Bumped from the Fanposts section. A fun exercise while we tick down the hours to our pivotal game against perennial rival Jacksonville. -Blitz-

Indeed, the NFL changes every week and numbers will change every which way, but with one quarter in the books, we've played two home, two road, two heated rivals and a tough Philly team, so we do have a representative sample of the season.  Of course, Steelers fans are hoping we get this offense funk figured out, but in any event, this will be how the math would look on New Year's day if the pro-rated numbers pan out:

Ben will have 2,552 yards, 16 TDs, 8 picks and a rating of 93.3

Hines will catch 68 passes for 904 yards and 12 TDs (tying his own record shared with Louis Lipps and Buddy Dial); Holmes will catch 52 for 824 and 4 TDS and Heath will catch 44 for 520 and 0 TDs.

Reed will be 28 for 28 in field goals, most of them from over 40.

Silverback will have 20 sacks (breaking Mike Merriweather's 15 in 1987) and 108 tackles; Woodley will have 14 sacks and 68 tackles.

Troy will pick off 12 passes, besting Mel Blount's 11 in 1975, and make 84 tackles, 8 of them for losses; B-Mac will pick off 8 passes and make 84 tackles, 4 of them for losses.

The Steelers will be sacked 64 times, shattering the team record of 52 occurring in 1969 and again in 1983.

The Steelers will sack their opponents 60 times, breaking their record of 55 in 1994 and 2001.

The Steelers will complete 28 passes to their running backs.

The latest circus act of Oakland Raiders' owner Al Davis and his handling of the Lane Kiffin situation reminds me that the Oakland Raiders have often been a national embarrassment.  In the mid-1970s, the Steelers and Raiders were clearly the best two franchises in the AFC and embattled in a fierce rivalry.  Whenever I see Al Davis on television making a fool of himself, I remember this story.

In the 1975 AFC championship game (played January 1976), won by the Steelers over the Oakland Raiders, 16-10, Pittsburgh's Lynn Swann was leveled by Oakland defensive back George Atkinson.  Swann was knocked unconscious and suffered a severe concussion.  He spent two days in the hospital and his playing status for Super Bowl X was doubtful.  Fortunately there were two weeks between the AFC championship and the Super Bowl, which allowed Swann to play.  Swann ended up being MVP of that Super Bowl, the first receiver to do so.

The very next game the Raiders played was the 1976 season opener against the Steelers.  On a broken pass play, Terry Bradshaw scrambled and found Franco Harris for a short gain.  Away from the play, the same Atkinson came from behind and blindsided the same Swann with a vicious forearm to the back of the neck.  Swann dropped to the ground with another serious concussion.  He never saw the cowardly act coming from behind him.  Nor did any official since the attack occurred far from the action.  No flag was thrown.  Swann missed the next two games.

Coach Chuck Noll was rightfully angry.  At his weekly press conference he referred to Atkinson as a "criminal element who should be kicked out of the league."  Dan Rooney was equally livid and fired off a letter to Commissioner Pete Rozelle.  Many more letters flooded the NFL office as well, being that the game was a marquis television event.  Rozelle fined Atkinson $1,500 and wrote that could not recall a more flagrant foul in his 16-year tenure as NFL commissioner.  He also fined Noll $1,000 for speaking out in public against another player, against league policy.

Instead of being remorseful, incredibly, Atkinson sued Chuck Noll and the Steelers for $3 million for defamation of character.  Interestingly, Atkinson also sued the Oakland tribune.  Reporter Ed Levitt had written that "Atkinson could have killed Lynn Swann instead of giving him a concussion.  He could have been facing a murder rap."

