been an incredible representative of the franchise. And I think,

74
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,640
Speaker 1: as many people have alluded, you know, this is Doug

75
00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:16,840
Speaker 1: stepping away from the booth. But I don't think we've

76
00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:18,960
Speaker 1: seen the last of Doug or around here at the

77
00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,360
Speaker 1: Cross Country Mortgage Campus, no question about it. He has

78
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,000
Speaker 1: made his home here since nineteen seventy one. He was

79
00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,000
Speaker 1: born in street Or, Illinois, went to the University of Illinois.

80
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,919
Speaker 1: Coming up today on this podcast, Gribble and I are

81
00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:33,280
Speaker 1: going to get out of the way because at the

82
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,440
Speaker 1: end of the day, it's about Jim Donovan Doug Deacon.

83
00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,400
Speaker 1: For the last twenty three years, the two half teamed

84
00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,919
Speaker 1: up to bring you every game on the University Hospitals

85
00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:47,960
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns Radio Network. Twenty three years, a lifetime of stories.

86
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,440
Speaker 1: We hope you enjoy this special edition of the best

87
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:56,159
Speaker 1: podcast available. Hi everybody, Jim Dotto that alongside with my

88
00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,479
Speaker 1: broadcast partner on the Browns Radio Network, Doug Deacon. I

89
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,760
Speaker 1: have said that thousands and thousands of times, but time

90
00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,320
Speaker 1: is growing short. Now Doug is announcing that he's stepping

91
00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,000
Speaker 1: away from the Browns Radio broadcast booth in the analyst

92
00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,640
Speaker 1: position on the Bronze Radio Network. And uh so we're

93
00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,240
Speaker 1: here to talk about an amazing career. So as I said, Doug,

94
00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,000
Speaker 1: I've said that thousands of times, and and I'm just

95
00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,120
Speaker 1: finding out about this. What the heck is going on?

96
00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:29,680
Speaker 1: You're leaving the time to get get on or get out?

97
00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,159
Speaker 1: All right? So, um here we are twenty three years,

98
00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,880
Speaker 1: you and I together. But let's do the map. Tell me,

99
00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,480
Speaker 1: let's go through all the years. How many years as

100
00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:44,040
Speaker 1: a player with the Browns fourteen fourteen years on the

101
00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,760
Speaker 1: field with the Browns and in the broadcast booth. Oh

102
00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:53,880
Speaker 1: ever since uh from eight five on, I think it's

103
00:05:53,880 --> 00:06:00,240
Speaker 1: we're probably at about thirties some Wow, that's amazing. That's

104
00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,560
Speaker 1: half a lifetime. I gotta get a computer to figure

105
00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:09,000
Speaker 1: that stuff out. So let's begin, because the precious part

106
00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,200
Speaker 1: is coming to the Browns as a player. You came

107
00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,240
Speaker 1: out of the powerhouse, out of the Big Ten, the

108
00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:17,880
Speaker 1: University of Illinois, to come to the Cleveland Browns. And

109
00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,480
Speaker 1: the story is amazing because you thought you were gonna

110
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,960
Speaker 1: be a tight end coming to the Browns. Uh, and

111
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,480
Speaker 1: suddenly you became a tackle. Take us down the road

112
00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,480
Speaker 1: and Doug Deacon arriving in Cleveland to become a player

113
00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,800
Speaker 1: and a part of the Cleveland Bronx. Well, it's a

114
00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,440
Speaker 1: little bit different than it is today. I got a

115
00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,120
Speaker 1: phone call at home. Back then they didn't have the

116
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,599
Speaker 1: draft on TV. And get this phone called Nick Scourage,

117
00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,040
Speaker 1: the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. We just drafted

118
00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,080
Speaker 1: you in the sixth round. Okay, great, great great? And

119
00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,599
Speaker 1: I heard the word as an offensive tackle, and I said, Hey,

120
00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:54,840
Speaker 1: any chance I can play tight end? He said, well,

121
00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,120
Speaker 1: we'll see when you get here. Well, when I got

122
00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,600
Speaker 1: there for Mini camp or rookie camp, they gave me

123
00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:01,560
Speaker 1: a seven me three numbers, so I knew that was

124
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,559
Speaker 1: kind of the end of it. But so they brought

125
00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,880
Speaker 1: me in and they prior to uh, you know, after

126
00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,120
Speaker 1: they had drafted me and I had a meeting downtown

127
00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,720
Speaker 1: with the owner, Art Modele and some of the people

128
00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,320
Speaker 1: and got done. Art has this guy that was kind

129
00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,840
Speaker 1: of go for Bernie Harriston, and he says, hey, can

130
00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,080
Speaker 1: you take Deacon to the airport? So I said, he said, yeah,

131
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:25,880
Speaker 1: I can do it. So he takes me down to

132
00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,520
Speaker 1: the Higbie building says there's a rapid tranch, it's going

133
00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,920
Speaker 1: west and Den's get off. So that was my welcome

134
00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,440
Speaker 1: to the NFL in Cleveland. It's a little different than

135
00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:41,000
Speaker 1: all these courtesy cars that. Yeah. Well, the ironic thing is,

136
00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,720
Speaker 1: prior to playing in an NFL game, I only saw

137
00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,920
Speaker 1: one live. Somebody had given me tickets in nineteen seventy

138
00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,559
Speaker 1: to go up to see the Bears play a team

139
00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,840
Speaker 1: called the Cleveland Browns, and uh, that was the only

140
00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,960
Speaker 1: NFL game I ever saw live before I played in one. Now,

141
00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,320
Speaker 1: let me ask you this, when you went to that game?

142
00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 1: Was that game at Wrigley Field? Ye? At Wrigley Field.

143
00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:06,280
Speaker 1: How about that? So Doug saw the Bronze play at

144
00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,360
Speaker 1: wrigley Field, not the Cubs. Everybody he saw the Browns

145
00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,840
Speaker 1: play ad Wrigley Field. When you walked into the Bronx.

146
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,200
Speaker 1: What was the state of the Browns at that at

147
00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,240
Speaker 1: that point, I mean, there were still a lot of

148
00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:19,400
Speaker 1: great players that may be coming near the end of

149
00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:22,120
Speaker 1: their career there. Yeah, we were playing on fumes from

150
00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,800
Speaker 1: the sixty four championship team. You know, I had a

151
00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:26,960
Speaker 1: chance to play next to Gene Hickerson, the Hall of

152
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:32,000
Speaker 1: Famer for three years, you know, an unbelievable player. Obviously,

153
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,280
Speaker 1: Leroy Kelly was still there. Bill Nelson was the quarterback.

154
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,120
Speaker 1: They drafted Mike Fipps third overall, but he hadn't been

155
00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,520
Speaker 1: able to beat out Bill Nelson. And so it was,

156
00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,280
Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of a transition from that sixty

157
00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,280
Speaker 1: four championship team. You know, on the defensive side they

158
00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,400
Speaker 1: had Walter Johnson, Jerry shirt, Joe Jones, Jack Gregory h

159
00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,560
Speaker 1: the linebacker was Jim Mused and Dale Lindsey, John Garlington,

160
00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,360
Speaker 1: and then the defensive backfield it was Ernie Kellerman and

161
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,640
Speaker 1: Walt Sumner, Clarence got Ben Davis Dog tell me this, Um,

162
00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:08,439
Speaker 1: you were always so devoted and passionate to the path

163
00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,680
Speaker 1: of getting Jean Hickerson into the Hall of Fame. And

164
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,080
Speaker 1: you just mentioned that he was here, and you were

165
00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,320
Speaker 1: proud to be a part of an offensive line and

166
00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,360
Speaker 1: around him. Um. And it took a long time. And

167
00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,280
Speaker 1: I know you've mentioned this to me and to others

168
00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,240
Speaker 1: it took too long to get him into the Hall

169
00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,720
Speaker 1: of Fame. But I mean, that was really quite a

170
00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,040
Speaker 1: guy behind and just a phenomenal player that maybe slipped

171
00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,640
Speaker 1: through the cracks in the process of getting a guy

172
00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:35,080
Speaker 1: into the Hall of Fame. And so finally he got there. Well,

173
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,400
Speaker 1: he finally got there. And I think, you know, unfortunately,

174
00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,480
Speaker 1: you know, there's a promotional part about getting players in

175
00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,920
Speaker 1: the NFL, and because of some feelings within the organization

176
00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,600
Speaker 1: and Jean, I don't think he was you know, promoted,

177
00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:51,120
Speaker 1: uh in regards to trying to get him in. And

178
00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,280
Speaker 1: you know, unfortunately, by the time he did get in,

179
00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:56,360
Speaker 1: he at Alzheimer's and you know, it just wasn't the

180
00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:58,560
Speaker 1: same event that you had had hoped it to be.

181
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,800
Speaker 1: And I remember being down at Kenton for the induction

182
00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,719
Speaker 1: and going in and seeing Jean in the locker room

183
00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,600
Speaker 1: after they had introduced him, and it was it was

184
00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,680
Speaker 1: a tough thing. Yeah, it really was an incredible moment. Doug.

185
00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:14,400
Speaker 1: Was it a lot of fun? I mean when you

186
00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,280
Speaker 1: tell me the stories about playing for the Browns back

187
00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,000
Speaker 1: in those days, um, it just seemed like it was

188
00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,400
Speaker 1: a lot of fun because the fans were so close

189
00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,160
Speaker 1: to you, and and you know, guys weren't making five

190
00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:33,760
Speaker 1: million dollars. No they weren't. I assumed you were not either. No, Uh,

191
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,040
Speaker 1: you know it was you know back then. The one

192
00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,440
Speaker 1: thing that you know is really different from today is

193
00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,480
Speaker 1: you only had forty three guys on the team. So

194
00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,880
Speaker 1: you know, when you got hurt, you better been real

195
00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,640
Speaker 1: hurt if you weren't gonna play. And you found that out.

196
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,040
Speaker 1: You know, you always heard the coaches talk about dependability

197
00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,680
Speaker 1: and accountability, and when you only have forty three guys,

198
00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,880
Speaker 1: sometimes you have to play hurt and you know later

199
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,480
Speaker 1: on it catches up with you. But uh, you know,

200
00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,720
Speaker 1: you wouldn't do it any other way. Your best shot

201
00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,760
Speaker 1: do you think to go all the way and the

202
00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,040
Speaker 1: Browns go to the Super Bowl. When you were a player,

203
00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,280
Speaker 1: you probably had to think that not only was the

204
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,720
Speaker 1: team great of the cardiac kids in nineteen eighty, but

205
00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:19,720
Speaker 1: things were going your way that year. I mean, there

206
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,800
Speaker 1: were some pretty magical come from behind victories. You had

207
00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:27,199
Speaker 1: a quarterback that just had an amazing touch, Jim Bryant, Pype,

208
00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:29,559
Speaker 1: you had, you were pulling out games in the last

209
00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,959
Speaker 1: second with these herculean comebacks. Um, and you're at home

210
00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,240
Speaker 1: in the opening round of the playoffs. Yeah, and you know,

211
00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,360
Speaker 1: it's it was one of those seasons where, like you said,

212
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:41,520
Speaker 1: you know, the close games we won, and we've seen

213
00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,800
Speaker 1: you know, Brown's team to do that before. But you know,

214
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:48,280
Speaker 1: we got to the playoffs with the Raiders came out here.

