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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2008 > June > 23 > Entry
Some one-shot wonders
The NFL Network’s list of top 10 NFL one-shot wonders got me thinking about what a Browns’ list might look like.
It was tougher than I thought. The team has never been to a Super Bowl, so that leaves out any championship dramatics from the past 40 years or so. No Timmy Smiths here.
And I certainly wasn’t going to plumb the depths of the long-ago Paul Brown era.
So, here are some one-shot wonders beginning in the early ’70s, keeping in mind my fading memory:
1. Ricky Feacher, wide receiver. In the clear highlight of an otherwise ordinary career, he latched onto a pair of Brian Sipe TD passes in the 1980 victory at Cincinnati that gave the Browns the AFC Central title and their first playoff appearance since 1972. The Browns’ next action was the minus-36-degree (with chill factor) playoff game against the Oakland Raiders. Less said about that the better. I sat in Row X in the lower deck and my fingers and toes still ache whenever the temperature plunges below freezing.
2. Lindy Infante, offensive coordinator. According to Wikipedia, he was famous for being able to eat a foot-long hotdog in a single bite. But we remember him as the O.C. during Bernie Kosar’s early years and how the offense was never quite the same when he left after the 1987 season to bomb as head coach of the Packers.
3. Dr. David Mays, quarterback. A dentist, he stepped in against the Steelers in 1976 and inspired a victory. Think it was the same game Turkey Jones planted Terry Bradshaw into the ground head-first. Anyway, Mays appeared in 11 games for the Browns, starting four, and this was his only brush with anything resembling fame.
4. Lyle Alzado, defensive end. After his Denver days and before steroids allegedly killed him, this guy was briefly a central figure on some decent Cleveland defenses. A contract squabble with the Broncos led to his 1979 trade to the Browns and he made second team All-AFC in 1979 with 80 tackles and seven sacks. When he was acquired, a Cleveland TV station caught up with him in a hotel room and he was wearing a white fur coat. Flashy guy. In the almost-glory year of 1980, Alzado led the team with nine sacks, and was All-Pro. He was still good in 1981, but the Browns fell apart and in 1982 they dealt him to Oakland, where he became rejuvenated, apparently with more than a little chemical help.
5. Mike Phipps, quarterback. Believe it or not, there was a time when it seemed this guy might amount to something, leading the Browns to the playoffs in 1972 and teaming with receiver Frank Pitts for a year or so during which time Phipps-to-Pitts became something of a civic rallying cry. There was a Monday night game against the San Diego Chargers in 1973 in which Phipps and Pitts really clicked. Past my bedtime, though. Heard about it the next day. Phipps had his moments, but certainly nothing that would justify trading future Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield for him. Hard to believe that ever happened. Set the franchise back about a decade.
6. Boyce Green, running back. An 11th-round draft choice out of Carson-Newman, he averaged 4.8 yards per carry in 1983. Lasted only another year or two, but talk about coming out of nowhere. He was Earnest Byner before Earnest Byner, at least for a brief time.
7. Lee Suggs, running back. Looked like Butch Davis had stumbled upon a fourth-round steal, especially when he rushed for 186 yards in knocking the Bengals out of the playoff race in 2003. But it was all just a tease. He couldn’t stay healthy. Two years later, he was out of the league.
8. Kelly Holcomb, quarterback. In team history, only Bernie Kosar threw for more yards in a single playoff game than the 429 Holcomb burned the Steelers for on Jan. 5, 2003. It was by far Holcomb’s greatest game as a Brown. Would have been more celebrated had they won.
9. Travis Prentice, running back. A third-round draft choice from Miami University in 2000, he led the Browns in rushing with 512 yards as a rookie and scored seven touchdowns. His career quickly fizzled.
10. William Green, running back. Made a splash as a rookie (2002) before booze and domestic violence (he was allegedly stabbed by his girlfriend) hastened his exit from the league. Who can forget Jim Donovan’s radio call of “Run, William, Run!” as Green scored a touchdown in the playoff-clinching win over the Falcons on the regular season’s final Sunday.
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Comments
By blackbart
June 24, 2008 6:57 AM | Link to this
We traded Phipps to the Bears for their number one….and that turned out to be Ozzie Newsome or Clay Mathews…too lazy to look it up…but that is true.By blackbart
June 24, 2008 6:57 AM | Link to this
We traded Phipps to the Bears for their number one….and that turned out to be Ozzie Newsome or Clay Mathews…too lazy to look it up…but that is true.By WD
June 25, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this
It was Ozzie… So, not such a bad deal.