Atkinson's maverick owner, Al Davis, was clearly behind the lawsuit.  Davis never met a lawsuit he didn't like and still holds the NFL career record for lawsuits filed.  After all the preparations and discovery, a jury trial began on July 11, 1977 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The trial became a media circus with celebrity witnesses John Madden, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier and of course, Rooney, Davis, Rozelle, Swann and Atkinson.  Both sides braced with heavy-hitting lawyers.  The Steelers retained James MacInnis, who was called upon a few years earlier to represent Patty Hearst.  The Raiders were well-represented also by sharpshooter Willie Brown, who would later be elected mayor of Oakland.  Brown had defended Atkinson two years earlier against charges of embezzlement and larceny.  His character was already in question.  Judge Samuel Conti had his hands full.  Being a public trial, all correspondences became public information.  While Rozelle cringed at having to air the league's dirty laundry, he had no choice but to endure the battle.

Attempts to settle were rebuffed.  The horse was out of the barn and Rooney stood firm on fighting for Noll's innocence.  What made the trial especially difficult was the process of educating the six-person jury.  The jury needed explanations of basic football nuances and jargon.  They also needed comparisons in order to assess Atkinson's actions in proper context.  All of this took painstaking time.

Both sides presented articulate and persuasive positions.  Attorney MacInnis was an eloquent speaker who had no trouble depicting Atkinson as a dirty player.  At one point he brought out the Webster Dictionary to examine various descriptions of the word "criminal," since that was the key word in the entire case.  Judge Conti ruled that the dictionary was hearsay since Noah Webster was not available to testify.

Attorney Brown and his crew were equally adept.  Noll, a former law student, was exemplary during lengthy examination, mixing humor and sarcasm with his usual sharp observation.  Brown's legal team did back Noll into a corner he wasn't able to escape.  The Steelers weren't choir boys either back in those days.  The Oakland side was able to present video clips of several Steelers who were involved in plays that showed violent hits, late hits and penalties.  Noll had no choice but to admit that actions by Mel Blount, Joe Greene and Glen Edwards could be construed as similar in nature to those of Atkinson.

While the Oakland corner successfully lumped Atkinson's hits with many others, including those by Pittsburgh Steelers, the Steelers had the backing of the league itself.  They presented counter artillery of their own.  In addition to Rozelle's testimony, ultimately damaging to Atkinson, Supervisor of Officials Art McNally flew in to concur that Atkinson went to another level in attempting to injure Swann deliberately and maliciously. 

The trial was filled with plenty of schoolyard sniping.  Insults and barbs were exchanged left and right.  While Rozelle would just as soon diffuse all the ammunition that was making the league look bad, there was no love lost between he and Al Davis, his long-time nemesis. MacInnis painted the Raiders as neighborhood bullies  The Raiders claimed that the NFL was the biggest bully, unfairly labeling Atkinson for life.  MacInnis countered that Atkinson's prior skirmishes with the law proved that he didn't need any help with any labels he deserved.  The chess match was fascinating. 

Closing arguments were emotional and spirited.  The jury took four hours to return a verdict of not guilty.  The fact that Atkinson was seen in the courtroom signing autographs did not especially help his cause of claiming his character was damaged.  After 10 days of trial, Noll was vindicated. 

Atkinson on the phone, probably with a lawyer

The Steelers did not emerge unscathed, however.  In mid-to-late July they should have been preparing for another Super bowl title.  Instead, their coach, ownership and several key players were flying across the country to defend themselves.  Their minds were clearly not on football at a time when they should have been.  In addition, after the Oakland lawyers skillfully coerced Noll into lumping Mel Blount in Atkinson's "criminal element" category, Blount was incensed.  He sued Noll for $5 million for defamation of character and claimed that he would never play for Noll again.  All this occurred on the eve of training camp., of which Blount missed practically all of.

Cooler heads eventually prevailed and Blount dropped his lawsuit against Noll.  There was no doubt, however, that the whole cross-country circus affected the Steelers in 1977.  They started the season slowly at 4-4 and by the time they recovered, they had to settle for a wild-card spot in the playoffs.  Traveling to Mile High Stadium, they lost to the Broncos in the first round, 34-21.