215
00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:51,360
Speaker 1: It was probably one of the worst days weatherwise in

216
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,320
Speaker 1: the history of the NFL. And uh, you know, it

217
00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,800
Speaker 1: wasn't so bad on the players as it wasn't the

218
00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,240
Speaker 1: poor people sitting in the stands, because there where on

219
00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,560
Speaker 1: you know, Cement and I'm sure the coldness just went

220
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:05,840
Speaker 1: right up. And if you're a player and you're moving around,

221
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,400
Speaker 1: it wasn't that bad. And you know, as an offensive tackle,

222
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,480
Speaker 1: anytime you get conditions like that, the other guy slows down,

223
00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,559
Speaker 1: so everybody comes down to your speed. Tell me about

224
00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,960
Speaker 1: the historian though. Um, when you were a Brown's player

225
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,360
Speaker 1: on that particular team in that year, you had these amazing,

226
00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,520
Speaker 1: you know, come from behind victories, but also these welcome

227
00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:30,600
Speaker 1: homes when you went on the road and the airport

228
00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,800
Speaker 1: would just be stuffed with fans. I mean, it was

229
00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,360
Speaker 1: like when the Beatles landed in New York when they

230
00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:38,800
Speaker 1: finally came over for the Ed Sullivan Show. It was

231
00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:42,000
Speaker 1: really unbelievable, wasn't it. Oh? Yeah, I mean and you

232
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,320
Speaker 1: know when we clinched the division down in Cincinnati in

233
00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,480
Speaker 1: the last game, Uh, you know, we got to the

234
00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,360
Speaker 1: airport and the mayor was there, the greetist, George Voinovich

235
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,880
Speaker 1: and everything, and uh, you know, it was everything was

236
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,840
Speaker 1: cardiac kids, and you know, Brian Pipe was League MVP,

237
00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,720
Speaker 1: did an unbelievable job. Uh. You know. It was one

238
00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,080
Speaker 1: of those seasons where the ball bounced your way and

239
00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,360
Speaker 1: we were very fortunate to be able to take advantage

240
00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,040
Speaker 1: of it. Yeah. What was the suddenness like of losing

241
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:16,120
Speaker 1: that playoff game? That was like, you know, playing your

242
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,800
Speaker 1: stereo full blast and all of a sudden, somebody pulls

243
00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,880
Speaker 1: the court. The stadium got so quiet, you know. Uh

244
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,240
Speaker 1: it was you know, we were going down to drive

245
00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,720
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, get the winning score and we

246
00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:31,800
Speaker 1: get intercepted by a guy that, you know, according to

247
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,720
Speaker 1: some people that played for the Raiders probably couldn't catch

248
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,280
Speaker 1: you know, ten balls in a row, let alone that one.

249
00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,040
Speaker 1: But you know, it was, it was, you know, a

250
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:42,920
Speaker 1: lot of energy and then all of a sudden, it

251
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,679
Speaker 1: was just like totally quiet. And you know, I remember

252
00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:47,640
Speaker 1: going home after the game and I just didn't want

253
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,080
Speaker 1: to go out, and my brother was in town. He said,

254
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:52,400
Speaker 1: come on, let's go out, and it was it was

255
00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:56,000
Speaker 1: just amazing the way that people received the team, and

256
00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,400
Speaker 1: you know how much appreciative they were of the players

257
00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:03,720
Speaker 1: on it. Yeah, was it something that you know, it

258
00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,559
Speaker 1: just seemed that the players just so enjoyed being with

259
00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,560
Speaker 1: the fans too. I mean, you all had like Monday

260
00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:11,960
Speaker 1: and ideals when there was when Monday night football was

261
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,600
Speaker 1: red hot Browns player would be appearing in a holiday

262
00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,280
Speaker 1: in near you, and the place I would be jamped.

263
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:20,480
Speaker 1: I mean it would be jammed on a Monday night.

264
00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,120
Speaker 1: It didn't matter whether you were Bryant's side or if

265
00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,400
Speaker 1: you were the holder on on on the point after.

266
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,720
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just it was just an electric

267
00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:30,120
Speaker 1: wasn't it. Yes, it was. In fact, you know, I

268
00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,600
Speaker 1: hosted one of those for about six or seven years,

269
00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,000
Speaker 1: and I'd always you know, getting one of the guys

270
00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:36,840
Speaker 1: to come over, and you know, the place would be

271
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,920
Speaker 1: backed and would be jammed and uh uh you know,

272
00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:41,880
Speaker 1: and it was a good group of guys. You know,

273
00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,320
Speaker 1: we played as a team. I mean, I go back

274
00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,200
Speaker 1: to my first year we made the playoffs. In one

275
00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,280
Speaker 1: we played the Colts. They went on and won the championship.

276
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,600
Speaker 1: The next year we played the Dolphins, uh in their

277
00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,480
Speaker 1: undefeated season, and we actually had them down a little

278
00:14:58,480 --> 00:14:59,920
Speaker 1: bit at the beginning of the game and then my

279
00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,880
Speaker 1: fips through five interceptions, so that didn't then well. But

280
00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,480
Speaker 1: you know, then you go maybe eight years before you

281
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,000
Speaker 1: get a chance to get back in the playoffs. Yeah,

282
00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:11,880
Speaker 1: when we've been on the road so many times all

283
00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,760
Speaker 1: around the NFL. I mean a lot of alumni guys

284
00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,400
Speaker 1: that you played with will come in and visit the

285
00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,040
Speaker 1: team hotel back when you could visit the team hotel

286
00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,520
Speaker 1: and you know, have dinner with you and things like that.

287
00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,200
Speaker 1: Who are some of your favorite teammates. I know, Dino

288
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,640
Speaker 1: Hall never missed an opportunity too when we were in

289
00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,720
Speaker 1: the area, no matter where we were in the area.

290
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:32,840
Speaker 1: Do you know, Hall would make sure that he dialed

291
00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,480
Speaker 1: you up and get dinner and great guy. But I

292
00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:37,800
Speaker 1: know there have to be a lot of teammates that

293
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:40,600
Speaker 1: really are high on your list. Well, yeah, do you

294
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,920
Speaker 1: know obviously Brian Sipe, Jerry Shirk, uh, Dave Busuli is

295
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,400
Speaker 1: still here. Uh you know, Dave Logan, you know in Denver.

296
00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,200
Speaker 1: Dave you know, is doing the broadcasting out there. Uh,

297
00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,520
Speaker 1: you know, the guys on the offensive line, Henry Shepard, unfortunately,

298
00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,800
Speaker 1: the late Tom deal leone. Cody Risen was another one

299
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,920
Speaker 1: that was just it was like my son, uh you know,

300
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,080
Speaker 1: and he he was a guy that was was going

301
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,880
Speaker 1: to quit the team one year and his dad had

302
00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:09,880
Speaker 1: passed away, and you know, so we had to talk

303
00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,440
Speaker 1: and you know, Cody stuck around and he went on

304
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,920
Speaker 1: to have a very productive career. Uh. Clarence Scott came

305
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,360
Speaker 1: in in with me. Clarence was probably one of the

306
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,480
Speaker 1: classiest guys I've ever seen. Then he had Greg Breud

307
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:23,720
Speaker 1: who was just you know, a lot of fun to

308
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:25,840
Speaker 1: be around, and it was. You know, I go back

309
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,680
Speaker 1: to the original guys Dale Lindsay, who is a coach

310
00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:32,880
Speaker 1: at San Diego University. Uh, he coached with the Packers,

311
00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,120
Speaker 1: he coached with the Browns. Dale and I are you know,

312
00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,000
Speaker 1: still close, uh, you know. And then there's some guys

313
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,400
Speaker 1: that were you know, friends that have you know, unfortunately

314
00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,720
Speaker 1: passed on and you and you there were so many

315
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,600
Speaker 1: pranksters and you might have warned the sea on your

316
00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,480
Speaker 1: jersey for that as a captain of the Pranksters, but

317
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,280
Speaker 1: there were just so many. There was a lot of

318
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,280
Speaker 1: high jakes that went on during the season, during training

319
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,520
Speaker 1: camp wherever you guys were getting set for the upcoming season.

320
00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,320
Speaker 1: It seemed like a really close punt. Yeah it was.

321
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,520
Speaker 1: And you know the thing is we all had fun

322
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,480
Speaker 1: together when you were at training camp. You know, you

323
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,280
Speaker 1: had the two days, but after that second practice, you

324
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:14,000
Speaker 1: know you'd head out to get some uh replenish your fluids.

325
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:16,560
Speaker 1: And it was you know, it was always you know,

326
00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,120
Speaker 1: it was always a good time. When when I started,

327
00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,080
Speaker 1: we trained in Hiram. Hiram was a drytown, so after

328
00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,720
Speaker 1: practice it was like us thirty drag script to either

329
00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,480
Speaker 1: get to the riverside in or go to Garrettsville, and uh,

330
00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,520
Speaker 1: the thing I learned, you know back then, and he

331
00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:32,600
Speaker 1: used to make you sing if you came in late.

332
00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,399
Speaker 1: You couldn't. You didn't have to sing because nobody was left.

333
00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,120
Speaker 1: Tell me this, Why was it so important or what

334
00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,920
Speaker 1: was in the decision to stay in Cleveland. You stayed here. Um,

335
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,199
Speaker 1: you're playing days would come to an end and you

336
00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,600
Speaker 1: were going to live here. And you still live here.

337
00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,639
Speaker 1: And other players have done that, which um, and maybe

338
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:54,639
Speaker 1: you know the players of today don't do that so

339
00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,719
Speaker 1: much because they have homes everywhere. But I mean, the

340
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,520
Speaker 1: fact of the matter is that a guy like you decided, Hey, listen,

341
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,360
Speaker 1: I liked it so much here, I'm gonna stay here. Well, yeah,

342
00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:07,480
Speaker 1: and I think you know, my first year, I went,

343
00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:09,960
Speaker 1: after my rookie year, I went back to Illinois and

344
00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,480
Speaker 1: got my degree. I needed six hours. So then my

345
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,400
Speaker 1: second year I had a knee operation. I went back

346
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,280
Speaker 1: home in Illinois and I was a substitute teacher in

347
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,920
Speaker 1: the off season. Then my third year, I had another

348
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,560
Speaker 1: knee operation on the other knee, and I said, you

349
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:28,240
Speaker 1: know what, I think I'm just going to stay around

350
00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:32,240
Speaker 1: Cleveland because you know, the medical facilities were much better,

351
00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,600
Speaker 1: and I could rehab here. I mean some of the

352
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,200
Speaker 1: ways they used to rehab you on the old days. Uh,

353
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:43,000
Speaker 1: I think you'd get arrested for today. I'll tell you this.

354
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,960
Speaker 1: Was it a tough decision to retire as a player. Yeah,

355
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,080
Speaker 1: you know, I always felt that you never said you

356
00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:53,639
Speaker 1: were going to retire, because if you said you were

357
00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,159
Speaker 1: going to, you play like you were going to. And

358
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,720
Speaker 1: I was always leary of. I didn't want to be

359
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,320
Speaker 1: that guy that was just getting that last check. I

360
00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,560
Speaker 1: wanted to be that guy that earned that last check.

