Sundays in the Pound: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the 1985-89 Cleveland Browns [Paperback]

Jonathon Knight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2006

A look at the last championship seasons of the Browns

Before Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore, and before the frustrating expansion years and countless front office mistakes of the twenty-first century, there were the Browns of the late 1980s. The years 1985 to 1989 saw the Cleveland Browns explode out of a decade and a half of inconsistency and mediocrity to win four American Football Conference Central Division titles and make the playoffs five straight years. Twice they came within inches of a Super Bowl appearance, led by an unforgettable cast of characters Cleveland embraced and still cherishes. These teams are perhaps the most memorable in the history of Cleveland professional sports.

Sundays in the Pound traces quarterback Bernie Kosar's winding path from Youngstown to Florida to Cleveland, explains why there was so much more to running back Earnest Byner than one unforgotten fumble, and reveals how cornerback Hanford Dixon created a canine phenomenon in the endzone stands that has persevered to this day. Author Jonathan Knight delves into "the Drive" and "the Fumble"; examines the fairy-tale performance of an aging veteran quarterback who directed the Browns through the snow and into the playoffs in his final game at the old, cavernous Cleveland Stadium on Lake Erie's shoreline; and recounts an epic playoffs saga in which the Browns staged one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Cleveland sports.

Cleveland Browns fans throughout the country fondly remember the "Dawg Days," and they will welcome Sundays in the Pound.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

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: 313 pages
• Publisher: Kent State University Press (August 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873388666
• ISBN-13: 978-0873388665
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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.

Knight lives in Columbus.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written account of the best seasons of a beloved team., September 30, 2006

By 

M. Keogh (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sundays in the Pound: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the 1985-89 Cleveland Browns (Paperback)

I wasn't around when the Cleveland Browns were the "New York Yankees of football" and they routinely played for championships throughout the 40's, 50's, and 60's. I was in grade school when Brian Sipe led the Kardiac Kids, and at that age I was more interested in playing with my toy soldiers than watching three hours of football on Sundays. However, my freshman year of high school was Bernie Kosar's rookie year, and that was the true start with my passionate love affair with the Browns which has endured the 1990 implosion, the wretched Belichick years (I don't care how many Superbowls that guy wins as far as I'm concerned he'll ALWAYS be the worst coach in history of the Browns because he actually made me dislike team!), Modell's treacherous move, three years without a team, and the ongoing expansion building process which has the new Browns looking like the old Tampa Bay Buccaneers- wallowing in a culture of losing and defeatism.

Yet my passion for the Browns remains high mainly because I remember, as author Jonathan Knight sets forth in his preface, when "the Cleveland Browns used to be fun to watch" and I hope for day when the new Browns recapture that feeling for me. In his "Sundays in the Pound," Knight sets forth a narrative of the 1985-1989 Browns- how they were built, how they played, and what they accomplished. To most Browns fans, those teams are the best remembered and beloved of their lives- four division championships, five playoff appearances, and three trips to the AFC Championship game- it was a level of success that had not been seen in Cleveland sports since the 60's. Knight sets forth all the victories and defeats that led to that success and reminds us once again of how close those teams came to true greatness. The 1986 and 1987 AFC Championship games routinely make lists of the "greatest games ever played" in NFL history and Knight does a great job of showing why those dramatic games remain bittersweet memories held by all Browns fans.

Knight's book also makes it clear that it just wasn't success on the field that made the 80's Browns so loved, it was also the players who made up those teams. The names Mack & Byner, WebStar, Big Daddy, Top Dawg and Mighty Minnie, Clay, Ice Cube, the Wizard, and, of course, Bernie still resonate deeply with Browns fans. These were guys you knew bled orange and brown. In those days before free agency, most of them played almost their entire careers with the Browns. Many of them, after their playing days were done, settled permanently in the Cleveland area where they are lionized to this day.

For the most part, Knight's book is a straight narrative of the 1985-1989 seasons. For research, it appears he culled old newspaper articles, NFL films archives, and performed interviews with a handful of players and coaches from that era: Mike Baab, Bob Golic, and Marty Shottenheimer. In a way, it's almost like reading a compendium of Plain Dealer and Browns News Illustrated articles from 1985 to 1989. However, Knight is a talented writer and what could have been a mish-mash of dozens of game summaries actually blends together pretty well. Also Knight does provide some analysis especially pinpointing the moment where the Browns' fortunes seemed to spiral downward- the unfathomable trade of center Mike Baab on the eve of the 1988 season. According to Knight, Baab's trade was the catalyst for everything that followed- the downfall of the offensive line which led to the battering of Kosar, which led to the 3-13 1990 season, which led to hiring of Belichick, which led to Kosar being cut, which led to Modell moving the team, and which led to sad sack organization the expansion Browns are today. It's a little melodramatic, but Knight may have a point.