Methinks that the psyche of Steeler Nation needs to take a step back from Sunday's debacle.  The tonic is a fireside chat with Steelers' legend Dick Hoak.  Hoak was with us for 45 years, 10 as a player and 35 as a coach.  He is the most loyal and tenured Steeler of all time, not named Rooney.  Since Hoak retired after the 2006 season, we haven't seen or heard from him.  Don't look for Hoak to lambaste the offensive line.  He is far too classy for that.  All he did was remind me that tomorrow is another day, that the entire offense broke down and that the line would take more than its share of heat.  Hoak reminds us that loving the Pittsburgh Steelers is not a game-by-game proposition, but a lifetime journey.

BTSC:  Everybody remembers where they were when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  You guys played that weekend.  What do you remember?

HOAK:  I remember hearing it on the radio after morning practice driving to McKeesport.  I remember the bridge I was driving on.  I was like everybody else, until Sunday when I had to play a football game.  We were getting dressed.  Bobby Layne came in the locker with Stautner and told us Jack Ruby just shot Lee Harvey Oswald.  It was really strange going out and playing football.  We tied the Bears that day and they won the title that year.  Pete Rozelle later said it was the biggest mistake of his career.  When 9/11 hit there was no way the NFL was going to play football that week.

BTSC:  You played with Rocky Bleier (1968) and then coached him when he recovered from his Vietnam injuries.  What were your impressions of him?

HOAK:  Rocky worked so hard.  He was quite an inspiration.  He did something unheard of - he actually improved his speed significantly.  That's how hard he worked.  He was the ultimate team player. He was a great blocker and as smart a back as I've ever seen.  He could play both fullback and halfback.  They were two completely different positions back then.  Today you see teams with two feature backs, but they are asked to do the same thing in alternating fashion.  In the 70s, the fullback and halfback had different assignments on every play.  Rocky knew everything and played both.  With Rocky, you told him something once, that was all.  I loved coaching him.

 One of My Many Mint Steelers Football cards

BTSC:  If you put all four Super Bowl teams of the 70s in a four-team tournament, which would come out the winner?

HOAK:  Can I take the 1976 team?  That may have been the best.  We were playing lights out, shutting people down every week.  Franco and Rocky both gained 1,000 yards that season, accomplished only once before in NFL history. (It has been accomplished only once since, by the 1985 Browns in a 16-game season.)  We went to Baltimore in the playoffs and won easily.  We scored alot and weren't scored upon, a pretty good combination.  That game we lost both Franco and Rocky to injuries.  It wasn't like it is now when you ask your back-up to do what the starter did.  We couldn't run our two-back set.  We had to run a one-back set, which hadn't been done in those days.  We actually made up a new offense before the championship game against the Raiders.  We couldn't know what we were doing.  That was right before Terry blossomed into a great passing quarterback.  We didn't have a chance.  That team and that year were really great though.

BTSC:  As a position coach, what did you do to make Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis better?

HOAK:  Very little!  Actually we really didn't know exactly what we had with Franco since Penn State featured Lydell Mitchell.  In an early preseason game against Atlanta, Franco starts running a play where there was no hole.  He makes one cut and goes through the entire Atlanta team.  Defensive backs were chasing our fullback and couldn't catch him.  He ran 70-some yards for a touchdown. Chuck comes up to me and says, "Don't overcoach this kid."  He was that special.  Really, I didn't spend a lot of time teaching guys how to run, especially Franco and Jerome.  What I taught them was pass catching, getting in position for hot reads, pass protection, reading defenses and reading coverages.  Running was instinctive to them, so I taught them all the other things, the finer points.

BTSC:  How would you compare Chuck Noll with Bill Cowher in terms of coaching efficiencies?

HOAK:  Chuck was a great teacher, as organized as I've ever seen.  He came in with a real plan, something we really didn't have before Chuck.  He was remarkable in judging talent.  I saw guys on tape and thought "This guy can't play," and the guy would become an All Pro.  Chuck would see how guys would fit in positions they never played.  He made guys who were ordinary in their own positions and made them extraordinary in some other position.  I was constantly amazed by his teaching and vision.  Chuck was even keel, never up or down.  When you saw him Monday morning you couldn't tell if we won or lost.  He was the same either way, which is amazing in such an emotional business.  Bill was a great motivator.  He knew the game and had a way of charging up guys to make them play their best. Bill was a people-person who knew how to deal with different individuals on their own level.  Bill had an open-door policy that the players really appreciated.  Some coaches say that, but Bill lived it.  It was interesting working for both of them.  They had opposite strengths, yet somehow were both extremely successful.

