The Greatest Cleveland Brown EVER.

Today is a day for a tribute. A tribute to the greatest player to ever put on a Cleveland Browns uniform. A tribute to the man who might, no, who does have the greatest name ever put on a football uniform. On December 6, 1984, this legend was born. I'm talking about none other than SYNDRIC STEPTOE.

Now, as you can see in the above picture, all Syndric Steptoe (#12 for all you morons out there who don't actually know about this absolute stud) does is catch touchdowns. I mean, come on. You seriously think I'm joking? Syndric was a SuperPrep All-America selection in High School. Yea. You don't make ANY All-America team unless your an absolute rawhide. His 40-time? A blazin' 4.41. And he ran that with a broken leg. No joke. He's Syndric friggin' Steptoe for God's sake.


Now, I could sit here for hours--no--days talking about the mythical Syndric Steptoe. But I refuse to do that. That wouldn't even do him justice. This will.



Yea. THAT. JUST. HAPPENED. Consider yourself lucky. You just got to re-live what is hands down the greatest touchdown catch in Cleveland Browns history of any Browns wide receiver while wearing brown pants.

Syndric Steptoe. Remember the name. Because when January of 2010 comes around, and Steptoe finishes the season with 79 catches for 1,895 yards and 19 TD's, you know damn well you'll be rockin' your Syndric Goddamn Stepteezy jersey.

Top 10 Clevelanders of all-time...

Whenever any of me and my boys are talking about sports, the inevitable always happens. That being that every argument turns into some sort of top-3, top-5, or top-10 list of whatever it is we're talking about at that time. At work today we got into it again and started talking about the top-10 terrible trades of Cleveland sports history (all stemmed from the terrible K2 trade, but I'm trying to let that go). So, as I was driving home I really got to thinking about the top-10 Cleveland sports athletes of all-time, and every list I kept making in my head kept getting filled with guys that have no right being there....so here goes nothing. I present to you.....Jeremy's TOP-10 CLEVELAND SPORTS ATHLETES OF ALL TIME.

10. Lou Groza - The Toe. Clearly I wasn't around during Lou's time, but I've heard some stories from my grandpa. Lou was the first kicker inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he was also an offensive tackle. Are you serious? Can you get any more awesome than that? The kicker was an O-lineman. He was a 9-time Pro Bowler, and a 6-time All-Pro offensive tackle. He kicked a game winner in 1950 to win the NFL Championship for the Browns. He played for 21 years, and was the last player left from the original Cleveland Browns team that was founded in '46.

9. Omar Vizquel - Sure, he didn't put up crazy offensive numbers, but he was the heart and soul of the Cleveland Indians return to prominence in the 1990's. He won a Gold Glove on a yearly basis. Easily one of the top-10 shortstops to ever play Major League Baseball. Even though he wasn't a power guy, he always had a solid batting average, and he was always the guy who would get the clutch hit that the Indians would need to win a ballgame. Omar's number will easily be retired at Progressive Field whenever he decides to call it a career. The best shortstop in team history, and one of the nicest guys anyone will ever meet.

8. Ozzie Newsome - The Wizard of Oz. Arguably the greatest tight end to ever play the game. He brought a charisma to the team that was unprecedented. He had some of the best hands I've ever seen on a wide receiver/tight end. He always made big plays whenever the Browns needed him to do so. He was a great guy, and his football smarts were incredible. He's still going strong today for the Baltimore Ravens making excellent decisions every season for their team. He knew how to catch a football, and he had a ton of raw strength. He always gained extra yards after a catch because he was so tough to take down. There's a reason he's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

7. Grady Sizemore - The verdict is still out on G-Size as to how far he can go up the list. Right now, I can't put him any higher than seventh. By the end of his career he could easily crack my top-five. This guy is a five-tool stud. He has power, he has speed, he has incredible defense, he has an uncanny knack for just understanding baseball in general, and he's one of the best leaders any team could have. He doesn't go out and showboat like some players. He goes out everyday and plays his ass off every minute. It doesn't matter if it's a spring training game, or game 7 of the World Series. Grady is going the same speed at all times. He's one of the most durable players I've seen in recent baseball history, and you can tell he's one of those guys who just absolutely loves what he's doing. He's a great guy and an excellent baseball player. One of the few in the Majors who has 40-40 potential every season.

6. Bernie Kosar - My favorite Brownie of all-time. Bernie. His knowledge of the game was remarkable. He was the Peyton Manning of his time. He always audibled plays out if he saw something he didn't like. He would call his own plays most of the time, actually. He couldn't run to save his life, but man could he sling it. His pocket presence was amazing, and his vision was outstanding. He was one of those quarterbacks that no matter how bad of a season he was having, he still wouldn't have more than a few interceptions. He just never put the ball in a bad place. He always knew what the right play to make at the time was, and he always made it. It's a shame he never was able to bring a Super Bowl Championship to Cleveland, but you can't blame him. He gave it his all. (Blame Byner and Elway for that.)

