DDN
'Super' truth: Belichick symbolizes painful past
By Sean McClelland
Staff Writer
Thursday, January 24, 2008
With evil genius Bill Belichick coaching the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in seven years, it's hard not to wonder what might have happened had Art Modell not transplanted the Browns to Baltimore.
It's a complete distortion of the record to suggest Belichick failed as a head coach in Cleveland. There were no quick fixes back in the early 1990s, but in '94 he had the Browns in the playoffs with an 11-5 record, and they actually won a postseason game.
Then came a return to on-field mediocrity in '95, largely attributable to the craziness caused by the impending relocation of the franchise.
Under Belichick, the Browns were building toward something ? maybe not a New England-style dynasty, but definitely something ? when Modell whisked the team away.
Cont...