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Revisiting a typical Browns game

Commentary

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson, top, reaches for a Matthew Stafford pass in the end zone as Cleveland Browns defensive back Abram Elam defends in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Detroit, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. Pass interference was called on the play as time expired in the game. Detroit won 38-37. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The coronavirus pandemic has suspended play of nearly every sporting event across the globe, leaving a huge void in the lives of sports fans looking for something to watch on TV.

CBS has tried to fill time with old March Madness games.

On what would have been Opening Day for Major League Baseball, ESPN aired several Home Run Derby broadcasts from years past.

For myself and three friends who all happen to be Cleveland Browns fans that used to work together, we’ve gone in another direction.

Thanks to the NFL offering fans free access to NFL Game Pass through May 31, we are watching “classic” Browns games dating back to the 2009 season.

The NFL’s article promoting the service says it “provides fans the opportunity to relive incredible NFL games and moments from seasons past including Tom Brady’s multiple Super Bowl victories with the New England Patriots, Peyton Manning’s single-season record of 55 touchdown passes as a Denver Bronco in 2013, Odell Beckham Jr.’s impossible one-handed catch in 2014, and much more.”

Not for us.

For Browns fans, the positive memories are a little more obscure.

For our first week of action, we chose a classic game from the 2009 season.

The best performance of Brady Quinn’s career.

The third-year pro went 21 of 33 for 304 yards and four touchdowns for a 133.1 passer rating.

Mohammed Massaquoi and Chansi Stuckey both caught long touchdown passes. Josh Cribbs and Michael Gaines each had a scoring grab. Jamal Lewis ran for 75 yards. Brodney Pool and Eric Wright each had an interception.

And the Browns lost.

Four Cleveland fans who have been through it all with the team since their return to the NFL in 1999 put their heads together, and the first game we thought to watch from a gallery of 176 regular-season games was a loss.

Tell me that isn’t the most Cleveland Browns thing you’ve ever heard.

But it was still fun.

Throughout the game our text-message thread included:

“Nick Sorenson – miss that guy.”

“This is Brady Quinn’s coming-out party.!”

“Eric Wright! This rules!”

“This is the best game of Brady Quinn’s career, right? Anything even come close?”

“Stupid play by return man … Gerard Lawson? No memory of this guy.”

We all knew what was coming, but lived right along with every play as if they were happening in real time.

The Browns went up 24-3 over the Detroit Lions in the first quarter before Detroit tied it at 24 even before halftime.

Cleveland eventually took the lead back early in the fourth quarter and came up with an interception in the end zone with 3:49 remaining.

Game over, right?

Wrong.

The Browns punted back to the Lions with 1:57 left.

With 8 seconds left, Detroit quarterback Matt Stafford – a rookie at the time – dropped back to pass, scrambled to kill the entire clock and threw to the back of the end zone before he was crushed by Cleveland defensive lineman C.J. Mosley, a hit that ultimately separated Stafford’s left, non-throwing shoulder.

The unthinkable happened – unless you’re a Browns fan.

Reserve defensive back Hank Poteat was called for pass interference in the back of the end zone giving Detroit one play from the 1-yard line.

With Stafford’s shoulder separated, the Lions called on veteran backup Daunte Culpepper. But then Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini curiously called for a timeout, allowing Stafford to re-enter the game.

As fate would have it, Stafford threw the game-tying touchdown to tight end Brandon Pettigrew and Jason Hanson hit the game-winning extra point with no time on the clock to send Detroit to second win of the season while the Browns fell to 1-9.

For this past Sunday, we chose a more upbeat 34-14 victory over the New England Patriots in 2010 when Peyton Hillis ran for a career-high 184 yards and two touchdowns, jump-starting his campaign for the 2011 Madden cover.

There’ll be more memorable games to watch in the Sundays to come – a tough 2011 pick five days from now – and they’ll help us pass the time in this weird, hopefully once-in-a-lifetime period when there are no live sports on TV.

Virtually gather friends and followers of your favorite teams, be it the Buffalo Bills or Pittsburgh Steelers, and pick your most memorable games of the past 11 seasons.

They might even be losses – especially for you Bills fans – but they’ll likely give you plenty to talk about.

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