The Browns Blues

Two Decades of Utter Frustration: Why Everything Kept Going Wrong for the Cleveland Browns

Terry Pluto

$15.95

If you’re a Cleveland Browns fan wondering why everything went wrong for your team, here are answers. Veteran sports columnist Terry Pluto explains how the franchise compiled the NFL’s worst record since returning in 1999 in this detailed analysis of upheaval in the front office, frustration on the field, and heartache in the stands.

Softcover / 255 pages / 5.5 x 8.5 in. / ISBN 9781598511000

Description

From their return in 1999 through the winless 2017 season, the Cleveland Browns had the worst record in the NFL. And their fans had ulcers.

Now, veteran sports columnist Terry Pluto explains why everything kept going wrong. This detailed report on two decades of disappointment takes a behind-the-scenes look at upheaval in the front office, frustration on the field, and headaches and heartache in the stands.

His earlier book False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail told how the NFL hamstrung the new franchise. Who could have predicted the limping would last 19 years? This book picks up the story.

Season after season began with hope in spring for the NFL draft (“the Browns’ version of the Super Bowl,” a fan called it) . . . often a new coach or GM or quarterback (or all three) . . . then the losses . . . and back to rebuilding.

Pluto reviews all the major moves—draft choices and deals, hiring and firing and reshuffling—and the results. If you’re a Browns fan who wants to understand what went wrong with your team, this is the place to start.

Includes heartfelt and humorous opinions contributed by fans.

Additional information

Weight.719 lbs
Dimensions8.5 × 5.5 × 0.584 in
Format

Softcover, Softcover (Autographed)

Table of Contents

Browns Key Front-Office Personnel by Season

About Writing This Book

Introduction

It Started With Tim Couch, But Don’t Blame Him

Spergon Wynn and Tom Brady

Here Comes Butch Davis!

There Goes Butch Davis

Fans Write In: Browns Jerseys

Here Comes Phil Savage!

Could It Have Been Different for Brady Quinn?

The Halley’s Comet Season

Why Josh Cribbs Was Special

Fans Write In: Browns Quarterbacks

Randy Lerner’s Desperate Decision

What Could Go Wrong?

When the Big Show Came to Cleveland

The 2012 Draft: How It Went Wrong

Fans Write In: Browns Coaches

The Curtain Drops on the Big Show

Josh Gordon: Talent, Suspensions, Frustration

Ten Years Was Enough for Randy Lerner

How Rob Chudzinski Ended Up Coaching the Browns

It Should Have Been a Great Trade

Mike Pettine’s Turn

How Johnny Manziel Ended Up with the Browns

When It All Fell Apart . . . Again

The Awful, Terrible Browns Draft Pick Barely Mentioned

The Accidental Owner: Randy Lerner

Fans Write In: Browns Loyalty

The Browns and the Numbers Game

Why Didn’t the Browns Pick Carson Wentz?

The Tidal Wave of History and Frustration

They Really Did Play Like a Brown

Can They Finally Get It Right?

Acknowledgments

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