BTSC:  What sticks out in your mind about the Rooneys?

HOAK:  The way they always treated people puts them on another level.  George Perles once said, "There are only eight owners who can win it all."  He was right, and the Rooneys were always one of the eight.  I had a concussion the fourth game of my final year.  I spent a week in the hospital. When I woke up, Mr. Rooney was there, bringing me the newspaper every morning.  He'd come back at night or call and ask if I needed anything.  Other owners didn't do those kinds of things.  Art and Dan were always coming into the locker room and talking to us about our families.  I'd talk to other players around the league and some of them had never met the owner.  I knew we were very fortunate in Pittsburgh to have people who thought they were just regular guys who owned the team.  I remember my best year, 1968, when Art called me into the office and gave me an envelope with a large check in it.  This was right in the middle of the season when we were losing a lot.  He didn't have to do that.  At the end of the season Dan called me into the office and handed me another envelope, since I had a pretty good year.  I told him his father was already overly kind to me.  Dan said, "well, here's another one."  The Rooneys were like that with everyone.  They did so many things they didn't have to do and they weren't just trying to look good.  The Rooneys were and are solid gold.

BTSC:  As the running backs coach, how did you acquire Willie Parker and how hard was it to coach him since he didn't play in college?

HOAK:  Dan Rooney Jr. gets credit for that one.  He was coaching high school in the Carolinas when Willie played against his team.  He followed him through college and had him earmarked all the way.  After that draft, all the position coaches were calling on the phone to sign free agents.  We wanted a fullback and halfback.  Dan Rooney Jr. told me not to worry about the halfback, he already signed Willie Parker.  I said, "Who's he?"  I never even saw him on film.  We needed to refine Willie since he never really played in college.  Most guys you hope speed up.  With Willie we had to slow him down.  We taught him how to see an area and wait for the right moment to hit it.  He's getting a lot of carries, but remember, his body didn't take punishment as a college player.  Nor did he get that experience.  He's still getting better.

BTSC:  What were you feelings during that famous Colts playoff game of 2005?

HOAK:  We were actually a lot more confident than our fans.  We saw things on tape that we knew how to correct and we knew we had the right people to beat them.  They were so good that year that they didn't have to be complicated.  That made it easier for us to game-plan against them.  On offense we came out passing to set up the run, something they didn't expect.  Our defensive coaches saw how we could take them out of their offensive game.  Everything worked to perfection, until the fumble.  I was calm and collected the whole game until that.  My heart sank right through me.  Then Ben made the tackle, then they drove anyway, then we stopped them, the whole thing became an emotional roller coaster.

Kendall Simmons' wife is about to have his third child.  If she goes into labor, Simmons has decided he will not go to Philadelphia or turn around and come home if he's already left.  What is your take on this?  Does it matter that it is his third child?  Would your response be different if we were talking about Ben rather than Simmons?  Would it be different if it was the Super Bowl instead of Game Three?  What if it was the Super Bowl and it was Ben who was in the situation?  Let's see if I can generate a little discussion with this post.

The Steelers and Eagles get together for the 76th time this Sunday.  They both came into the NFL together in 1933.  The Eagles lead the all-time series by a landslide, 26-46-3.

The Steelers actually took control of the series early, winning six of the first nine.  The Eagles were somehow worse.  Pittsburgh stayed bad for roughly 38 years and Philly got better to turn the series around.

In 1947,  the Steelers lost to the Eagles twice by identical 21-0 scores.  The first time was in the regular season and the second time the Steelers played their first playoff game.  They played that game at home.  The Steeler players wanted an extra week's pay for playing in the playoffs, but head coach Jock Sutherland refused.  The players went on strike leading up to the game.  It lasted only a day or so, but did enough damage to keep them from a critical practice.  It also hurt their pysche going into a such a big game.  Art Rooney was off to some racetrack or he would have intervened I'm sure.