361
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:07,600
Speaker 1: You know, when I came to town, I was only

362
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,560
Speaker 1: here a short period of time, and we were hustled

363
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,359
Speaker 1: out to Bria, to that tiny little locker room right

364
00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:15,720
Speaker 1: on the campus of Baldwin Wallison. You were announcing your

365
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:20,040
Speaker 1: retirement and you were you were leaving, and you were

366
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,560
Speaker 1: not going to play um but lo and behold, you

367
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,080
Speaker 1: didn't miss a beat because you were going to go

368
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,560
Speaker 1: right into the radio booth. How did that all come about?

369
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,280
Speaker 1: You know, it's a lot of sports, you know, is

370
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,719
Speaker 1: about talent. Another thing is it's about timing. And you know,

371
00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,320
Speaker 1: it's like when I got drafted here as an offensive tackle,

372
00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,960
Speaker 1: never played. Dick Shafraff was in his thirteenth year, and uh,

373
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,200
Speaker 1: you know, all of a sudden, as a young guy,

374
00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,040
Speaker 1: you looked pretty quick, pretty fresh, and pretty raw. But

375
00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,680
Speaker 1: it just gave me an opportunity to play. And uh,

376
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,800
Speaker 1: much like in the radio booths. When I retired, GiB

377
00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,760
Speaker 1: Shanley had decided that he wanted to go to uh

378
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,720
Speaker 1: Los Angeles to get a job out there. So there

379
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,480
Speaker 1: was an opening in it, and so you know, I

380
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:08,080
Speaker 1: applied for that and it, you know, turned out, you

381
00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 1: know what, thirty some years later, I'm still doing it. Yeah, unbelievable,

382
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,800
Speaker 1: there you go. Wasn't Joe Tate a factor too, Doug,

383
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:19,360
Speaker 1: Didn't he talk to you about possibly getting into broadcasting

384
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:21,000
Speaker 1: and told you, you know, you might be pretty good

385
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,800
Speaker 1: at this. Well actually the guy that said, you know,

386
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,320
Speaker 1: he had a pride this when you're done was GiB Shandley.

387
00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,960
Speaker 1: But then once I got into it, uh, you know,

388
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,439
Speaker 1: I wasn't totally happy with you know what, I was

389
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,040
Speaker 1: doing it, and I called Joe Tate. Somebody said Joe

390
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,040
Speaker 1: was a great guy and he'd be glad to help you,

391
00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:42,600
Speaker 1: and Joe Joe Tate came over to my house and

392
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:46,000
Speaker 1: we sat down and listen, listened to some recordings, and uh,

393
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,320
Speaker 1: you know, he told me what sounded good, what sounded bad,

394
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,080
Speaker 1: what I should say, what I shouldn't say, and uh,

395
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,359
Speaker 1: you know, Joe is like yourself. He was, you know,

396
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,440
Speaker 1: the top of the game. So I remember this, Dug.

397
00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:00,280
Speaker 1: I thought it was a very very unique broadcast booth

398
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,159
Speaker 1: when you first joined it. Uh, and to fill the

399
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,880
Speaker 1: folks in, it was really really kind of a new

400
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,879
Speaker 1: way of doing a typical NFL broadcasting, and especially a

401
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,760
Speaker 1: radio broadcast. And let me describe it. Doug was the analyst,

402
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,000
Speaker 1: but there were co play by play guys. Jim Mueller

403
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,920
Speaker 1: had been Gibb Shanley's partner for a long long time,

404
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,120
Speaker 1: and I was working with Jim at the time at

405
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:27,960
Speaker 1: Channel three, and so it just seemed the natural step

406
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,080
Speaker 1: he would take the spot and go in and take

407
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:32,880
Speaker 1: Gibbs position he had waited for a long long time,

408
00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,200
Speaker 1: and he did, but only a percentage of it because

409
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,560
Speaker 1: Nev Chandler was over at Channel five. He had left

410
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,680
Speaker 1: the Indians radio broadcast and gone over to Channel five

411
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,080
Speaker 1: when Gibb went out to Los Angeles, and he was

412
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,440
Speaker 1: also a play by play guy, so it was Doug,

413
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,840
Speaker 1: Jim Mueller, Nev Chandler and Jim Muller would do the

414
00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,600
Speaker 1: first quarter, Nev Chandler would do the second, Jim would

415
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,800
Speaker 1: do the third, Nev would do the fourth. The first

416
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,439
Speaker 1: game you guys did together in the regular season, I

417
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 1: don't know if you're gonna remember this, but you know,

418
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,959
Speaker 1: I have a crazy memory. It was against the Cardinals

419
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,960
Speaker 1: at the old stadium and the game went over time

420
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,120
Speaker 1: and they took a commercial break and Mueller and Nev

421
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,200
Speaker 1: come out and they go, you know what, we didn't

422
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,040
Speaker 1: have a rule for this, who does the play by

423
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,120
Speaker 1: play in the overtime? But it was kind of a

424
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:25,320
Speaker 1: different setup, wasn't it. Yeah, it was totally different, and uh,

425
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,040
Speaker 1: you know then the next year they decided to change it.

426
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:31,400
Speaker 1: But you go back to when we were doing those games,

427
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 1: we weren't in a radio booth per se like we

428
00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,040
Speaker 1: are today. We were on the roof of the stadium,

429
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 1: right next to the cameras that they videoed the game tapes.

430
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,840
Speaker 1: And the bathroom was, lack of a better term, it

431
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 1: was an outhouse. It was. There was no flushing, no

432
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,159
Speaker 1: flushing that toilet. I believe they call that the latrine

433
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,960
Speaker 1: I believe with a little hole cut through a wall,

434
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 1: I think, or through the floor. Um, doug it you

435
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,240
Speaker 1: you hit it in the broadcast side of things. Really

436
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: at the right time you talk about Tim and Kozar arrived.

437
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,000
Speaker 1: The team was getting good. They had that defense that

438
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,399
Speaker 1: had a real spirit to it. The town was just

439
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,440
Speaker 1: in love with that dog pound. Um you had Mac

440
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,440
Speaker 1: and Biner. The USFL had really helped the Browns out

441
00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 1: by giving them some great players. Well I envied you guys.

442
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 1: You were you were on top of that, you were

443
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 1: in that wooden booth, on top of that old stadium.

444
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: But man, that place rock. Those had to be fun Sundays. Yeah,

445
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 1: they were. I think, you know, the excitement of you know,

446
00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 1: the games and you know, you know you go through swales.

447
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:43,840
Speaker 1: I think you know, as an announcer, as a player.

448
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 1: Uh Well, like I said, when I came in the

449
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 1: first two years we went to the playoffs and I thought, oh,

450
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,200
Speaker 1: this is easy, man, We're gonna do this all the time.

451
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 1: Well that was and seventy two. It wasn't ntil lady

452
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,880
Speaker 1: that we went back, and then then the strike year

453
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,159
Speaker 1: and eight two we went back, and then all of

454
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,280
Speaker 1: a sudden, you hit adult and then as you mentioned,

455
00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 1: Kozar and that group came in. In the first year,

456
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 1: they went down to Miami and got beat down there.

457
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 1: But then the second year, you know, now we're playing

458
00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:12,880
Speaker 1: for the a f C championship for a couple of years. Yeah,

459
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 1: remember the build up during the week for those playoff

460
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,840
Speaker 1: games when you're playing at home. And they got ready

461
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 1: for the Jets game and they played on a Saturday.

462
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,560
Speaker 1: And remember, um, we would go we would leave town

463
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:28,720
Speaker 1: and if you were covering the Browns, you could go

464
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 1: with them. And I was covering the Bronze, so I

465
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:32,840
Speaker 1: went with them, and you were getting ready for the

466
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 1: radio broadcast, and we would go down to Florida. We

467
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 1: went down to Dodgertown, didn't we and the Bronx would

468
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,679
Speaker 1: get ready. I remember sitting with all of the guys,

469
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,679
Speaker 1: all of the Browns players and the Bronze had to

470
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,080
Speaker 1: watch the wild card game that Sunday afternoon to see

471
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,200
Speaker 1: who they were going to play, and the Jets ended

472
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,639
Speaker 1: up winning the game. But we were down where the

473
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,640
Speaker 1: Dodgers would get ready for spring training and get ready

474
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,160
Speaker 1: for the regular season, and and that's where we were.

475
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:58,880
Speaker 1: It was amazing and I think it was two fold,

476
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,159
Speaker 1: Doug number one, to get out of the weather, but

477
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,200
Speaker 1: number two, there was so much hysteria around the city

478
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:08,199
Speaker 1: with the players that I think they wanted to get

479
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 1: them out of town a little bit. Yeah, they wanted

480
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 1: to isolate them. And you know it's funny you go

481
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:19,000
Speaker 1: into that obviously double overtime game against the Jets and

482
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 1: you know, one of the all time classic games. Uh.

483
00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:26,720
Speaker 1: But then you know, the next week, unfortunately it was

484
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:31,200
Speaker 1: the Broncos coming in for the championship game. But with

485
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,480
Speaker 1: all the hysteria of the Browns, you know, doing so well,

486
00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 1: what goes better than a song about the Cleveland Browns,

487
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,200
Speaker 1: you know, you know, everybody has got their things. So

488
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,400
Speaker 1: my neighbor was Pat Daily, the singer, and I talked

489
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 1: to Pat and we came up with the song, and

490
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,960
Speaker 1: we're gonna get it pressed on the forty five records

491
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: and sell that at the stadium, uh, you know. And

492
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: unfortunately that the records didn't come in on time, so

493
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,680
Speaker 1: they didn't come in for the Jets game, where we

494
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:00,879
Speaker 1: would have sold them all out. They come in for

495
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 1: the Denver game, and Daily has got ten cartons in

496
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: his basement across the streets. Really, uh, those will be

497
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,879
Speaker 1: collectors items, don't they. Huh, absolute gold. I'm surprised they

498
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 1: weren't do that, your solid gold. Wait, do you see

499
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:22,200
Speaker 1: what you getting next Christmas? Doug? Those losses in those

500
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,160
Speaker 1: a f C Championship games, I mean, first of all,

501
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 1: when Brian Brennan catches the past, you have to think

502
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,120
Speaker 1: in two weeks, you're gonna be broadcasting a Super Bowl,

503
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 1: You're gonna be in Pasadena and the Browns are gonna

504
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 1: be playing the Giants. You had to think that was

505
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,000
Speaker 1: gonna happen, didn't you. Oh? Yeah, I mean you thought,

506
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 1: you know, now we've we've got it. You know, this

507
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,359
Speaker 1: is our game. And unfortunately it was a guy with

508
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,359
Speaker 1: the number seven on on the other side of the

509
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 1: field and just didn't turn out quite that well. Yeah.

510
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,760
Speaker 1: The following year, then we go and the fumble happens

511
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,600
Speaker 1: at Bile High Stadium. Um, and you had quite a

512
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 1: trip home, didn't you, from Denver? After that? I mean,

513
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 1: the humiliation of losing that game and a heroic, heroic

514
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,640
Speaker 1: comeback by the Browns and Ernest Binder in the game,

515
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,120
Speaker 1: and unfortunately Binder then has the ball knocked out going

516
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,199
Speaker 1: in for what looks what looks is going to be

517
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 1: the time touchdown. Um, and then you go to the

518
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 1: airport to say, geez, let's get home and you can

519
00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,199
Speaker 1: pick it up from there. Well, as the airplane started

520
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 1: to take off down that runway at full speed, all

521
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,800
Speaker 1: of a sudden it hit the brakes and uh came

522
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 1: to stop. There was a malfunction, and uh there was

523
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,359
Speaker 1: probably gonna be a malfunction in the bathroom because there

524
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 1: was a line about ten deep in each bathroom. After

525
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 1: that thing, you hit the brakes real hard. So we

526
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:42,560
Speaker 1: ended up going back to the terminal and getting another airplane.

