The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in what is arguably the best matchup of Week 6.
(A
strong case could be made for Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Green Bay
Packers. But, let's not split hairs here and just enjoy a good Sunday of
football.) The Steelers are 4-0 for the first time since 1979, when the team went on to win the Super Bowl
The Browns are riding a four-game winning streak and are 4-1 for the first time since 1994, when some fella named Bill Belichick was the head coach (also, current Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was the defensive coordinator).
Heinz Field, however, has been a house of horrors for the Browns. The Browns are riding a 16 game losing streak in Pittsburgh. That streak dates back to the 2003 season, when on Oct. 5 The Browns prevailed 33-13 .
The game featured a high-octane quarterback matchup of Tommy Maddox (Steelers) and Tim Couch (Browns). The head coaches that day? Hall of Famer Bill Cowher and Butch Davis.
The game also received the Sunday night prime-time treatment (the two teams had played in an epic wild card playoff game at Heinz Field during the 2002 season).
The game meant little in the long run during the2003 NFL season . The Browns finished 5-11 and the Steelers 6-10. It represented the Steelers' worst finish in the past two decades. It also netted the team a high enough selection in the 2004 NFL draft to select Ben Roethlisberger, who went on to never lose (at least to this point) to the Browns in a home game (among other notable career accomplishments, like winning two Super Bowls). The Browns? Well, five picks before the Steelers took Roethlisberger, Cleveland selected Miami (Florida) tight end Kellen Winslow II, who had an injury-plagued four-season tenure with the Browns.
No sense asking the reader which team I favour, as I have already featured 3 pictures of my faves, the Steelers.
I have been a fan since the 1970, and it took watching a game on a colour tv to do it.
My parents were visiting a old friend in Cobourg, Ontario, and I was told to go watch tv , well in the basement were there was a tv, naturally. Much to my joy I found it to be a colour tv, so I tuned into whatever sports I could find. Luckily for me, CBS was broadcasting a Browns - Steelers clash, and I was hooked. Altlough I was a bit confused at the helmets, the one was entirely Brown, on both sides, no logo, and the other had a logo on one side, but not on the other.
Growning up an Argonauts fan, I was used to 2 logos, one each side of the helmet, either a large A, or a picture of multiple tiny Argonauts pulling a football shaped boat. I chose the Steelers, cause at least they had one side decorated. Imagine if I had chosen the Browns.
Then I learned that my team went 1-13 that year, well I had the Leafs and the Argos, they would have to do for winning franchises. And so my journey began as a Steelers fan.
I am wearing a Terry Bradshaw jersey as I write this blog, drinking my coffee, expecting a war, hoping for a victory in whatever way possible.
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