The next major battle between the two occured in Pittsburgh in 1968.  It was clear to the nation that O.J Simpson was the best player in college.  The Steelers and Eagles were in a dead heat to be the worst team and get that coveted number one pick.  The Steelers won the game, 6-3, in a pitiful display of professional football.  Philly fans were cheering at the thought of getting Simpson while Pittsburgh was so bad it couldn't win for losing.  Pittsburgh fans actually wanted to lose, a wish their team would surely oblige.  You have to give the Steelers credit for consistency.  They went out and did the opposite of what the fans wanted, this time by winning.

The Steelers finished 2-11-1, a game ahead of the Eagles at 2-12.  However, Buffalo and Atlanta lost their remaining games while both Pittsburgh and Philly won again, so Buffalo had the top pick and chose Simpson.  The Eagles picked Brady Keys third and the steelers Settled for a guy named Joe Greene fourth.  The headlines in the paper read "Joe Who?"

Since then they have only played 10 times.  Pittsburgh has not won at Philly since 1965.  In 2004 the Steelers clobbered Philly, 27-3, and New England in back-to-back games.  Those two teams later played in the Super Bowl after both being shredded by Pittsburgh earlier in the season.

Here are the last 10 games:

2004 (H) Win 27-3

2000 (H) Lose 26-23 (OT)

1997 (A) Lose 23-20

1994 (H) Win 14-3

1991 (A) Lose 23-14

1988 (H) Lose 27-26

1979 (A) Lose 17-14

1974 (H) Win 27-0

1970 (A) Lose 30-20

1969 (A) Lose 41-27

Since this is Philadelphia Eagles Week here in Steeler Nation, I thought I'd share the story of how the Steelers and Eagles actually combined teams during World War II to keep the NFL alive. Once again Art Rooney rose to the occasion with his creative entrepreneurial thinking and his standard practice of looking out for the good of the league.  Matthew Algeo wrote a fabulous book titled "Last Team Standing."  It is the story about how the Steelers combined with the Philadelphia Eagles during the 1943 war year.  If you love history and the Pittsburgh Steelers, this book is for you.  I will jump this story so as not to hog the front page.

Continue reading this post »

There are many rivalries in sports, from the Yankees-Red Sox to Harvard-Yale and everything else in between.  It's all a matter of where you are from.  It is pointless to argue which is the greatest rivalry.  The answer lies in the eye of the beholder.  What is undisputable is that the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns rivalry is as good as it gets.  Since World War II, each of these storied franchises has won five NFL championships.

I was born in Pittsburgh and will always be a die-hard Steelers' fan.  I also spent 22 years working in Cleveland and 32 years living in Youngstown, a city exactly halfway in between.  I am uniquely qualified to experience this this great rivalry from all perspectives.

From Bigelow Square to Public Square, Pittsburgh and Cleveland are separated by 134 miles of neighborhood taverns and, during its heyday, various factories in the steel industry.  What makes these two cities so unique is that the people who live there, for the most part, are from there.  So too are their parents and their parents' parents.  Most other cities have a higher percentage of transplants.

The bond between a community and its football team is directly proportionate to the roots of the people who live there.  Loving the Steelers, Browns, Packers and maybe a couple other teams is not generally an acquired taste, like so many other cities where people have relocated from elsewhere.  It is passed through the umbilical cord from generation to generation.  It is both nature and nurture and not just the latter.  Of course, I am not talking about any individual situation, but the general psyche of a poplulation. Without mentioning names (to be sure there are die-hard fans in every city), I have been to most NFL stadiums across the country.  The seats may be filled with team colors, but the pain of losing and euphoria of winning is just not the same.  Our roots are deeper.