527
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 1: But you know, in the meantime, you obviously everybody was

528
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,800
Speaker 1: kind of thirsty from the game, so we cleaned out

529
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:54,119
Speaker 1: the airport bar. What a night, What a night to

530
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 1: find down when you get off the plane, did you

531
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,040
Speaker 1: kiss the ground? And Hopkins, when you finally got home,

532
00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,520
Speaker 1: there was actually some guys that didn't want to get

533
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,640
Speaker 1: back on the next airplane. Yeah, hop on that. Doug

534
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,479
Speaker 1: nev was a great, great broadcaster, and he left us

535
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,440
Speaker 1: all too soon. You were a great partner with him. Uh,

536
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,280
Speaker 1: he was sick. I often think that in his years

537
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:20,400
Speaker 1: when he was really battling cancer, the job of being

538
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,080
Speaker 1: able to go to the game and work with you

539
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,560
Speaker 1: and do the Browns game kind of kept him going,

540
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,399
Speaker 1: it really did. He fought so hard to stay in

541
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 1: that boot. And he was so great at it, wasn't

542
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,679
Speaker 1: he Well, he was like you, he was a prose

543
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 1: pro and he was a perfectionist and he worked hard

544
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 1: at it, and you know he he enjoyed it. And

545
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,479
Speaker 1: growing up in Cleveland, you know, he it was his

546
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 1: team and everything, and he got the opportunity and he

547
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: had been the second fiddle to give for many years

548
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,840
Speaker 1: and you know this is it was his opportunity to go.

549
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 1: And uh, yeah, it was. It was tough, you know

550
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 1: as time went on to lose him, because you know

551
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,760
Speaker 1: he was that was a good great guy. Yeah, just

552
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,320
Speaker 1: a great guy, absolutely, And he left us far too early,

553
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Um. And I know that was

554
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 1: a great team. You were a great partner to him, Um.

555
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 1: And and then we moved on and and Casey Coleman

556
00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,920
Speaker 1: went in and came in and took over when when

557
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,040
Speaker 1: Ned was to the point where he could not do

558
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,480
Speaker 1: the games anymore. And then he passed. And I always

559
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,800
Speaker 1: thought that Casey had he had big shoes to fill

560
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: not only then he had to take the place of

561
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 1: GiB Shanley and Nev Chandler and these were great, great

562
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 1: voices of the Browns. But he also had to he

563
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:37,480
Speaker 1: also had to kind of, you know, walk in the

564
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,800
Speaker 1: shadow of his dad, Ken Coleman, who was a great

565
00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,320
Speaker 1: voice of the Cleveland Browns. I mean, Casey grew up

566
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:47,000
Speaker 1: around the Browns because of his dad. Yeah, and Casey

567
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 1: had a different style, you know, totally different than you know.

568
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: Casey was more laid back and you know, yeah, he

569
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 1: would make a call to tackle it by number thirty

570
00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:58,720
Speaker 1: five and you go check that at number twenty eight.

571
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 1: And I kept going, e, Casey, we're on the radio.

572
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,080
Speaker 1: You don't have to say check that. People don't know

573
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: you made a mistake. But Casey was, Yeah, he was

574
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,480
Speaker 1: more laid back and just kind of took it in

575
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,880
Speaker 1: his big thing. And he used to like to say, well,

576
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,360
Speaker 1: we're in the shadows of our goal post, and uh,

577
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,560
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, you know. Unfortunately we lost Casey too,

578
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 1: Yeah we did. And I'll never forget the day. Doug

579
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 1: Um and Casey and I had kind of a connection

580
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 1: because he had spent a lot of his youth growing

581
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,240
Speaker 1: up in the Boston, and that was where I was

582
00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 1: from because Casey's dad was the voice of the Red

583
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,200
Speaker 1: Sox on the radio. And I can remember that we

584
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: had come off a road trip and I think we

585
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 1: were on the bye week, the three of us, and

586
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,080
Speaker 1: he called me up in the middle of an afternoon.

587
00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: I'm sure he called you at that point too, and

588
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: I thought he was calling me to talk about the

589
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,080
Speaker 1: Red Sox were playing that afternoon in a playoff game,

590
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: and I thought he was gonna say, hey, hey, buddy,

591
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,520
Speaker 1: what do you think is gonna happen in the game today?

592
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:55,200
Speaker 1: And he calls me up and he says, hey, I've

593
00:30:55,200 --> 00:31:00,120
Speaker 1: got pancreatic cancer. And again just like now, uh what

594
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 1: a fight by Casey. He was our sideline guy, Doug,

595
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 1: and and uh, you know, you instituted a tradition when

596
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,959
Speaker 1: he was away from us undergoing treatment that at like

597
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:13,719
Speaker 1: twelve thirty fifteen minutes before we would go on the

598
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 1: air on a one o'clock typical broadcast, you'd pick up

599
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:18,600
Speaker 1: that phone and we'd call him and get on and

600
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:22,040
Speaker 1: say how you doing. And Casey actually ended up, you know,

601
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 1: buying the house next door to me, and uh, you

602
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,600
Speaker 1: know it was it was it's tough. You know, you

603
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:29,800
Speaker 1: lose somebody that you're working with, and then you're you're

604
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: losing a neighbor to Uh you know, but you know,

605
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 1: you see these guys on the football field and you

606
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 1: think how tough they are. Then you see some of

607
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,600
Speaker 1: the guys you broadcast with, and you realize that the

608
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 1: guys on the football field aren't the only tough guys. Yeah, Doug,

609
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 1: when the Browns moved, how did that hit you? Because

610
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,840
Speaker 1: you were a bronze player, Uh, you stayed in Cleveland,

611
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 1: You're a Browns legend, You're a Brown's broadcaster, so your

612
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,480
Speaker 1: work situation is going to change a great deal. How

613
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,240
Speaker 1: did it hit you when they left? I mean it

614
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 1: was it was like a sucker punch. I mean, I

615
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 1: guess you know, you heard rumbles that you know they

616
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: might be leaving and stuff like that, and you know,

617
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: you just really didn't believe it until the Plain Dealer

618
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: had it on the headlines. And there are some other

619
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: things I guess that I should have known it was

620
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,800
Speaker 1: going to happen, but uh, you know, you just didn't

621
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,400
Speaker 1: want to believe it. And I guess the toughest part

622
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,480
Speaker 1: about that was, you know, watching the people in the stadium,

623
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 1: especially when they walked out after that last game. You know,

624
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 1: you know, every grown adult had tears in their eyes

625
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,560
Speaker 1: and uh you know most of them had you know,

626
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 1: stadium seats underneath their arms too. But you know that

627
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 1: you know, to see this, you know, city be deprived

628
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,360
Speaker 1: of something they love so much. And you know whether

629
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: or not Art was right or wrong, uh, you know,

630
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 1: it just was the wrong thing to do, which leads

631
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 1: me to our model, because you had a lot of

632
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:05,800
Speaker 1: years to have your relationship grow and wind and go

633
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 1: down the road, and they were I know, they were

634
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 1: bumpy parts to the road when you played for him.

635
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:12,400
Speaker 1: I mean, you tell the story about you went out

636
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 1: to breakfast to negotiate your contract with him and he

637
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,360
Speaker 1: made you pick up the tab at Perkins or something

638
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:21,080
Speaker 1: like that. Uh. But you know he always wanted to

639
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:25,600
Speaker 1: see you post move when the Browns came back and

640
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 1: we would go over to Baltimore. So if you could

641
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:32,160
Speaker 1: put a bow on on your relationship with him through

642
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: the years and what it was like in and maybe

643
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,040
Speaker 1: the last time you saw him, I can remember you

644
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,320
Speaker 1: snuck over and saw him over in Baltimore. Well yeah,

645
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: he you know, like I said, what he did was

646
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,120
Speaker 1: wrong and it's unfortunate, but you know, it was the

647
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,480
Speaker 1: case when free agency came in. He was a millionaire

648
00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 1: and a billionaire's game and he just couldn't afford to

649
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 1: do the signing bonuses and things like that, you know.

650
00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,760
Speaker 1: And I think he truly loved Cleveland and he you know,

651
00:33:57,800 --> 00:33:59,880
Speaker 1: would have loved the state here and he got in

652
00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:03,160
Speaker 1: the stadium. But uh, you know, I remember I called

653
00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,680
Speaker 1: Ozzy one time and you know, Art was in the room,

654
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:10,160
Speaker 1: and uh, I'm talking to Ozzy and he says, you

655
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,239
Speaker 1: want to talk to deacon, and Art goes, you don't

656
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,759
Speaker 1: want to talk to me. So that was it. So

657
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,160
Speaker 1: then you know, when we'd go over to Baltimore to play,

658
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 1: I would go down to Uh. I went down to

659
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,480
Speaker 1: see him in his loads and to say hello, and

660
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 1: you know, and David, his son, was there, and Art

661
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,239
Speaker 1: was in the bathroom. This was at halftime, so he

662
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,439
Speaker 1: only had you know, a short window of time. And

663
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,279
Speaker 1: I kept waiting for Art to come out, and kept

664
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 1: waiting for him to come out, and uh, you know,

665
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,399
Speaker 1: he didn't. So if I finally knocked on the door

666
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,279
Speaker 1: and I says, hey, Art, it's a deacon. You don't

667
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:44,440
Speaker 1: owe me any money. You could have came out and

668
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,279
Speaker 1: I left and that was the last thing I ever said,

669
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,800
Speaker 1: art model. And then you know, when when he passed away,

670
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 1: the Mr. Lerner flew some of the Browns out to

671
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,880
Speaker 1: Baltimore for his funeral. The Browns are coming back in

672
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 1: ninet and everybody in their uncle wants to be a

673
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,719
Speaker 1: part of the broadcast team. How badly did you want it?

674
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:07,520
Speaker 1: And I was amazed that you even had to go

675
00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,680
Speaker 1: through the whole audition thing, after all, you had the

676
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 1: job before they moved. Well, yeah, and I think you know,

677
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,560
Speaker 1: obviously it was a job I enjoyed. And you know,

678
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:20,160
Speaker 1: the thing that goes with the job, you usually get

679
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 1: some kind of TV gig, you know, to get something

680
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,360
Speaker 1: going to Uh it was you know, it was it

681
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:28,839
Speaker 1: was different. Uh. You know. The thing that they did

682
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:32,680
Speaker 1: was they had a couple of luncheons, one with over

683
00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,200
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh with the Steelers and one in Cleveland to

684
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 1: uh kind of renew the rivalry. And uh, we went

685
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 1: over to Pittsburgh and they did one and I remember

686
00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 1: I was sitting at the table and all of a

687
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,040
Speaker 1: sudden Jack Lambert was there, and Jack comes over and

688
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,680
Speaker 1: say hello, and these two young players sitting next to

689
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,640
Speaker 1: me go, that was Jack Lambert. I said, yeah, And

690
00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:58,279
Speaker 1: he didn't come over to say hello to anybody, but

691
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,400
Speaker 1: that was you know, that was Jack I had. You know,

692
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,440
Speaker 1: we competed against one another, but you know, off the field.