5. Austin Carr - Mr. Cavalier. Hands down the greatest player to ever don a Cavalier jersey--until 2003. Austin Carr had one of the sweetest jump shots you would have ever seen. He had a knack for shooting off of one foot, which would gain him seperation from his defenders. It's crazy, but he always made those off-balance shots. He was an excellent shooter, and a great defender in his time. He was one of those guys that if he was catching fire you would just give him the ball and get out of his way. He was the first true big-time scorer the Cavs ever had, and until recently was really one of the only ones we've seen in franchise history. It's great that he's still around working with the Cavs, calling the games on Fox Sports Ohio. I wouldn't want to listen to a game any other way.

4. Bob Feller - The Heater from Van Meter. One of the most dominant pitchers of his time. To this day, Feller still is the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter on Opening Day. He threw three no-hitters, and a record 10 one-hitters throughout his career. He's the winningest pitcher in Cleveland history, and his record looks pretty safe for a while still. He was an eight-time All Star and is easily one of the top-1o pitchers in baseball history. He was also a Triple Crown winner in 1940, leading the league in Wins, ERA, and strikeouts, something that's only been done nine times since 1940 when Bob did it. He's still a big influence with the Indians, and still works closely with the team.

3. Otto Graham - Otto Graham played for the Browns for 10 years. He led them to the League Championship game ALL TEN TIMES, winning 7 of them. Graham's 57-13-1 record as a starter in the NFL represents the highest winning percentage of any quarterback in NFL history (.810). He was a three-time NFL MVP, and was an NFL All-Pro selection in each of his ten seasons. Otto Graham is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest winners in the history of professional sports. In his single season as a professional basketball player, the Rochester Royals (the Kings of today) also captured the league title. So all in all, in 11 seasons as a professional athlete, Otto Graham's teams made the championship all eleven years, winning eight titles.

2. LeBron James - I know, you might have expected The King to be number one. Not yet. Not before he brings a title to Cleveland. When it's all said and done, he could easily be the greatest Cleveland athlete of all-time. But it's still early. He's still got time to take over that spot. LeBron is easily the closest thing to the perfect all around basketball player in the NBA. He not only can score at will, but he rebounds very well, he dishes out assists at a much higher rate than any other NBA superstar, he plays tremendous defense, and he can steal and block shots with the best of them. The best way to describe this man is a freak of nature. He's so big, so quick, and so strong, he's almost impossible to stop when he gets in the lane. Hopefully LBJ sticks around in Cleveland throughout his career and brings a bunch of championships home.

1. Jim Brown - Easy pick for number one on my list. Not only is he the best Clevelander of all-time, he very well may just be the greatest football player of all-time. He played for nine seasons, making the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams each season, and led the league in rushing for 7 of his 9 seasons. To this day, he's still the only player in NFL history to average over 100 yards rushing per game throughout his entire career. He retired in the prime of his career (only 29 years of age), so there's no telling how crazy his numbers could have ended up. When he retired he was well ahead of everyone else in career rushing yards, and he's still in the top-1o to this day. He was a three time MVP and was the first running back to rush for 100 touchdowns. One of the best to ever play the game, and easily the best Cleveland sports athlete of all time.

The direction of the Browns...

Today is strictly an opinion-based blog post. I honestly have no clue the actual direction of the Cleveland Browns. In fact, I probably don't actually want to know the true direction of this team. But, just for a couple minutes, let's pretend like I actually believe that Eric Mangini knows what he's doing. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for approximately the next 2 and a half minutes.

Now, as you all know, I'll never condone the Browns trading away my favorite player on the team, Kellen Winslow...so I won't even go there. But, let's assume it was done for a legit reason. Only reason I can come up with is that Winslow wasn't a run blocker. Hell, he wasn't a blocker period. Now, Robert Royal, the recent tight end that the Browns signed is a blocker. Apparently. I don't actually know, since I've never seen the guy play in my life. I do know that he can't catch. But we'll leave that alone and just base it off the fact that Royal can block. OK. So the apparent direction of the Browns is that they want to get back to the old, 80's, run-it-down-their-throats Cleveland Browns football with Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack bulldozing all over people.

Now, that I can live with. That's all good in theory. One problem...Jamal Lewis can't run the ball successfully for a full season. Sorry, he just can't. He's too old and washed up to be very productive over a full season. That only leaves us with Jerome Harrison, who, by the way, is an animal. Now, you wouldn't know that, because Romeo never actually used him. But when Harrison did touch the ball, oh, you know, two times a game, he actually made plays. I have a feeling with Mangini coaching that we'll see a lot more of Harrison, as he'll most likely be used just like Leon Washington was for the Jets. OK...so that's half of the running back problem. The other half, you know, the Jamal Lewis half? He won't go anywhere. I wish he'd leave, but he won't. I'd love to see the Browns draft a nice running back, like LeSean McCoy or Beanie Wells, but I doubt they will. They have much more pressing needs.

So the apparent direction of the Browns is to get back to just pounding the football for one or two yards a play, then on 3rd-and-7 throw a screen pass for 4 yards, and punt.

Man, I can't wait for football season in the fall. We'll be lucky to go 4-12 again.