When the Steelers play on the road, Steeler Nation is proudly recognized by the television commentators as being the best in the NFL.  When the Browns were in their productive years in the late 1980s, the Browns Backers Clubs throughout the country were unmatched.  It is natural that whichever team is on top in a given era will have more exposure, but you don't hear the same kudos for most other national fan bases as Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

The rivalry itself has had very little consistency through the years.  It began in 1950 with the Browns winning 16 of the first 18 games.  There was very little hatred in those days.  The Browns were delighted to play the Steelers twice a year to improve their record.  The Steelers couldn't muster much animosity toward Cleveland since all the other NFL teams were beating them also.  This continued through the 1960s, though the Steelers at least began to win occasionally.  The 1964 Saturday night game at Cleveland in which John Henry Johnson ran wild (200 yards) in a 23-7 Steelers upset was a milestone moment between the two teams.  The Browns eventually won the NFL title that year.

By 1970 the two franchises were joined together at the hip.  The NFL and AFL were merging into one league, but sensitivities were high since three NFL teams needed to move over the American Conference to balance the league.  No one wanted to jump.  Art Rooney and Art Modell got together and decided that as long as they were together, it didn't matter where.  They also surmised that in a few years no one would know the difference, and they were exactly right.  They each took $3 million and along with the Baltimore Colts merged into the American Conference.  But they never would have jumped without each other.

The rivalry took a spike in the 1970s when the tables were turned.  Pittsburgh finally had reason to gloat and Cleveland took offense to that.  The roots of Cleveland's animosity clearly took hold during the Steelers' Super Bowl dynasty years.  The intensity jacked again when Bernie Kosar left the Youngstown demarcation line and went 67 miles northwest instead of southeast.  Both teams needed a quarterback badly and Kosar was clearly the difference.  Now it was the Browns who were gloating and Pittsburgh took offense.

The rivalry peaked from 1989 through 1993 when, finally, neither team dominated.  In fact, they played 10 consecutive games without either team winning twice in a row.  Moreover, in 1989 and 1994 both teams made the playoffs.  Just when it was an even battle, Art Modell took his team to the eastern seaboard after the 1995 season.  Ironically, no one worked harder than Dan Rooney to ensure the return of football to Cleveland.  Arguably the most respected and influential owner in the NFL, Rooney helped broker an unprecedented guarantee that the Cleveland Browns would return, complete with name and colors.

Since then the rivalry has become lopsided again, in part because the Browns had to start over from scratch.  However, as we stand today, Pittsburgh has won 57 times and Cleveland has won 55 times.  If you just look at regular season, the teams are dead even at 55 wins apiece.  So the two teams square off again in prime time this Sunday.  If you think that pointspreads and how a team plays a week ago mean anything you are badly mistaken.  Not in the NFL.  Cleveland proved that a year ago.  Come Sunday we can resume hating each other, but just for the moment, let's stop and salute one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.  It is far better to hate each other than for one of us to not have the other to hate.  Like fire and ice, we need each other to make a fine brew.

There are many rivalries in sports, from the Yankees-Red Sox to Harvard-Yale and everything else in between.  It's all a matter of where you are from.  It is pointless to argue which is the greatest rivalry.  The answer lies in the eye of the beholder.  What is undisputable is that the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns rivalry is as good as it gets.  Since World War II, each of these storied franchises has won five NFL championships.

I was born in Pittsburgh and will always be a die-hard Steelers' fan.  I also spent 22 years working in Cleveland and 32 years living in Youngstown, a city exactly halfway in between.  I am uniquely qualified to experience this this great rivalry from all perspectives.

From Bigelow Square to Public Square, Pittsburgh and Cleveland are separated by 134 miles of neighborhood taverns and, during its heyday, various factories in the steel industry.  What makes these two cities so unique is that the people who live there, for the most part, are from there.  So too are their parents and their parents' parents.  Most other cities have a higher percentage of transplants.

The bond between a community and its football team is directly proportionate to the roots of the people who live there.  Loving the Steelers, Browns, Packers and maybe a couple other teams is not generally an acquired taste, like so many other cities where people have relocated from elsewhere.  It is passed through the umbilical cord from generation to generation.  It is both nature and nurture and not just the latter.  Of course, I am not talking about any individual situation, but the general psyche of a poplulation. Without mentioning names (to be sure there are die-hard fans in every city), I have been to most NFL stadiums across the country.  The seats may be filled with team colors, but the pain of losing and euphoria of winning is just not the same.  Our roots are deeper.