693
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:09,000
Speaker 1: But Jack was a good guy. But you know, they

694
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,279
Speaker 1: gave us, you know, an audition they had. You know,

695
00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:15,359
Speaker 1: I don't I think, who did you audition with Brian Brennan. Yeah.

696
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:17,800
Speaker 1: Let me let me set it up for everybody, because

697
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:21,439
Speaker 1: it really it will happen into a lot of my

698
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 1: investigative reporting skills that I've honed through the years. Uh Well,

699
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:28,680
Speaker 1: first of all, let me just say to everybody, they

700
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,719
Speaker 1: could write a book about naming the radio broadcast team

701
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,920
Speaker 1: for the Rocks when they came back in and it

702
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:37,600
Speaker 1: would have been a great thriller. I really think it

703
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,560
Speaker 1: would have hit the would have hit the top spot

704
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:43,160
Speaker 1: because everybody wanted the job. Everybody, whether you're a former

705
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:47,759
Speaker 1: player or you're a sportscaster, everybody wanted it. So when

706
00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:51,800
Speaker 1: they finally whittled it down in Doug mentions, there is

707
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:55,839
Speaker 1: an audition and it's done on a Sunday afternoon down

708
00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,280
Speaker 1: at the studios of Magic one oh five because Clear

709
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:03,360
Speaker 1: Channel was the carrying broadcast partner, they were the flagship.

710
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 1: They had won the rights for the Browns radio broadcast.

711
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,200
Speaker 1: So at Magic one of five point seven, which was

712
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 1: downtown in the Hat Factory district in Cleveland on a

713
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 1: beautiful spring Sunday afternoon, the remaining people that were competing

714
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:20,200
Speaker 1: for the job were asked to come in and they

715
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:23,160
Speaker 1: were going to give you one quarter of whatever you

716
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,359
Speaker 1: did as an analyst or as a play by play guy,

717
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,279
Speaker 1: and they would team you up and make make these

718
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,600
Speaker 1: semi broadcast teams. And the game was the New York

719
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:35,520
Speaker 1: Giants against the Philadelphia Eagles, and you called it off

720
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:40,040
Speaker 1: a television screen and it was the Fox Television broadcast

721
00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,240
Speaker 1: of that game from the from the preceding season. Um

722
00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:48,240
Speaker 1: And being an Irish Catholic altar boy that studied Latin

723
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,600
Speaker 1: when the mass was in Latin, I played by the rules.

724
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 1: Others did not. I understand. One of them is right

725
00:37:57,239 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 1: now the man I am talking to admit now, I

726
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,440
Speaker 1: think this will really it will help you when you're

727
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,360
Speaker 1: in front of our when when you're in front of

728
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:07,279
Speaker 1: our eternal maker, that you clear this sin off of

729
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:11,120
Speaker 1: your soul. There's rules, and there's there's getting an edge

730
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:17,880
Speaker 1: and to the test before the test. Yeah, and you

731
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,239
Speaker 1: know sometimes you know, you'd like to see what the

732
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,720
Speaker 1: test is all about. And uh, I had a roommate,

733
00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,400
Speaker 1: Dale Lindsey, who played linebacker here, who was coaching in

734
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,919
Speaker 1: the NFL. And they told us what game was gonna be.

735
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,600
Speaker 1: And I said, hey, Dale, can you give me, uh

736
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,040
Speaker 1: this game? Oh yeah, yeah, I said it out tomorrow.

737
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:38,160
Speaker 1: So I watched the game about three times before I

738
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:41,160
Speaker 1: got to the broadcast. So and I said, oh boy,

739
00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,600
Speaker 1: it looks like a good time for a screen pass. Well,

740
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:49,320
Speaker 1: boy was a screen pass. This guy is smart. But

741
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,960
Speaker 1: you know, if you can find an edge, we'll just

742
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,640
Speaker 1: say I did it the Bill Belichick way. That's why

743
00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:58,839
Speaker 1: I've always said, that's why you got along so well.

744
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,719
Speaker 1: And you're good. I mean, you know you got along

745
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:06,240
Speaker 1: with Belichick. Um, here's the amazing thing, everybody, Um, Doug

746
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,640
Speaker 1: and I never worked together during the audition process. Doug

747
00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:12,880
Speaker 1: worked with play by play guys and I worked with

748
00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:16,120
Speaker 1: different analysts. Yeah, I worked with Hanford, I worked with

749
00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:20,080
Speaker 1: Brian Brennan, I worked with Bob Golick. But never you now,

750
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:23,480
Speaker 1: I want to further that about these luncheons. I mean,

751
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I mean I would

752
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:27,680
Speaker 1: walk the floors and I wondering if I was going

753
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:30,240
Speaker 1: to get the job because it was taking so long.

754
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 1: And finally there was the second of these Pittsburgh Cleveland luncheons.

755
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,720
Speaker 1: And the reason they were doing it, folks, was because

756
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 1: the Browns were gonna play their first game against the

757
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:42,160
Speaker 1: Steelers when they came back in the regular season at

758
00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,520
Speaker 1: at you know, at in Cleveland. And so it was

759
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 1: at the Renaissance downtown. I don't know, it might have

760
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:49,080
Speaker 1: been still Stow first then Doug, but it was the

761
00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:52,840
Speaker 1: Renaissance and it was packed, and I was the m

762
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:56,640
Speaker 1: C and I on one side I had Al Lerner

763
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,759
Speaker 1: and on the other side I had Dan Rooney. And

764
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,360
Speaker 1: you got up and delivered this speech, and I have

765
00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:05,919
Speaker 1: to tell you, those two guys, both of them were

766
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:09,440
Speaker 1: buckled over in laughter, okay, because you really hit it

767
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:11,080
Speaker 1: out of the park. I mean, you pulled out one

768
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 1: of your great Kawana speeches, really really nailed it. And

769
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:19,080
Speaker 1: I said, Doug Deakin is going to get the drump.

770
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:21,600
Speaker 1: Do you remember that day? Oh? I remember that day?

771
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:24,000
Speaker 1: And Uh, you know, we we worked on you know,

772
00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:28,239
Speaker 1: the presentation, and uh, it was the day after that

773
00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 1: day I got a phone call tell me, you know,

774
00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:33,920
Speaker 1: you're gonna do the game. So uh and you know

775
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:37,239
Speaker 1: what had happened is when we were over in Pittsburgh

776
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 1: to do their luncheon, they just had some dry conversation

777
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:43,920
Speaker 1: and I think Robert Jackson said somebody, he said, why

778
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:45,440
Speaker 1: don't you get Deacon to go up there and talk

779
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 1: because he can bust chops with the best of them. So, uh,

780
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,080
Speaker 1: you know, they asked me to go up and I said, okay,

781
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:54,040
Speaker 1: we'll go up there, and we were prepared for it. Yeah. Man,

782
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:56,080
Speaker 1: you were ready to go. Gosh. I mean it was

783
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,880
Speaker 1: like watching a Vegas nightclump routine. I mean, you were

784
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,240
Speaker 1: not ready to go. If only it weren't a Tucks

785
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,040
Speaker 1: I mean something, you would have been really ready. All right.

786
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:06,080
Speaker 1: So we we go to the Hall of Fame game, Doug.

787
00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:08,840
Speaker 1: That's our first game that we're gonna do together. And

788
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:10,959
Speaker 1: the Browns are gonna open up the preseason. They're gonna

789
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:14,279
Speaker 1: play five preseason games and they're gonna open up at

790
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame game on the weekend that Azazie

791
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,200
Speaker 1: Newsom is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

792
00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:23,600
Speaker 1: and they're gonna play the Dallas Cowboys, and it was exciting. Now.

793
00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:24,960
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people look at the Hall

794
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 1: of Fame game now and go, oh gosh, when's that

795
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:30,719
Speaker 1: thing gonna be over? But around these parts and the

796
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:32,959
Speaker 1: fact that the Brons were back for the first time

797
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:36,239
Speaker 1: in three and a half years, right, Uh, it was

798
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,759
Speaker 1: like it was like being in the Super Bowl, wasn't it. Yeah,

799
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,200
Speaker 1: I mean the obviously there was a lot of energy,

800
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:44,560
Speaker 1: you know, from the fans that have been frustrated and

801
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:48,120
Speaker 1: you know, finally got their team back, and uh, you know,

802
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,080
Speaker 1: you didn't know what you're gonna get. You know, you're

803
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:54,680
Speaker 1: you're putting a product out there. Obviously, the NFL wasn't

804
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:57,759
Speaker 1: as generous in the supplemental draft as they were with

805
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:01,239
Speaker 1: Caroline and Jacksonville, so you know, the Browns were a

806
00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:04,319
Speaker 1: little bit behind the eight ball. And the thing the

807
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,799
Speaker 1: thing I always remember about that game, we stated that

808
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:10,439
Speaker 1: holiday in there and we had hired a new head

809
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,640
Speaker 1: of security, lou Marletti, who was the former director of

810
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,319
Speaker 1: the Secret Service. And when I walked into hotel and

811
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,720
Speaker 1: I saw ten you know, policeman, you know, stationed around.

812
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:23,320
Speaker 1: I said, boy, this is gonna be a little bit different,

813
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:25,319
Speaker 1: but you know that's the way, you know Lou, And

814
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:27,880
Speaker 1: you know Lou was hired by Mr Lerner because you know,

815
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,720
Speaker 1: he appreciated those people that had worked for the government

816
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:33,560
Speaker 1: probably hadn't been compensated to the level he thought they

817
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,759
Speaker 1: should have. So Doug and I are doing the game

818
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:38,759
Speaker 1: and the Brons win, They win in overtime. Um, and

819
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,960
Speaker 1: the legend of Phil Dawson starts because he wins the

820
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:44,240
Speaker 1: game for them with a kick. And I remember turning

821
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,840
Speaker 1: to you after, you know, the game was over, and

822
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:48,920
Speaker 1: I think we're getting set to go to the post game,

823
00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 1: and I said, yes, this is gonna be easy. We're

824
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:53,759
Speaker 1: not gonna skip a beat. We're gonna pick up right

825
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:58,160
Speaker 1: where we left off in the playoffs. Quickly that was dashed. Yeah,

826
00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:01,240
Speaker 1: that was that quite quickly. By I think we opened

827
00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:06,560
Speaker 1: a regular season. Uh we was Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Oh yeah,

828
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:12,719
Speaker 1: and story talk about this story about that game. Though. Um,

829
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:15,319
Speaker 1: they go to Bill Coward before the game and they say, hey,

830
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:19,440
Speaker 1: do you mind if we don't introduce the Steelers your

831
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:21,759
Speaker 1: team because it's the Browns night you know, and let's

832
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:24,239
Speaker 1: bring them out. They're back. I mean, the place is

833
00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:27,960
Speaker 1: gonna go crazy. He went, Hey, I understand that, no

834
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,399
Speaker 1: doubt about it. And he went into his locker room

835
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:35,160
Speaker 1: and told his team, they're disrespecting you. And I think

836
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:38,080
Speaker 1: they beat a sporty three nothing, didn't they? Yeah, it

