A heart-pounding journey through the most exciting season in Cleveland Browns' history
Every longtime Cleveland sports fan knows about "Red Right 88," the play that ended the Browns' 1980 season. Quarterback Brian Sipe's ill-fated throw, intended for tight end Ozzie Newsome, was intercepted by Oakland in the end zone, bringing to a halt Cleveland's "kardiac" campaign.
In Kardiac Kids Jonathan Knight paints a portrait of the Browns' storybook 1980 season and its impact on the city of Cleveland. Knight takes us through that unforgettable year from beginning to end, describing in great detail how the city simply fell in love with this team.
Though the Cleveland Browns boast four world championships and possess a rich and respected past, the magical 1980 season was clearly the most memorable in team history. Kardiac Kids is a tribute to that team.
A lifelong follower of Cleveland athletics, Jonathan Knight has written three books on Cleveland sports history, numerous articles, and a biweekly Cleveland Browns newsletter for eight years. He has a degree from Ohio University's E. W. Scripps School of Journalism and worked as a sportswriter in Columbus, Ohio, for seven years. Knight is currently a staff writer/editor at Franklin University.
Product Details
Paperback: 301 pages
Publisher: Kent State University Press (August 2003)
A lifelong follower of Cleveland athletics, Jonathan Knight has become one of the leading authorities on Cleveland sports history.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1976, Knight has family roots in Cleveland dating back to the mid-19th century. Both of his parents grew up in Maple Heights and his maternal grandfather attended East Tech High School with eventual Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens. Knight's father, born in the middle of the Indians' legendary 1948 pennant race, was named after longtime Cleveland outfielder Dale Mitchell, a key component in the Tribe's drive toward the world title.
Growing up in Beavercreek, Ohio, just east of Dayton, Knight's first sports love was the Browns, whom he started following at age eight. The following year, he began writing a weekly Browns newsletter titled Only Dogs Allowed. Based on the groundbreaking Browns News/Illustrated, ODA began as hand-drawn on the back of scrap paper, the original issues contained game stories, cartoons, Browns trivia, and features on team history.
Over the years, Only Dogs Allowed evolved and production eventually moved to computer, then to desktop publishing. Knight soon formed a relationship with the Browns Backers of Greater Dayton and the newsletter generated a strong readership. By the time Knight enrolled at Beavercreek High School in the early 1990s, Only Dogs Allowed was published biweekly and distributed to more than fifty paid subscribers, garnering notice from Dayton-area newspapers and television stations.
Knight attended Ohio University's nationally renowned E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, earning a B.S. in Journalism in 1999. When the Browns returned that fall, so did Only Dogs Allowed, offering wit and insight to the bland and generally frustrating Chris Palmer and Butch Davis eras. ODA was discontinued in 2004 to allow Knight to spend more time on book projects.
Always disappointed he'd missed out on the magical 1980 Browns season (during which he was just four years old), Knight spent three years writing and researching his first book - Kardiac Kids: The Story of the 1980 Cleveland Browns. It was published in 2003 when Knight was 26 and was well-received by former players, coaches, and the Cleveland sports community.
Six months later, Knight released his second book - Opening Day: Cleveland, the Indians, and a New Beginning - a patchwork narrative of the origins and impact of Jacobs Field. Set against the backdrop of the ballpark's epic and symbolic first game, Opening Day illustrates a pivotal moment in civic history when the fortunes of the team and city converged. Knight actually began research on the book at age 17, and continued to work on it through college.
His third book, Sundays in the Pound: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the 1985-89 Cleveland Browns, was published in 2006. It weaves together the story of perhaps the most memorable run of success in Cleveland sports history: the winding, dramatic journey of the beloved Browns teams of the late 1980s.
In 2008, Knight and Kent State University Press initiated the Classic Cleveland Series, which celebrates the rich history of Northeast Ohio's three prominent professional sports teams. The series consists of three separate publications which rank the fifty greatest games in each franchise's history, beginning with Classic Browns: The 50 Greatest Games in Cleveland Browns History in 2008, and followed by Classic Tribe: The 50 Greatest Games in Cleveland Indians History and Classic Cavs: The 50 Greatest Games in Cleveland Cavaliers History in 2009.
Knight expanded his storytelling abilities with the release of his seventh book: Summer of Shadows: A Murder, a Pennant Race, and the Twilight of the Best Location in the Nation in 2010. Summer of Shadows is an intertwining narrative that tells the story of the unforgettable 1954 Cleveland Indians and the infamous murder of the wife of Dr. Sam Sheppard in their home along the shore of Lake Erie -- both of which held both the city and the nation spellbound in what became a haunted summer.
When not researching Cleveland sports, Knight manages communications for Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. From 1999 to 2007 he worked as a sportswriter for Suburban News Publications in Columbus, covering primarily high school athletics. He was twice named the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association's Sportswriter of the Year (2001 and 2005) and was honored by the Press Club of Cleveland for his coverage of the historic 2006 Hilliard Davidson state football championship. Along the way, he crossed paths with LeBron James, then a star at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, and covered former Browns quarterback Brady Quinn early in his high school career at Dublin Coffman High School just outside Columbus.
Knight's work has been lauded by Cleveland media, earning him television interviews on Cleveland's NBC and FOX affiliates, as well as guest appearances on Cleveland Public Radio, WNCX-FM, WMJI-FM, and cleveland.com's Digital Sports Network. He is also a regular guest on WHK's "The Sports Fix" and a columnist for TheClevelandFan.com.
He has also become a respected public speaker, hosting events such as the Watermark Restaurant's Author Lecture Series and the Ohio Capital Conference Academic League Excellence in Journalism Awards Program in addition to events hosted by the Cuyahoga County Public Library, the Browns Backers of Greater Dayton, and the Akron Browns Backers. He's held numerous book signings all over Ohio and was invited to the Kardiac Kids' 25th Anniversary Banquet in 2005.
This review is from: Kardiac Kids: The Story of the 1980 Cleveland Browns (Paperback)
i am 15 years old, and a browns fanatic. i am unfortunate enough to have not experienced the 1980 season firsthand. however, this book makes me feel as if i had. i picked it up because my dad would always tell me stories of how good they were and it made me want to be a part of it. it is very well written, blending accounts of the PD (clevelanders know what that is) with insights from the players and coaches. this is the best book about the brwns i have ever read, and aside from friday night lights, this is my favorite book of all time.
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This review is from: Kardiac Kids: The Story of the 1980 Cleveland Browns (Paperback)
The amount of work the author must have put into this book is astounding. Research is the key to writing books about actual periods of time and Knight obviously did his share.
If you're a football fan, this tale of a team that nearly stopped the hearts of all of Cleveland every week is a must read.
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This review is from: Kardiac Kids: The Story of the 1980 Cleveland Browns (Paperback)
This book breaks down one of the finest seasons in modern Cleveland Browns history. The Kardiac Kids were a group like none other in Cleveland sports. Knight does a wonderful job of making you feel like your a part of the play-by-play of this great season. It also helps solidify why the Brownies are one of the most storied franchises in NFL history. It is a wonderful read if your a Browns' fan like myself or just a fan of the NFL.
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