It's sad that Browns fans have to look back nearly twenty years in order to remember a time where their team was not only competitive but among the elite of the NFL. However, I do treasure those memories of listening to Nev Chandler, watching snowballs whizzing through the air at Cleveland Stadium against the Oilers in 1988, flipping on the radio and hearing silly Browns song after silly Browns song, the absolute pandemonium when the Browns tied up score to send the game into OT against the Jets, jumping up and down in my parents' living room when Slaughter caught Bernie's TD pass to defeat the Steelers in OT in 1986, my dad muttering "They'll stop them here" when the Browns had Elway at 3rd and 18 during the Drive, jumping up from my chair arms held up high in triumph when I saw Byner apparently cross the goal line and then grabbing my hair and screaming "NO!" when I realized he had fumbled, and the faces of a group of guys in their 30's, obviously mill and factory workers, looking out on the field in shock and disbelief as the Broncos mobbed Rich Karlis.

Maybe one day, the new Browns will create similar memories, but its doubtful those will mean as much as those created by the 1985-1989 Browns who were very special teams to anyone who remembers watching them play.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Memories of an Exciting Era, January 4, 2007

By 

J. Miller (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sundays in the Pound: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the 1985-89 Cleveland Browns (Paperback)

I love this book (as well as "The Kardiac Kids", also by this author). As someone born and raised in Cleveland, I've followed the Browns since the early seventies. The Schottenheimer era, along with the first year of Bud Carson's reign, contained some of the most exciting (and heartbreaking) Browns games I can remember. I still have a lot of VHS tapes of those games, which I occasionally get out to re-live the days when the Browns were a real contender.

Mr. Knight's book begins with the last part of Sam Rutigliano's reign as head coach, when the Kardiac Kids were becoming a memory and the team began to return to the losing ways of the mid seventies. We learn how Rutigliano was fired and replaced by Marty Schottenheimer and how the team acquired the players whose names would come to represent the newer, better Browns: Kosar, Slaughter, Dixon, Golic, Byner, and so many others.

There were a lot of classic games in the late eighties, and Knight takes us through all the important moments - the 1985 divisional playoff in Miami, the thrashing of the Bengals at Cincinatti in 1986, the Steelers games, the Oilers games, the great playoffs against the Jets in '86, the Colts in '87, the Bills in '89, and, of course, those nightmarish Broncos.

When the games are really big, Knight's coverage is quite in depth. For example, we read Nev Chandler's own words as he describes Kosar's touchdown pass to Brennan in the '86 AFC Championship for the radio audience: "... he's firing the home-run ball for Brennan... turns one way, turns another...HE'S GOT IT AT THE FIFTEEN! TEN! FIVE........" I still get excited at that! For a moment anyway, we were going to the Super Bowl!!

Besides the game action, we also learn a lot of what was going on behind the scenes - the death of Don Rogers, the issues that caused Schottenheimer to leave for Kansas City after the 1988 season, Kevin Mack's drug addiction, and how the bottom finally fell out in Carson's second year.

I can't praise this book highly enough for the true Browns fan. Pick it up and enjoy the great memories. It will help to hold you over till that sweet day when we finally, someday, get another contender in Cleveland. And when we do, I'll be cheering as loud as ever!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Book About a Terrific and Exciting Era, October 14, 2006

By 

Ethan Edwards "Munson Twp Cowboy" (Chardon, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sundays in the Pound: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the 1985-89 Cleveland Browns (Paperback)

I read this entire book in two days, and I was completely taken back to the mid 80's. Cleveland has lived through more heartbreak then any city in the histroy of sports. It has been 40 years since we won a championship, Almost 60 since we won a world series, and NEVER for the Cavs. So other then people over 50 or so, no one has experienced the excitement of a championship.

This era, from 1985-1989, got us closer then ever (in football), and every season was full of almost unbearable excitement. It ALWAYS came down to the last game, the last minute, the last second. And usually we lost.

Hard to believe that only 22 years ago, Bernie Kosar gave up a truck full of money, and the possibility to go early in the forst round(possibly #1), to play for his hometime Brownies. Reading this book brings back terrific memories, and Jonathon Knight has scored his second Browns classic.