837
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:40,120
Speaker 1: was it was. It wasn't blowed. I mean, poor Tim

838
00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:44,240
Speaker 1: Couch didn't have a chance. And you know, and knowing

839
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:47,600
Speaker 1: Bill and having had Bill as a roommate when he

840
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,880
Speaker 1: was with the Browns as a player, you know, you

841
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,759
Speaker 1: kind of Hey, Bill, whatever we used to do, play racquetball,

842
00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:57,520
Speaker 1: play basketball. It was competitive. I mean we go to

843
00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,840
Speaker 1: these charity games and we'd be on the same team

844
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:01,920
Speaker 1: and he'd be blacking my shot so he could score

845
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:05,160
Speaker 1: more points than I could. Uh. You know. The reason

846
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,239
Speaker 1: I got him as a roommate was I had had

847
00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:11,719
Speaker 1: a knee operation right before training camp, and I you know,

848
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:14,680
Speaker 1: so we were out of Lakeland and the dumpy little

849
00:44:14,719 --> 00:44:17,600
Speaker 1: hotel out there. So I went into the business guy

850
00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 1: and I said, hey, I need a new roommate. Well

851
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:22,120
Speaker 1: who do you want? I said, well, I want Cower

852
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 1: and Bill and I wished to run together, you know, Uh,

853
00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:29,240
Speaker 1: in the afternoons after our racquetball games. He says, power,

854
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:31,200
Speaker 1: why do you want Kaur? I said, well, I just

855
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,920
Speaker 1: had a knee operation. There's no remote control. Who's going

856
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:36,160
Speaker 1: to change the TV? For me? Said? He give me

857
00:44:36,239 --> 00:44:42,200
Speaker 1: Cower and then they trade him. That's amazing. Um boy,

858
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:45,360
Speaker 1: those were tough years. I mean we were very naive

859
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:49,400
Speaker 1: and and you hit on it. It really started in

860
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:52,239
Speaker 1: the supplemental Draft and there was just no way that

861
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:54,440
Speaker 1: the NFL owners were going to allow the Browns to

862
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:58,920
Speaker 1: be like Jacksonville and Carolina because remember they just robbed

863
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:04,680
Speaker 1: everybody's roster and became really good, really fast, and the

864
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:08,040
Speaker 1: owners were gonna not allow that to happen again. And

865
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:10,440
Speaker 1: it it happened to really fall on the Bronx. I mean,

866
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:14,680
Speaker 1: this was an expansion team Doug to the highest definition,

867
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,640
Speaker 1: wasn't it. Oh? Yeah, I mean they I think the

868
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:21,080
Speaker 1: other two teams, Jacksonville and Carolina, got double picks in

869
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:24,200
Speaker 1: the first few rounds. They just said, no, this is

870
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:27,520
Speaker 1: what you're gonna get. And then uh uh, like you

871
00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:31,480
Speaker 1: mentioned the other guys that we got, I think there

872
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 1: was less players available than there had been with Jacksonville

873
00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:42,080
Speaker 1: in Carolina. All Right, tell me this as we go along. Um.

874
00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: You know, people often say, how did you guys get

875
00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:48,200
Speaker 1: through all of those tough seasons? After all, there was

876
00:45:48,239 --> 00:45:50,840
Speaker 1: the year they only won one game, it was the

877
00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,319
Speaker 1: year they didn't win any games. There were a lot

878
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:56,800
Speaker 1: of years where they won four games. Okay. I always said,

879
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,520
Speaker 1: we always went to the stadium and we never knew

880
00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:01,440
Speaker 1: what was going to happen. You never knew what was

881
00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:03,719
Speaker 1: going to happen. Um, So you went in with that,

882
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:06,680
Speaker 1: You went in with a blank campus every Sunday. But

883
00:46:06,719 --> 00:46:09,120
Speaker 1: the other thing was I just always felt we were

884
00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:13,240
Speaker 1: two guys. They were sitting together, we had seats next

885
00:46:13,239 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 1: to each other, and we were just watching the game

886
00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:18,680
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, whether it turned out to be

887
00:46:18,719 --> 00:46:21,200
Speaker 1: a win or in a lot of cases it turned

888
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:23,920
Speaker 1: out to be a loss, you walked away afterwards and

889
00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:26,400
Speaker 1: you just said, hey, listen, you know what onto the

890
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:28,360
Speaker 1: next one. It was just a lot of fun. And

891
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:29,719
Speaker 1: I know it would have been great to be doing

892
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:34,040
Speaker 1: big games at playoff games, but it wasn't realistic. And um,

893
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:36,480
Speaker 1: and yet we were there. We were doing our jobs,

894
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:38,959
Speaker 1: and I think we had a lot of fun doing it. Yeah,

895
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,439
Speaker 1: we did. And you know the thing is you sit

896
00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:47,000
Speaker 1: there and uh, you watched these games, and as a player,

897
00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:49,399
Speaker 1: you know what they're going through, you know, and when

898
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:51,840
Speaker 1: you get selecked on it. It happened to me at Illinois.

899
00:46:52,040 --> 00:46:54,239
Speaker 1: You know, I went to Illinois and they went on

900
00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:57,520
Speaker 1: probation for four years. Uh, not because of me, but

901
00:46:57,719 --> 00:47:00,600
Speaker 1: because of what had happened before, so couldn't play. As

902
00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:02,799
Speaker 1: a freshman. We go you know, one and nine, oh

903
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:06,440
Speaker 1: and ten and three and seven, and that's that's just

904
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:09,080
Speaker 1: frustrates the heck out of you. And then when you play,

905
00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:11,080
Speaker 1: you know, all of a sudden, I come to Cleveland,

906
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:13,200
Speaker 1: we go to the playoffs the first couple of years,

907
00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:16,520
Speaker 1: and then things kind of go bad until night and

908
00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:19,080
Speaker 1: then they start to you know another the strike year

909
00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:21,440
Speaker 1: eighty two, we got back to the playoffs when he

910
00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:25,280
Speaker 1: added the things. Uh, and you know, when you put

911
00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:28,040
Speaker 1: that many guys together, you don't know what you're gonna get,

912
00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:30,040
Speaker 1: you know. The Forrest come said, it's like a box

913
00:47:30,080 --> 00:47:34,080
Speaker 1: of chocolate. But I think, you know, you just always hope,

914
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:36,600
Speaker 1: you know, and I always say I've never played in

915
00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:39,799
Speaker 1: the game. I didn't think I was gonna win. And uh,

916
00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:42,279
Speaker 1: you know, if if you don't think that way you're

917
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:46,560
Speaker 1: not gonna win. Yeah, great moments. Um, you know that

918
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:51,640
Speaker 1: we had together. Uh, William Greenbus that big run. Um,

919
00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:56,080
Speaker 1: you yell out run William run. It makes you office hit.

920
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:02,160
Speaker 1: No one thing. One thing I learned is, you know,

921
00:48:02,360 --> 00:48:04,560
Speaker 1: just keep your mouth yet and let the pros handle

922
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:08,120
Speaker 1: the job. They make the playoffs that day, Doug, and

923
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:12,320
Speaker 1: it was really great. It was the first time I felt, Doug,

924
00:48:12,840 --> 00:48:17,480
Speaker 1: that that new stadium felt like the old stadium. Yeah,

925
00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:19,840
Speaker 1: how about you. I really felt like that. This is

926
00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:22,719
Speaker 1: what I remember when I first came to Cleveland and

927
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:26,239
Speaker 1: I was covering a big Brown Steelers game or something. Yeah,

928
00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:29,200
Speaker 1: I mean it was old school Browns. You know, it

929
00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:32,520
Speaker 1: was the cardiac kids there. Uh. You know, the first

930
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:34,920
Speaker 1: couple of years went to the playoffs. You know, it

931
00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:38,440
Speaker 1: was it was nice to see the fans rewarded because

932
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:42,360
Speaker 1: you know, they have gone through some pretty bad football

933
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:45,120
Speaker 1: for you know, quite a few years. And finally, you know,

934
00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:46,960
Speaker 1: it looked like we popped our head out, you know,

935
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,239
Speaker 1: and we were ready to you know, be a competitor

936
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:53,200
Speaker 1: on a yearly basis. Yeah, and then the next week,

937
00:48:53,239 --> 00:48:55,600
Speaker 1: real heartbreak. I mean, we had the thing under control

938
00:48:55,640 --> 00:48:58,480
Speaker 1: over in Pittsburgh and it got away from the Browns

939
00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:01,080
Speaker 1: and that was tough, was in it because they played

940
00:49:01,239 --> 00:49:03,839
Speaker 1: so well. Tim Couch had broken his leg the week

941
00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:07,120
Speaker 1: before in the final game against Atlanta. Kelly Holkum came

942
00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:11,279
Speaker 1: in and played incredible football that day in Pittsburgh and

943
00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:13,840
Speaker 1: the week before I helped them get past the Falcons,

944
00:49:14,120 --> 00:49:17,200
Speaker 1: and that was heartburning. That was a tough bus ride home, Yeah,

945
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:20,520
Speaker 1: it was. And you know you mentioned Tim Couch. Now

946
00:49:20,520 --> 00:49:24,000
Speaker 1: there's a guy that deserved a better faith than you

947
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:26,880
Speaker 1: know what he got here because you know, he just

948
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:29,480
Speaker 1: never had a chance because the cast was never there.

949
00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:34,000
Speaker 1: You know, they had the offensive line was kind of makeshift,

950
00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:37,160
Speaker 1: you know, the receivers. Uh, Like I said, you know,

951
00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:39,120
Speaker 1: when you didn't get all those multiple picks in the

952
00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:41,799
Speaker 1: early rounds, they weren't able to load up like some

953
00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:44,800
Speaker 1: other teams had. And I have a lot of respect

954
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:47,160
Speaker 1: for Tim Couch, you know, and the beating he took.

955
00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:49,520
Speaker 1: And you know, uh, in fact, you know, three or

956
00:49:49,520 --> 00:49:51,640
Speaker 1: four years ago when they were looking for a new

957
00:49:51,680 --> 00:49:54,799
Speaker 1: TV guy, I had suggested to him because you know,

958
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:57,400
Speaker 1: this guy deserved his due for you know what he

959
00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:00,200
Speaker 1: what he did here, because he took a beat suck.

960
00:50:00,239 --> 00:50:03,200
Speaker 1: Then we come to and here we are in The

961
00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:07,440
Speaker 1: Browns are terrific, They're exciting, and they have this coach

962
00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:11,200
Speaker 1: that is Kevin Stefanski that is just you know, drawn

963
00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:14,680
Speaker 1: up these incredible game plans, and and we're in a

964
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:17,359
Speaker 1: stadium and they're only allowing twelve thousand people in when

965
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:19,799
Speaker 1: we're doing the game at home, and when they're on

966
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:23,040
Speaker 1: the road where they have some amazing victories over Tennessee

967
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:26,279
Speaker 1: and the playoff went over Pittsburgh and the win in

968
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:29,520
Speaker 1: Dallas and the last second wind down at Cincinnati, and

969
00:50:29,560 --> 00:50:32,480
Speaker 1: we're doing the game calling it off a television screen

970
00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 1: at First Energy Stadium. That was really something, wasn't it?

