This week’s “Throwback Thursday” matchup from the NFL’s week 4 schedule is between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, two franchises with close ties that go beyond their proximity in the state of Ohio. They face each other this Sunday in the first of their two annual meetings as AFC North rivals, and those meetings have become routine over the years. Their first meeting, however, was anything but routine. It came on October 11, 1970, in Cleveland, and was a “homecoming” for Bengals founder and head coach Paul Brown. Brown had also founded the Browns franchise, in the old All America Conference in 1946, and coached the team through its’ most successful era from ’46 in the AAFC, through its’ entry into the NFL in 1950, until he was unceremoniously relieved of his coaching duties by owner Art Modell following the 1963 season. Brown’s iron-fisted approach with the Cleveland team had grown tiresome among the players, who revolted against him, and went to Modell, led by star Jim Brown, to try to get rid of him. Modell complied with their wishes, and the decision looked like a good one when the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964 under Brown’s replacement, Blanton Collier. The legendary coach resurfaced a couple of years later when the American Football League decided to award an expansion franchise to Cincinnati, as the new team’s ownership group recruited him to come on board as part owner, general manager and coach to help build the new team. Brown, a staunch NFL guy, had little use for the AFL, which was ridiculed by the old-line NFLers as a “Mickey Mouse” league, and would only agree to join the Cincinnati group after the NFL/AFL merger agreement was completed, assuring the Bengals would be an NFL team. In a move many believe was done just to “tweak” Modell, Brown chose the exact shade of orange for the Bengals’ uniforms as he had for the Browns in Cleveland, with black as the primary color instead of brown. As a football executive, Brown proved he hadn’t lost his touch – he built the Bengals into a playoff team by their second year of existence. The club boasted the AFL’s Rookie of the Year in their first 2 years also – running back Paul Robinson in 1968 and quarterback Greg Cook in 1969. The two leagues finally merged into one starting with the 1970 season, and the Browns and Bengals were put together in the same division of the AFC, which meant they would regularly meet twice a year.
Paul Brown with one of his Bengal assistants, Bill Walsh
As for that first meeting, Brown’s Bengals fought mightily but in the end the Browns pulled out a 30-27 victory, with Bill Nelsen throwing a pair of touchdown passes and future Hall of Fame running back Leroy Kelly supplying 163 combined rushing and receiving yards and scoring twice. The Browns were still a formidable club in 1970 but were on the decline, and in their second meeting, in Cincinnati, Paul Brown got his revenge as the Bengals won a defensive struggle, 14-10. With those two hard-fought games, the annual “Battle of Ohio” was on.
Leroy Kelly (photo courtesy of Bleacherreport.com)