When the Steelers play on the road, Steeler Nation is proudly recognized by the television commentators as being the best in the NFL.  When the Browns were in their productive years in the late 1980s, the Browns Backers Clubs throughout the country were unmatched.  It is natural that whichever team is on top in a given era will have more exposure, but you don't hear the same kudos for most other national fan bases as Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

The rivalry itself has had very little consistency through the years.  It began in 1950 with the Browns winning 16 of the first 18 games.  There was very little hatred in those days.  The Browns were delighted to play the Steelers twice a year to improve their record.  The Steelers couldn't muster much animosity toward Cleveland since all the other NFL teams were beating them also.  This continued through the 1960s, though the Steelers at least began to win occasionally.  The 1964 Saturday night game at Cleveland in which John Henry Johnson ran wild (200 yards) in a 23-7 Steelers upset was a milestone moment between the two teams.  The Browns eventually won the NFL title that year.

By 1970 the two franchises were joined together at the hip.  The NFL and AFL were merging into one league, but sensitivities were high since three NFL teams needed to move over the American Conference to balance the league.  No one wanted to jump.  Art Rooney and Art Modell got together and decided that as long as they were together, it didn't matter where.  They also surmised that in a few years no one would know the difference, and they were exactly right.  They each took $3 million and along with the Baltimore Colts merged into the American Conference.  But they never would have jumped without each other.

The rivalry took a spike in the 1970s when the tables were turned.  Pittsburgh finally had reason to gloat and Cleveland took offense to that.  The roots of Cleveland's animosity clearly took hold during the Steelers' Super Bowl dynasty years.  The intensity jacked again when Bernie Kosar left the Youngstown demarcation line and went 67 miles northwest instead of southeast.  Both teams needed a quarterback badly and Kosar was clearly the difference.  Now it was the Browns who were gloating and Pittsburgh took offense.

The rivalry peaked from 1989 through 1993 when, finally, neither team dominated.  In fact, they played 10 consecutive games without either team winning twice in a row.  Moreover, in 1989 and 1994 both teams made the playoffs.  Just when it was an even battle, Art Modell took his team to the eastern seaboard after the 1995 season.  Ironically, no one worked harder than Dan Rooney to ensure the return of football to Cleveland.  Arguably the most respected and influential owner in the NFL, Rooney helped broker an unprecedented guarantee that the Cleveland Browns would return, complete with name and colors.

Since then the rivalry has become lopsided again, in part because the Browns had to start over from scratch.  However, as we stand today, Pittsburgh has won 57 times and Cleveland has won 55 times.  If you just look at regular season, the teams are dead even at 55 wins apiece.  So the two teams square off again in prime time this Sunday.  If you think that pointspreads and how a team plays a week ago mean anything you are badly mistaken.  Not in the NFL.  Cleveland proved that a year ago.  Come Sunday we can resume hating each other, but just for the moment, let's stop and salute one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.  It is far better to hate each other than for one of us to not have the other to hate.  Like fire and ice, we need each other to make a fine brew.

My guy Hines had quite an impressive day.  He was in on 43 plays yesterday.  He lined up right and left about equally.  He caught two touchdown passes, one from 13 and one from 16 yards out.  He also caught a bomb that was called back.  In addition, there were seven plays that he had a block that helped the ball carrier gain more yardage. That is somewhat significant.  He didn't play in the fourth quarter.  Here is Hines after he was taken out, doing the hat thing, congratulating his teammates:

Wow, I just heard that Sean Mahan was traded today by the Steelers to the Tampa Bay Bucs.  Holy Smokes.  It's nice to know that the coaches and front office saw the same things we did.  I heard Mahan on some interviews and he didn't sound happy.  We don't need that.  We free up some cash, though we eat some also.  I don't know what we get in return. 

Update by Blitz, 6:00 pm EST: Use this thread to fill in the details as they become available. Thanks to 'rose for pointing out the initial news.