971
00:50:35,080 --> 00:50:39,759
Speaker 1: What a year? Yeah? I mean it's the environment, you know,

972
00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:44,280
Speaker 1: obviously it's pretty sterile competitor to being there, and uh uh,

973
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:46,279
Speaker 1: you know it was the thing about it. It was

974
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:49,520
Speaker 1: so great for the city because first off, we beat

975
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:53,560
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh to get in, right then we beat Pittsburgh to

976
00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:56,120
Speaker 1: get to the second round. Anytime you'd beat back at

977
00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:58,920
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh back to back, it's a good year. Yeah, it

978
00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:03,279
Speaker 1: really is. You Oftentimes you would tell me Um through

979
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:07,480
Speaker 1: the years that you worried that players when they would

980
00:51:07,560 --> 00:51:11,200
Speaker 1: come here in this new age of the Browns, um

981
00:51:11,239 --> 00:51:14,759
Speaker 1: you know, needed to understand where they were playing Cleveland,

982
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:18,920
Speaker 1: who they were playing for, an incredible passionate fan base,

983
00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:22,920
Speaker 1: and they needed to understand what the rivalries meant. And

984
00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:25,400
Speaker 1: the one that stands out is the one with the Steelers.

985
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:27,560
Speaker 1: And I think you're right about that. I always thought

986
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:29,799
Speaker 1: you were right about that. And I know you would

987
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:31,719
Speaker 1: sit with people in the locker room when we could

988
00:51:31,719 --> 00:51:33,960
Speaker 1: go in the locker room, and they would ask you

989
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:37,480
Speaker 1: sometimes what is the Steeler Pittsburgh Steeler Brown thing all about?

990
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:40,600
Speaker 1: You know what, you were right. These young players needed

991
00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:43,160
Speaker 1: to learn how much it meant to this fan base

992
00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:45,880
Speaker 1: to beat those guys. And one of the guys that

993
00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:47,480
Speaker 1: you know, I used to talk to on a regular

994
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:51,000
Speaker 1: basis was Phil Dawson. Uh. Phil was a football player

995
00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:54,160
Speaker 1: that kicked and I have the utmost respect for Phil.

996
00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:58,680
Speaker 1: And he won one over there with a kick. And

997
00:51:58,800 --> 00:52:01,040
Speaker 1: you know, I caught him at game and I said,

998
00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:03,480
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, Phil, you don't know what you

999
00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:05,520
Speaker 1: just did. He said, what do you mean? I said,

1000
00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:08,680
Speaker 1: I came over here fourteen times as a player and

1001
00:52:08,719 --> 00:52:11,960
Speaker 1: I went home and fourteen I said, you don't know

1002
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:15,080
Speaker 1: what you just did. Yeah, that was the last time

1003
00:52:15,200 --> 00:52:18,000
Speaker 1: that the Brons would play at three River Stadium. That

1004
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:20,200
Speaker 1: was the last game that the Browns would play at

1005
00:52:20,239 --> 00:52:23,080
Speaker 1: three River Stadium. You know, the other neat thing about

1006
00:52:23,080 --> 00:52:25,880
Speaker 1: our twenty three years together is that our families became,

1007
00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:29,080
Speaker 1: you know, so connected. You know, Megan was in the

1008
00:52:29,120 --> 00:52:31,680
Speaker 1: booth when she was really short, and now she might

1009
00:52:31,680 --> 00:52:34,600
Speaker 1: be just an inch taller, but she's still pretty short.

1010
00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:36,480
Speaker 1: But I mean she was there for a lot of

1011
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:39,879
Speaker 1: years and to her, your uncle, Doug and Gott Spencer

1012
00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:44,120
Speaker 1: and Ali. I mean, our families became I mean, think

1013
00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:47,840
Speaker 1: about it. In twenty three years, from July to January,

1014
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:50,800
Speaker 1: you and I were together more than we were probably

1015
00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:56,400
Speaker 1: with our families. Yeah, it was. It was tough. Uh.

1016
00:52:56,920 --> 00:53:00,320
Speaker 1: You know. The good thing is, you know, you build

1017
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:03,319
Speaker 1: friendships whether you're playing or not, and you know, you

1018
00:53:03,400 --> 00:53:05,839
Speaker 1: still stay in touch with you know a lot of

1019
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:09,240
Speaker 1: you know, people that you played with and you mentioned

1020
00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:12,000
Speaker 1: you know all I mean the greatest guy in the world.

1021
00:53:12,560 --> 00:53:16,120
Speaker 1: I mean there's guys that you know, you really would

1022
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:19,360
Speaker 1: like to see again. But unfortunately you don't always get that.

1023
00:53:19,520 --> 00:53:21,640
Speaker 1: You know, opportunity and you know, the Browns have their

1024
00:53:21,680 --> 00:53:24,640
Speaker 1: alumni golf outing and you know sometimes some of them,

1025
00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:27,120
Speaker 1: you know, the guys come in. But you know, then

1026
00:53:27,239 --> 00:53:28,680
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you know, you're sitting there and

1027
00:53:28,719 --> 00:53:31,040
Speaker 1: you see, you know, the O bit page and you

1028
00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:34,680
Speaker 1: know both Scott dies great guy. Uh you know, Jack

1029
00:53:34,719 --> 00:53:38,480
Speaker 1: Gregory passes away, great guy. You know Tom de Leone,

1030
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:41,080
Speaker 1: one of the best guys in the world. And you

1031
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:43,840
Speaker 1: know it's it's tough, and you feel for their families

1032
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:48,560
Speaker 1: because you get attached to their families. And my thing

1033
00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:50,400
Speaker 1: used to be, you know, the guys that used to

1034
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:53,520
Speaker 1: have kids. Uh, I'd always you know, try to buy them,

1035
00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:55,800
Speaker 1: you know, Christmas presents, but then I take the white

1036
00:53:55,880 --> 00:53:58,040
Speaker 1: athletic tape and tape them up, so take them an

1037
00:53:58,040 --> 00:54:02,200
Speaker 1: hour and un rapid. But uh uh you know, and

1038
00:54:02,760 --> 00:54:05,360
Speaker 1: you have a lot of friendships like that that you

1039
00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:10,759
Speaker 1: just can't replace. Just just good, good people. And you know, uh,

1040
00:54:11,160 --> 00:54:14,400
Speaker 1: I always thought, you know, you have fun with your friends,

1041
00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:17,720
Speaker 1: the guys that you respect. And as a as a player,

1042
00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:21,239
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes I guess I I looked at my

1043
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:23,920
Speaker 1: friends as how they played. You know, those guys that

1044
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:26,840
Speaker 1: played hard, they played tough. They were always my friends,

1045
00:54:26,920 --> 00:54:28,520
Speaker 1: you know, the guys that were, you know, just trying

1046
00:54:28,560 --> 00:54:32,920
Speaker 1: to steal a check I had nothing to do with. Yeah. Um,

1047
00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:35,480
Speaker 1: well you had a lot to do with the community

1048
00:54:35,520 --> 00:54:38,640
Speaker 1: at Cleveland bow Um you really you did a lot

1049
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:42,120
Speaker 1: of charity work. Special Olympics was was very near and

1050
00:54:42,239 --> 00:54:44,839
Speaker 1: dear and important in your life and in your heart.

1051
00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:50,439
Speaker 1: You really took an active, an active role in those charities. Well,

1052
00:54:50,480 --> 00:54:53,840
Speaker 1: you know, the whole time that I played, I was single,

1053
00:54:53,920 --> 00:54:55,800
Speaker 1: so I had, you know a lot of free time.

1054
00:54:56,000 --> 00:55:00,920
Speaker 1: And my younger brother, Uh, they started the Special Olympics

1055
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:05,880
Speaker 1: back in Illinois, and my younger brother was a Special

1056
00:55:05,920 --> 00:55:08,479
Speaker 1: Olympics athlete. So I went around the county and talked

1057
00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:11,040
Speaker 1: to all the high schools or the schools that you

1058
00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:14,480
Speaker 1: had specialized classes, and uh, you know, tried to get

1059
00:55:14,520 --> 00:55:17,560
Speaker 1: the kids, you know, energized to go participate. And so

1060
00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:20,520
Speaker 1: they had the first Special Olympics back there, and I

1061
00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:23,960
Speaker 1: took my brother over and they had he was competing

1062
00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:28,800
Speaker 1: in some events, and after you know, it was was done,

1063
00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:31,360
Speaker 1: he got in the car and he had a jacket

1064
00:55:31,360 --> 00:55:33,120
Speaker 1: on and it was kind of a hot day. I said,

1065
00:55:33,360 --> 00:55:36,640
Speaker 1: he don't okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I said, what

1066
00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:37,920
Speaker 1: do you want to do, let's go to the root

1067
00:55:37,960 --> 00:55:39,759
Speaker 1: beer stand when we get home. And we were at

1068
00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:42,799
Speaker 1: a town maybe uh twenty miles away, and so I

1069
00:55:42,800 --> 00:55:44,880
Speaker 1: get home and our friends z owned this rooper stand

1070
00:55:44,960 --> 00:55:47,239
Speaker 1: and my younger brother, you know, he goes into the

1071
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:50,600
Speaker 1: rooper stan and on zips his jacket. He's got these

1072
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:54,080
Speaker 1: four ribbons, and you know, he said, what do you

1073
00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:59,160
Speaker 1: think of this? Mr? Big Shot? I always say, that's

1074
00:55:59,200 --> 00:56:05,800
Speaker 1: the greatest what I've ever had in sports? Poor uh ribbons,

1075
00:56:05,800 --> 00:56:14,080
Speaker 1: Because you know, he passed away in eighty two. So um,

1076
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:17,160
Speaker 1: let me ask you as we uh, as we get

1077
00:56:17,200 --> 00:56:21,000
Speaker 1: ready to kind of close the curtain on this, what

1078
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:23,839
Speaker 1: are you gonna do? What are you do on Sunday afternoons.

1079
00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:26,359
Speaker 1: I'll try and figure out in the next coming months,

1080
00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:28,319
Speaker 1: what the heck I'm gonna do without you. But what

1081
00:56:28,360 --> 00:56:32,759
Speaker 1: are you gonna do? That's gonna be interesting, you know. Unfortunately,

1082
00:56:32,800 --> 00:56:36,920
Speaker 1: the the back has been a little bad, and we

1083
00:56:36,960 --> 00:56:39,279
Speaker 1: haven't played golf for a year, and that's kind of

1084
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:43,240
Speaker 1: what you were looking forward to doing when you retired. Uh.

