Cincinnati Bengals: What can Browns do for you?
Behold part of the legendary speech by Cincinnati Bengals coach Sam Wyche, displayed at Paul Brown Stadium. Is it worth remembering during Cleveland Browns Week? (Mike Bass Photo)
By Mike Bass
mbass@mikebasscoaching.com
When Sam Wyche chastised the Riverfront Stadium snowball throwers with his “You Don’t Live In Cleveland” speech, he connected with Bengaldom forever. This was Who Dey with an attitude, a shot to the north with a greater Cincinnati chaser. This isn’t how a coach talks, this is how fans trash talk, and you still love him for it.
Thirty-five years later, all it takes is Browns Week to remind you. This time, you could use the lift.
I leaned into it Monday in our weekly X chat. I posted a photo of a Paul Brown Stadium sign that displayed only the more genteel “You Live In Cincinnati” part (as if you don’t know the rest), and I asked what playing in Cleveland means to you.
Subtle, aren’t I?
“It means thank God I don’t live there,” @JeffATrennepohl wrote.
Today, it’s not just about you living in Cincinnati. It’s about the Bengals staying alive in Cleveland – and about you getting revved up again for it.
Let’s face it, Bengals 17, New York Giants 7 on Sunday night didn’t exactly rekindle your optimism. After 1-4, the fire all but went out on that grill. Baby stepping over another struggling opponent beats going 1-5, but you want a game with more relevance and meaning and passion.
Imagine what beating the Browns this week would accomplish. It would give the Bengals two wins in a row ... two road wins in a row ... three wins in the last four games ... a 1-1 division record ... a 3-4 overall record ... a little more hope to bring home back to the Jungle.
Not that the Browns are any good. The Browns wish they were the Bengals right now. The Browns are 1-5. One more loss, and they will match their total of last season.
They are stuck with Deshaun Watson at quarterback. This seems like a perfect time to play at Cleveland.
Then again, is there ever a perfect time to play at Cleveland? Or even a good time?
The Bengals have not won there since Oct. 1, 2017. Amarius Mims still was 14 years old. The Bengals have lost six straight since then. The last couple were scary – Halloween Night 2022 and Opening Day 2023 – by a combined 40 points. Cleveland is the Bengals’ sinkhole.
If you are a Bengals fan, it is not funny. And if you are a Bengals fan, you love to come at Cleveland with the funny. Or at least your brand of funny.
“Need smelling salts to clear out the stink,” @WilySnowPena wrote.
You love to ask how many Super Bowls the Browns have reached. Oh, yeah, right ... ZERO! The Browns have won one playoff game all century. The Bengals have won five playoff games in the 2020s, with Joe Burrow at quarterback. The Browns have won five since 1970, the year they hosted the first Monday Night Football game.
The Browns make you feel better about yourself.
“You don’t live in Cleveland. You live in Cincinnati.”
It’s a division-rival thing. You poke Cleveland, Cleveland pokes you. As bad as things have become for both fanbases this NFL season, at least you have each other and this game, and what if that is something?
It doesn’t have to be nasty. It certainly isn’t as volatile as it once was. Bengals patriarch Paul Brown loved sticking it to the namesake franchise and to owner Art Modell for firing him. But a third of a century has elapsed since PB died, almost 30 years have passed since Modell hijacked those Browns to Baltimore, and more than a decade has gone by since Modell went to ... ahem ... if not a better place, then one Bengals and Browns fans might agree he deserves.
So at least you had that in common.
Plus, both the Browns (1.0 and 2.0) and Bengals were so bad for so long until recently, you could almost feel for each other. Almost. You can only be so neighborly to a nemesis. Any Browns Backers envying your stretch of regular-season success could revel in your postseason collapses. Were you jealous when the 2020 Browns won a playoff game? Imagine how Cleveland felt seeing the Bengals in a Super Bowl and two straight AFC title games.
Personally, I like Cleveland. I always enjoy visiting. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is cool. Bengals-Browns was always a treat. When the Burrow-less Bengals missed the playoffs last season, and 999-year-old Joe Flacco rescued Cleveland, I would have enjoyed seeing the Browns make a long run. It would have been a great story.
Hating on the Browns is easier with Watson at quarterback. His back story is troubling. Judge him by play alone, and the trade has been a bust, yet Cleveland won’t move on from him. Wouldn’t it be satisfying to keep making the Browns sorry for it?
If you are a Bengals fan, this season of underachievement has brought so much disappointment, and now you can choose how to move forward. You could see beating Cleveland as a potential springboard to another memorable season. Or just see it as just a moment to anticipate and enjoy. Or you could keep languishing.
But wouldn’t you love to beat Cleveland, at Cleveland, just this once? Wouldn’t you love to be there to see it? @Bengalralph wrote that he might go. I asked him what he thinks it will be like in Cleveland. He focused on what it could be like for Cleveland. Fair enough.
“Prob(ably) COLD and I'm thinking grouchy!” @bengalralph wrote. “1-5 with zero direction, their fanbase can't be ok with it. Recently, The Browns seem to have the Bengals #. I'm wondering how much Bill Callahan knowing his son's tendencies played into that?? Hopefully, The Bengals can ... stack another W.”
Brian Callahan went from Bengals offensive coordinator to Titans head coach. His dad, Bill, went from Browns offensive line coach to the same spot with Tennessee.
Maybe that will make a difference. Maybe not. If that gives you a little hope, I am all for it. What else might help?
You don’t have to delude yourself, just remember what Browns can do for you. Remember what Browns-Bengals means. Remember Sam Wyche.
You don’t have to live in Cincinnati to be part of Bengal Land and get pumped up about what he said.
Was it fair? Of course not.
Did it speak to you? Hell, yeah.
Is it worth watching again? I did.