1085
00:56:43,280 --> 00:56:46,759
Speaker 1: You know, I got some other injuries and illnesses that

1086
00:56:46,800 --> 00:56:48,600
Speaker 1: I gotta get taken care of, so I can see

1087
00:56:48,640 --> 00:56:50,640
Speaker 1: if I can get the back taken care of. But

1088
00:56:50,880 --> 00:56:56,799
Speaker 1: it's it's just, uh, it's it's it's tough. I mean,

1089
00:56:58,320 --> 00:57:00,640
Speaker 1: I guess the grand kids are going to get a

1090
00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:05,000
Speaker 1: lot more attention. They does seem more poppy, Doug than

1091
00:57:05,040 --> 00:57:07,520
Speaker 1: they probably want to. Yeah, you know, one of the

1092
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:12,080
Speaker 1: great pictures that you had. I remember when your first

1093
00:57:12,239 --> 00:57:15,560
Speaker 1: grandchild was born. Spencer had a little boy and he

1094
00:57:15,640 --> 00:57:17,520
Speaker 1: was out there he had number seventy three on a

1095
00:57:17,640 --> 00:57:22,160
Speaker 1: training camp. The pictures of you, your grandson and the

1096
00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:27,000
Speaker 1: other seventy three Joe Thomas. Oh yeah, I mean, you know,

1097
00:57:27,160 --> 00:57:29,480
Speaker 1: it's and I think you know, Joe's got the daughters

1098
00:57:29,560 --> 00:57:33,400
Speaker 1: and uh uh you know it's you know, I didn't

1099
00:57:33,400 --> 00:57:37,360
Speaker 1: get married until after I retired and started a family

1100
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:40,200
Speaker 1: later on in life. Uh. You know, some days, you know,

1101
00:57:40,240 --> 00:57:41,959
Speaker 1: I sit there and I said, you know, I wish

1102
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:44,200
Speaker 1: it had been nice to have him when I played,

1103
00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:46,600
Speaker 1: so they could have seen me play. But on the

1104
00:57:46,600 --> 00:57:50,080
Speaker 1: other hand, uh, I'd rather than just know me as

1105
00:57:50,120 --> 00:57:54,840
Speaker 1: their dad. Yeah. Absolutely, Well, I gotta tell you, um,

1106
00:57:54,880 --> 00:57:57,200
Speaker 1: you're a legend. You were a great teammate. I know

1107
00:57:57,240 --> 00:58:00,600
Speaker 1: you're a great teammate because your teammates flocked to love you.

1108
00:58:00,600 --> 00:58:05,479
Speaker 1: You were an incredible partner, but a better friend. Well,

1109
00:58:06,040 --> 00:58:11,160
Speaker 1: and I'll tell you what. You know. You work with people,

1110
00:58:11,440 --> 00:58:15,280
Speaker 1: and you know, you evaluate, you know what they do

1111
00:58:15,320 --> 00:58:17,560
Speaker 1: to get the job done, you know. And I had

1112
00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:19,760
Speaker 1: teammates that you know, would work out hard in the

1113
00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:23,080
Speaker 1: off season. I had something that didn't. But when it

1114
00:58:23,120 --> 00:58:27,880
Speaker 1: comes to this line of business, there ain't nobody better knew, Dick.

1115
00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:29,520
Speaker 1: I don't know what I'm gonna do because you know,

1116
00:58:29,560 --> 00:58:36,000
Speaker 1: I'm not a good flyer. And you and I saw.

1117
00:58:36,320 --> 00:58:38,920
Speaker 1: Let me tell you, I saw Jesus and my mother

1118
00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:41,880
Speaker 1: when we were trying to land from Cincinnati a few

1119
00:58:41,960 --> 00:58:45,360
Speaker 1: years ago, and my mom has passed away. Uh, and

1120
00:58:45,480 --> 00:58:47,800
Speaker 1: I thought I was gonna be joining them, and thank Heavens,

1121
00:58:47,800 --> 00:58:50,600
Speaker 1: you were beside me. I have to tell I am

1122
00:58:50,640 --> 00:58:52,600
Speaker 1: white knuckler all the way, and you got me through

1123
00:58:52,640 --> 00:58:55,200
Speaker 1: a lot of tough flights. Well. Yeah, the thing is,

1124
00:58:55,240 --> 00:58:58,360
Speaker 1: you know, I, you know, planning for the fourteen years

1125
00:58:58,360 --> 00:59:01,240
Speaker 1: and playing every game, he learned to play hurt, you know,

1126
00:59:01,320 --> 00:59:03,760
Speaker 1: being a torn Carleton this knee of broken hand and

1127
00:59:03,840 --> 00:59:07,880
Speaker 1: broken thumb or whatever. But I never missed the game.

1128
00:59:08,520 --> 00:59:12,640
Speaker 1: But I tripped on coming up out of the radio

1129
00:59:12,720 --> 00:59:15,320
Speaker 1: booth to go to the bathroom. The old crew that

1130
00:59:15,480 --> 00:59:18,440
Speaker 1: used to have us before Jason and the rest of

1131
00:59:18,440 --> 00:59:21,479
Speaker 1: the guys. They didn't take down the court to the heater,

1132
00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:23,880
Speaker 1: and I tripped over and I tore my rotator cuff

1133
00:59:24,240 --> 00:59:26,920
Speaker 1: and my bicep, and I said, you know what, I

1134
00:59:26,960 --> 00:59:29,920
Speaker 1: couldn't have played the next week. I guess broadcasting it's

1135
00:59:29,960 --> 00:59:34,280
Speaker 1: a little tougher than playing. I always said that that

1136
00:59:34,400 --> 00:59:37,360
Speaker 1: stuff that we described as pretty easy. Hey, Doug, I

1137
00:59:37,440 --> 00:59:43,560
Speaker 1: love you. Congelations you did. You did just an amazing

1138
00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:46,760
Speaker 1: You're an amazing partner, and we had so much fun

1139
00:59:46,880 --> 00:59:49,680
Speaker 1: that uh, you know, it's it's something I'll never forget.

1140
00:59:49,720 --> 00:59:52,400
Speaker 1: And I hope you don't either. No, I I don't.

1141
00:59:52,440 --> 00:59:57,400
Speaker 1: And I always respect your professionalism and your preparation, and

1142
00:59:57,480 --> 01:00:01,200
Speaker 1: you know how how much you really care about that

1143
01:00:01,280 --> 01:00:05,520
Speaker 1: broadcast sounding good for the fans below that are listening.

1144
01:00:05,640 --> 01:00:08,000
Speaker 1: And you know, to get back to Nev. And I

1145
01:00:08,400 --> 01:00:11,080
Speaker 1: think I've told you the story when Nev passed away.

1146
01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:13,840
Speaker 1: I got this letter from somebody. They said that they

1147
01:00:13,880 --> 01:00:16,680
Speaker 1: had lost her eyesight. They couldn't watch the Browns games.

1148
01:00:17,160 --> 01:00:18,880
Speaker 1: And you know, all of a sudden, they were listening

1149
01:00:18,920 --> 01:00:22,439
Speaker 1: to the broadcast and through the words of you know, Nev.

1150
01:00:22,760 --> 01:00:25,520
Speaker 1: They they could see the game again, and I said, well,

1151
01:00:26,200 --> 01:00:28,680
Speaker 1: if that guy who was enjoying it, then he's enjoying

1152
01:00:28,720 --> 01:00:32,640
Speaker 1: it more now because your description, I mean, you're the

1153
01:00:32,640 --> 01:00:37,160
Speaker 1: best in the business. Obviously a standout at this position

1154
01:00:37,200 --> 01:00:39,320
Speaker 1: in the National Football League when he came in as

1155
01:00:39,360 --> 01:00:44,760
Speaker 1: a tight end, a decorated broadcaster. Uh. And Gribbs, maybe

1156
01:00:44,800 --> 01:00:48,320
Speaker 1: the most important takeaway from from the interview with Jim

1157
01:00:48,320 --> 01:00:52,720
Speaker 1: and Doug a humanitarian and a great person in the

1158
01:00:52,760 --> 01:00:55,160
Speaker 1: community who has seen and done it all and and

1159
01:00:55,240 --> 01:00:59,680
Speaker 1: has tried to help wherever possible, Uh, Gribbs. What stood

1160
01:00:59,720 --> 01:01:02,800
Speaker 1: out to you from the last fifty plus minutes between

1161
01:01:02,880 --> 01:01:06,320
Speaker 1: Jim and Duck, Well, I I love this story about

1162
01:01:06,400 --> 01:01:09,520
Speaker 1: how Doug had to retry out for the job back

1163
01:01:09,560 --> 01:01:13,600
Speaker 1: in and you know, Doug, you know, just like he

1164
01:01:13,640 --> 01:01:18,000
Speaker 1: did on the field with his uh well documented holding

1165
01:01:18,120 --> 01:01:20,520
Speaker 1: that that really got under the skin of the other

1166
01:01:20,560 --> 01:01:24,080
Speaker 1: defensive lineman. He took every edge he could with getting

1167
01:01:24,080 --> 01:01:27,240
Speaker 1: the job back, and that included uh using his network

1168
01:01:27,280 --> 01:01:30,320
Speaker 1: of resources to to get some game film and look

1169
01:01:30,400 --> 01:01:33,200
Speaker 1: like uh he was he was Tony Romo before Tony

1170
01:01:33,280 --> 01:01:35,840
Speaker 1: Romo with predicting the plays and and getting all that

1171
01:01:36,160 --> 01:01:38,400
Speaker 1: knocked out. So I love hearing about that, and obviously

1172
01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:41,560
Speaker 1: a touching moment that when he's talking about his brother

1173
01:01:41,640 --> 01:01:44,560
Speaker 1: and kind of why he's so involved with Special Olympics,

1174
01:01:44,560 --> 01:01:46,600
Speaker 1: I mean raising over two and or fifty thou dollars.

1175
01:01:47,040 --> 01:01:50,440
Speaker 1: Just an incredible, uh journey he's he's been with the

1176
01:01:50,440 --> 01:01:53,080
Speaker 1: Browns and one that I don't think is over yet.

1177
01:01:53,120 --> 01:01:54,880
Speaker 1: I think, like I said, he's going to be around

1178
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:58,040
Speaker 1: here uh and and still representing the Browns because that's

1179
01:01:58,120 --> 01:02:00,440
Speaker 1: that's what he loves to do. Uh. But just a

1180
01:02:00,680 --> 01:02:04,480
Speaker 1: remarkable guy and and remarkable achievement that he was able

1181
01:02:04,520 --> 01:02:07,880
Speaker 1: to do. It will be a special day on Sunday

1182
01:02:07,920 --> 01:02:10,960
Speaker 1: at First Energy Stadium the Browns and the Bengals to

1183
01:02:11,000 --> 01:02:17,160
Speaker 1: wrap up the SLASH season. More importantly, Doug Deacon Day

1184
01:02:17,200 --> 01:02:20,160
Speaker 1: and our chance to honor him. The fan base will

1185
01:02:20,160 --> 01:02:23,280
Speaker 1: get a chance to honor him. Some surprises coming along

1186
01:02:23,320 --> 01:02:27,160
Speaker 1: the way as well. For more undug geac in week,

1187
01:02:27,320 --> 01:02:31,560
Speaker 1: including interviews with friends and former teammates, videos and more,

1188
01:02:31,800 --> 01:02:34,480
Speaker 1: log on to Cleveland Browns dot com or visit any

1189
01:02:34,520 --> 01:02:38,000
Speaker 1: of the Browns social media platforms all this week. As

1190
01:02:38,040 --> 01:02:42,000
Speaker 1: for the best podcast available, we are coming back. That's right.

1191
01:02:42,160 --> 01:02:46,120
Speaker 1: The offseason officially will get underway and we will be

1192
01:02:46,240 --> 01:02:49,720
Speaker 1: back with you later on in the month of January.

1193
01:02:49,760 --> 01:02:53,600
Speaker 1: For Andrew Gribble, I'm Jason Gibbs. Thanks for watching, Thanks

1194
01:02:53,600 --> 01:02:56,400
Speaker 1: for listening to the best podcast available